March ScaredyKIT: True Crime

True Crime


From wikipedia:
“True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.

The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40% focus on tales of serial killers. True crime comes in many forms like books, films, television shows, and podcasts. Many works in this genre recount high-profile, sensational crimes such as the JonBenét Ramsey killing, the O. J. Simpson murder case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure slayings.

True crime works can impact the crime it covers and the audience who consumes it. The genre is often criticized for being insensitive to the victims and their families and is described by some as trash culture.”

Suggestions:
Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper / Philip Sugden
H. H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil / Adam Selzer
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town / John Grisham
Columbine / Dave Cullen
In Cold Blood / Truman Capote
The Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr
The Stranger Beside Me / Ann Rule

And don't forget to update the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2019_ScaredyKIT#March:_-_True_Crime:

I don't have many TBR books related to True Crime--though, funny enough, I read one this month without meaning to!--but I do have Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore, so that's my plan for the month.

Love this one--even have one of my own categories for true crime. My oldest TBR seems to be Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders so I will go with that one.

I'm choosing one that's been on my shelf for a few years, The Murder of Helen Jewett. And I don't know how to edit the Wiki to add this.

I am going to read or listen to I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle Mcnamara.

I am going to join >5 luvamystery65: above and read I'll Be Gone in the Dark as well.

So, when I suggested this as a theme for ScaredyKIT, I was hoping to find more "scary" ones (as that's what I aim for with the ScaredyKIT as a whole), but that does get tricky. There certainly are some true crime books that are scary (it's been years since I read Helter Skelter, but I think that was one that scared me!). I think I've read something about Jack the Ripper that I found scary, as well.

Anyway, I'll have to peruse my list of true crime tbrs to see what I have. They may or may not end up being scary!

>4 mstrust: If you want, when you finish your book, I can walk you through how to post in the wiki. :-)

(At the same time, it's not a requirement to add there, but it's nice to see the list.)

I think I'm going to aim for
1888: London Murders in the Year of the Ripper / Peter Stubley

I have two that I am thinking about but not sure I have the time
Truevine by Beth Macy and
Killers of the Flower Moon

Probably none of these are horror but it's what I have.

>8 LibraryCin: Thanks for the offer and I'll take you up on that when I've finished. I guess I'll need to know how because I'm hosting for May.

>10 Kristelh: I've also got both of those on my to read list. I'm leaning towards Killers of the Flower Moon.

>12 staci426: me too, it is my bookclub May book but I don't mind reading it early. Better than late.

I've been meaning to read Killers of the Flower Moon for some time so this would be a good month for it.

I think I'll go with In Cold Blood as it'll also tick off the current 1001 monthly challenge.

I've read The Murder of Helen Jewett. A prostitute in New York City in 1836 was found mutilated and set on fire in her brothel bedroom. The book is heavily researched and examines the victim, suspects, trial and pretty much everything to do with laws and journalism in New York City in this time period. The book needed an editor with a pair of scissors, but still interesting.

>16 mstrust: Yikes!

Reading Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.My husband has been recommending it since he read it.

>17 LibraryCin: Ha, it's too much interesting info. The amount of research is admirable, it just went off the track so often.

Fritz Honka was a notorious murderer in the early 1970s when he killed several women in Hamburg. Der goldene Handschuh is less interested in the actual killings and more in the social milieu in which he lived and which shaped him: post-war Germany and the red-light district of Hamburg. And it is a study of the devastating effects of alcoholism. Depressing reading, all in all.

I have completed my read of I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara. This was a chilling and informative read about a serial killer and rapist who terrorized California during the 1970s and 80s. At the time the book was published he hadn't yet been caught but in 2018 he was finally identified through DNA Analysis.

>21 DeltaQueen50: Judy I'm currently listening to I'll Be Gone in the Dark.

I think if there's one thing that would be scarier than reading about the horrific crimes of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, it would be having those same crimes read to me.

>21 DeltaQueen50: WOW! Good to hear that they finally caught him! This sounds like a BB!

>22 luvamystery65:, >23 mstrust: I listened to I'll Be Gone in the Dark last year and freaked myself out late one night when I thought I heard a noise. I stood stock-still for ten minutes, scared to move. I don't usually get spooked by books but this one did a bit.

I also read it only a month or so before the killer was found, which made it really cool.

I just finished Murder at McDonald's: The Killers Next Door by Phonse Jessome. It's about the Sydney River McDonald's killings from the early 1990s in Cape Breton. I remember this murder in the news and the book was so compelling I couldn't put it down. Three young men from Sydney robbed the restaurant, and brutally killed 3 employees, and severely injured a fourth. She died just last year. Jessome was the local reporter (and well known around here in the Maritimes) and was involved in the story from beginning to end. The anger of the family, the futility of the crime, and the efforts of the police come through. The book was written only a few years after the crime; I would have loved to read some follow up to the people. Wikipedia gave me some info - one of the convicted killers has been released on parole.

