Considering True Crime through academic and popular perspectives with reviews, interviews and more.
Murder at No. 4 Euston Square: The Mystery of the Lady in the Cellar by Sinclair McKay is just the kind of true crime I enjoy: historical, full of intrigue, and the well-researched work of an experienced historian. Not only is this crime compelling, but McKay does not miss a single detail in his …
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I was excited to read and review Silver Donald Cameron’s Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes (Viking 2020) because its story takes place in Petit de Grat, a small Acadian fishing village off the coast of Cape Breton Island. My family is spread across Nova Scotia, but my roots are in …
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The current popularity of true crime has raised many ethical questions about the consumption of works with the genre. Is it moral to be entertained by such horrible things? What does the public owe the victims and their families? Unsolved cases raise even more questions, because it is easy for people to get caught up …
Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated a Nation (Harper Avenue, 2015) by Dean Jobb is the story of perhaps the greatest swindler of the twentieth century. Although the better-known Charles Ponzi is remembered today as the greatest con artist of all time, the elaborate schemes …
Katherine Dykstra’s What Happened to Paula: On the Death of an American Girl (Norton 2021) is a thoroughly researched and deeply personal account of a woman’s investigation into the death of a midwestern American teenager. It also discusses the through lines that Paula’s victimization has with women’s lives across time, including the author’s own. Late …
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Marc Bookman’s essay collection A Descending Spiral: Exposing the Death Penalty in 12 Essays (The New Press, 2021) is a brutal and illuminating look at the death penalty in the United States. Bookman is the executive director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, an organization dedicated to reducing the number of death sentences in Pennsylvania. Prior to …
The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer (Harper Collins, 2021) by Dean Jobb is an excellent and comprehensive historical true crime narrative that integrates the crimes of one man into a social, political, and cultural context. Historically rich and shockingly poignant, Jobb’s text is not one to …
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In her recently re-released book The Lady of Sing Sing: An American Countess, An Italian Immigrant, and their Epic Battle for Justice in New York’s Gilded Age (Simon & Schuster 2020), previously published as The Trials of Maria Barbella (1996), Idanna Pucci recounts the harrowing story of young Italian immigrant Maria Barbella. After being convicted of murdering her lover, …
Sometimes all we really want to read is a really good story. Crime Time: Twenty True Tales of Murder, Madness and Mayhem (Lyons Press, 2021) by J. North Conway offers just that in spades. Gathering together some of the most prolific and little-known stories of violence, robbery, and murder, Conway’s text is a fun anthology …
As someone who is currently writing a dissertation on California literature, I couldn’t wait to pick up Bob Calhoun’s The Murders that Made Us: How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers, and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area (ECW Press, 2021). My work focuses mostly on Southern California, so I was eager to see what Calhoun …
