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Author Peter Ross Range Discusses Lululemon Murder at Politics and Prose

The author of "Murder in the Yoga Store: The True Story of the Lululemon Killing" visits Politics and Prose Bookstore.

When journalist Peter Ross Range saw police cars outside the Lululemon Athletica store in Bethesda on March 12, 2011, he was curious to know what was going on. 

He'd just finished playing tennis in Bethesda, and was startled to learn from reporters gathered outside the high-end athletic wear store (at 4856 Bethesda Ave.)—where brown paper was just going up in the windows—that there was a body in there.

"I was totally shocked at the end of the week to learn that [former store employee] Brittany Norwood was the accused murderer" of fellow Lululemon co-worker Jayna Murray, he told Patch.

Range—a longtime magazine writer and DC-area resident—followed the trial in the press (Norwood was convicted, and was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Jan. 27, 2012), then wrote a proposal to Amazon Kindle singles to write a book about the case. Amazon said "yes."

Next week, Range will visit Politics and Prose Bookstore (5015 Connecticut Ave. NW), the famed independent bookstore in Chevy Chase, DC, to discuss and sign copies of his book, Murder in the Yoga Store: The True Story of the Lululemon Killing.

The book, released in June, has been very well received, Range said. Its Amazon.com page had more than 90 reader reviews as of Tuesday afternoon, and the book was No. 1 on the Kindle nonfiction list for several weeks, Range added. The book is available on Amazon.com (as a paperback and as a Kindle single), at Barnes and Noble and at Politics and Prose.

This is the first time that Range—a former White House correspondent who has written for TimeU.S. News and World Report and other publications—has ventured into a solo book project about a high-profile crime. He enjoyed both the research (including digging through evidence boxes in courthouses) and writing in a creative narrative nonfiction style.

"Range recreates the suspenseful investigation [of the case] and explores the lives of those involved," according to Politics and Prose's description of the book

Range reports that "[Brittany] Norwood had been targeted as the probable pilferer of a bottle of expensive perfume and cash amounts of up to $200 from her fellow sales staff. They had made plans to try to apprehend her," according to a news release about the book.

"In a meeting at Lululemon just two days before Norwood murdered Murray and staged an elaborate cover-up that terrorized Bethesda for a week, the store’s leadership team debated how to nab Norwood, possibly with the use of a hidden camera," the news release said.

As Norwood and Murray closed up the Lululemon shop in Bethesda on March 11, 2011, Murray was on the lookout for evidence that Norwood had stolen something from the store, Range writes in the book. Murray's discovery that Norwood had a pair of unpaid-for yoga pants in her bag was what led Norwood to murder her, Range writes.

"Jayna Murray was the one who, according to evidence gathered by the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, got the proof [that Norwood had stolen from the store]. It cost her her life," the release said.

Range's appearance, at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at Politics and Prose Bookstore, is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. 


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