March ScaredyKIT: Real Life Monsters

March ScaredyKIT: Real Life Monsters

So, just with a catchier title, March is meant for True Crime. With some current health issues (before finishing getting this post read), I am going to just leave this with some suggestions that I made for a similar MysteryKIT (???) in years back. So, most of the suggestions are older. I’ll take a few minutes to see if I can find some newer suggestions (these are all ones I’ve read, so I guess ones that I’ve read more recently (rather than “newer”) is moire accurate).

Suggestions:
The Castleton Massacre / Sharon Anne Cook
Did She Kill Him? / Kate Colquhoin
Guilty Creatures / Mikita Brottman
Starvation Heights / Gregg Olsen
The Road to Jonestown / Jeff Guinn
Helter Skelter / Vincent Bugliosi
In Cold Blood / Truman Capote
Columbine / Dave Cullen
The Innocent Man / John Grisham
The Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr
The Poisoner’s Handbook / Deborah Blum
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper / Philip Sugden
The Devil in the White City / Erik Larson
The Stranger Beside Me / Ann Rule

If you want to read something that’s not murder:
The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs… / Jim Gorant
Catch Me If You Can / Frank Abignale Jr.
My Story / Elizabeth Smart
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town / Jon Krakauer
A Stolen Life / Jaycee Dugard
The Year We Disappeared / Cylin and John Busby

And, please do update the wiki with what you read this month: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_ScaredyKIT#March:_Real-life_Monster...

As it happens, I just found Midnight in the garden of good and evil at reduced price and the cover tells me this is a true crime story...

I don't read much true crime, but I *have* been meaning to read Chasing the Boogeyman, which is labeled as 'the ultimate marriage between psychological horror fiction and true crime, and though it's labeled a novel, it features the author as the protagonist returning to his hometown in the midst of a killing spree, so the whole work is inspired by real events and the author's experiences as they unfolded around him. I'm hoping everyone is okay with this counting!

Love me some true crime! I will read The Secrets They Kept: The True Story of a Mercy Killing that Shocked a Town and Shamed a Family by Suzanne Handler.

I think I'll go with The Cases That Haunt Us.

I plan to read The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks. Like the book described in >3 whitewavedarling: this is a novel inspired by true crime, but that is the most true crime I am willing (or able) to read!

For anyone looking for something similar, I recommend Little Deaths by Emma Flint, which I read last year. My review is on the work page.

Ugh, in my few days of no computer, tv, or reading (I did end up with a torn retina and my eye was lasered on Monday), it occurred to me that "real life monsters" might be a bit narrower than true crime, as a whole, but go ahead and read whatever true crime you'd like to!

>7 LibraryCin: Sorry to hear about the torn retina. I hope the lasering wasn’t too awful and that you’re able to read again.

>7 LibraryCin: Oof, wishing you a speedy recovery from your laser procedure!

>8 Charon07: >9 christina_reads: Thank you both! I'm back much sooner than expected (last time - 14 years ago - with my other eye, it took multiple laser treatments, and 3 weeks before I was allowed my regular stuff again). I am a bit nervous, but I'm taking it slow until Monday when I'll be back at work.

This was one I'd planned to read this month, but didn't get to it, and it fits here! So:
Everything She Ever Wanted / Ann Rule.

I’m going to read The Long Drop by Denise Mina, a fictionalized version of a true crime. I don’t often read true crime, but I’ve liked other Denise Mina books I’ve read, so I’ll give this one a shot.

I was going to skip this one because I stay away from true crime, but then I remember I had Rabbit Hole on my TBR list, which is a fiction book about the effects of true crime/conspiracy theories/etc on the survivors of these types of tragedies.

I finished The Long Drop and it was as compelling a crime story as others I’ve read by Denise Mina, even if left me even more ambivalent about true crime reading.

For anyone else looking for fiction related to true crime, I realized after starting it that Devil House revolves around a true crime writer and his writings. Just chance that it lined up with my reading this month!

I read The Murderess by Laurie Notaro. It's the novelized account of the true crimes by Winnie Ruth Judd here in Phoenix in the early 30s. Judd became jealous of the attention and money her wealthy boyfriend was giving to her two friends, so she killed them and packed them into her luggage, dismembering one to make her fit, then took the whole leaking mess to L.A. on a train.

Notaro does an admirable job with her research, and the dialogue is realistic. I've researched and written an article about this case myself, and so I see that a lot of the book consists of facts, but it's too long.

I have chosen The Christmas Day Murders for my true crime tale.

Simone St James wrote a good fictional story about true crime, as well... Let me see if I can find which one it was...

Yes, it was The Book of Cold Cases.

And I forgot to check on the wiki so I could add the link when it was working again. It is working now, so the link has been added to >1 LibraryCin:.

Also, it's here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_ScaredyKIT#March:_Real-life_Monster...

I also read a fictional account of a real-life monster: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. I would definitely recommend it to readers of true crime, though.

The Christmas Day Murders by J.B. Smith ★★★

When the bodies of Carla and Stephen Barron were discovered early one Christmas morning, the search for the killer began. The murder investigation that ensued is full of shocking discoveries and provides keen insight into the world of the Texas sheriff who directed the investigation. Critical evidence led Sheriff J. B. Smith's team to solve one of the most compelling cases he's ever seen. (description from back of the book)

The story of the murder investigation is not overly graphic but a simply written tale of how an investigation goes. The sheriff explains his reasoning for believing that the correct person was charged with the crime. It is not the best-written true crime book, but I have read worse.

Rabbit Hole

This story starts on the ten-year anniversary of the disappearance of our main character's sister, Angie, when Teddy was 16 and Angie was 18. On this day, the anniversary of the disappearance, Teddy's father commits suicide. As she cleans out her father's office, which used to be Teddy and Angie's shared bedroom, Teddy finds the notes her father left behind as he continued to investigate Angie's disappearance — and stumbles upon 'true crime' communities on places like Reddit, and all the comments they have made about her, her sister, and their family.

I'm not a huge mystery reader, so others may have different experiences, but I found the reveals satisfying. Sometimes I would put the pieces together a few paragraphs before Teddy did, and sometimes I was totally surprised but could see all the clues in hindsight. Generally, after reading a few chapters, my heart was thumping and my mind was racing. I did cry a few times during this book!

Teddy is the kind of main character who is in a really tough situation and doesn't handle it perfectly. At times I felt that I might have done the same things she did, but at other times I felt her actions were completely unjustifiable and made her less sympathetic. If that is the sort of book that can't hold your interest, I would recommend skipping this one. I also want to note that it had a lot more graphic sex scenes than is to my taste.

However, overall this was a very gripping mystery, investigating ideas like who our family really are and who a tragedy belongs to.

I finished The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks. I think it was excellent and highly recommend it.

Finished Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar (more fictional true crime) and enjoyed it. Full review written!

I read Anne Perry: The Murder of the Century by Peter Graham. Two teenage girls in New Zealand murder the mother of one of the girls and one of those girls is mystery writer, Anne Perry. This was a fascinating story, but I found the telling of it extremely dry and boring.