>22 luvamystery65: I can't tell you to "enjoy" the book, Ro, but I hope you find it interesting and informative.

>23 mstrust: I can't get over how brazen this guy was, truly frightening!

>24 LibraryCin: It's a very well done book, and of course it lead me on an intensive internet search to read more about who he was and how he was caught.

>25 raidergirl3: It's funny I can read police procedures about the worse sort of crime and it never bothers me, but true crime is another matter. I can sympathize with you for being scared of a noise, this book really makes you think about how vulnerable you are. I can tell you that I found myself checking the locks and windows extra carefully while I was reading the book.

>26 DeltaQueen50: Yeah, I often end up googling to find out more after a true crime book, as well!

And, yes, when you know it's something that really happened, it can be scarier, for sure!

>26 DeltaQueen50: I’m the same with reading police procedural too, and Stephen King books. Mo Hayder ‘s Jack Caffrey books were at the very edge of my scare factor, but I read them all. I haven’t read a ton of true crime, but it can be so scary!
I think those crimes in the 70s, like the Golden State Killer, are why we started locking doors.

For more Chills and Thrills come on over to April's ScaredyKit which can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/304852

1888: London Murders in the Year of the Ripper / Peter Stubley
3.5 stars

1888 in London had more murders than the women Jack the Ripper killed. This book looks at many more of them, though some are manslaughter, and some of the possible/potential murderers are acquitted. . They include bar fights, domestic abuse, infants and newborns, prostitutes, hit and runs (horse and carriage), and more. Of course, the chapter that includes prostitutes does also talk a bit about the Ripper murders.

It was good and interesting as I read it, but fitting so many murders into one book, the descriptions of them have to be fairly short, so it felt a bit like short stories to me. And to me, that means I probably won’t remember much of it in the not-too-distant future. Enjoyable at the time, but maybe not memorable later on. There was some history of London, especially near the start of the book, to help describe the conditions, so that was interesting, too.

At first this theme didn't appeal to me at all, but when I started looking I found several books that seemed really interesting to me. I picked up Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi, about the Charles Manson murders.
I find it interesting but with much too much details and too long. I'm reading it a few pages at a time while reading other books and I probably won't finish it by the end of the month.

>31 chlorine: I read "Helter Skelter" when I was in high school and remember really "liking" it. I don't reread often, but I feel like it's one I'd like to at some point.

>32 LibraryCin: It sure is engaging and it reads quickly, so I can understand why you liked it! I'm currently in a part in which Bugliosi investigates into what kind of hold Manson had on his "family" and it is somewhat fascinating.

Starting The Education of a Coroner, the memoirs of an American coroner investigating 'out of the ordinary' deaths.

Just started Killers of the Moon Flower

COMPLETED The Education of a Coroner by John Bateson.

My review:
Memoirs of a coroner working in Marin County, at the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

Interesting if rather random selection of cases. I was expecting more about his training and on the job learning.

Well, I finished Shot in the Heart last night. It didn't Perfectly line up with being true crime, but was the best I had. And, truly, I thought it would be more true crime than it was. It's the memoir of Mikal Gilmore, whose brother was the murderer Gary Gilmore, executed by firing squad in 1977 and written of in Norman Mailer's Executioner's Song. On one hand, this book was full of crime and violence. On the other hand, the sorts of major crimes that would normally be written of in true crime--the murders Gary Gilmore committed--were more of a shadow on the whole text than a primary focus. Anyhow, full review written for anyone interested.

I'm not going to put it on the Wiki because, in the long run, this isn't really true crime in my opinion, but I'm counting it for my personal challenge in this category since it's close as I could come from my gigantic tbr shelves.

I did finish Killers of the Moon Flower this month.

Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders was the story behind the murders of a beloved husband and wife, both professors at Dartmouth College in 2000. It was shocking that these murders took place because two seemingly "normal" high school students were bored. Finished it last night at midnight!

>37 whitewavedarling: I think it should count, if there were still other crimes in the book. That's still true crime, even if it's not the kind of crime you usually see in true crime books!

>40 LibraryCin:, That's why I'm counting it for myself :) I just don't want to add it to the Wiki for fear of someone referring to that at some point in the future to find true crime books. I know I've used past years' Wikis to find a read and figure out what in my library would fit a particular challenge, so that's why I decided to leave it off.

I just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It's one that I've been meaning to read for a long time, so I'm glad this challenge motivated me to finally do that. It is certainly a disturbing and gripping book!

>42 mathgirl40: I didn't get to it yet, but still plan to, and motivated by your description of it being 'gripping'!