Shadowman: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profilingby Ron Franscell (Berkley Books 2022) was an expertly paced and thoroughly researched true crime book about a strange and tragic series of crimes and the early days of FBI profiling that had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Franscell’s …
Scoundrel by Sarah Weinman
Sarah Weinman’s Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Constative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free (Knopf 2022) tells the wild tale of Edgar Smith, a man who was convicted of the 1957 murder of fifteen-year-old Victoria Zielinski and was sentenced to death. Smith, however, was never put …
The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale
In her award-winning book The Wicked Boy: An Infamous Murder in Victorian London (Penguin Books, 2017), Kate Summerscale provides a vivid narrative of the life of Robert Allen Coombes, who at age thirteen murdered his mother in her sleep. Born in 1882, Coombes and his younger brother Nattie spent most of their childhood in the …
A Taste for Poison by Neil Bradbury
Neil Bradbury’s new book, A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them, is a fascinating and fresh take on true crime narrative forms. Rather than just recount the stories of killers who murder by poisoning, Bradbury shifts the focus to the substances themselves. Across eleven sections, accompanied by a helpful …
Catch the Sparrow by Rachel Rear
Rachel Rear’s Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister and the Truth of her Murder (Bloomsbury, 2022) tells the complex and devastating story of Stephanie Kupchynsky’s 1991 disappearance and murder. Rear grew up in Greece, New York, and was fourteen when Stephanie went missing. She remembers the case well and spends many poignant passages in the book discussing …
The Prince, The Princess, and the Perfect Murder by Andrew Rose
True crime lovers and royal history fans alike need look no further than The Prince, The Princess, and the Perfect Murder: The First Great Love of Edward VIII’s Life, the Sensational Consequences, and the Establishment Cover Up (Coronet, 2013) by Andrew Rose for a book that combines both. Before he became King Edward VIII in …
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Slonim Woods 9 by Daniel Barban Levin
Daniel Barban Levin’s Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir (Penguin Random House, 2021) tells the story about his experience in the so-called “Sarah Lawrence Cult.” Levin’s experience in this cult began when he was attending Sarah Lawrence College his housemate’s father—Larry Ray, who had just gotten out of prison—moved in with Levin and the rest of his housemates. Ray proved …
Lost in the Valley of Death by Harley Rustad
Harley Rustad’s new book, Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas, recounts the strange and tragic story of one travel blogger’s disappearance into the Himalayan mountains. With journalistic excellence, however, Rustad connects this mystery to a number of other strange disappearances in India, asking important questions about …
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Rachel’s Top Five True Crime Texts of 2021
This week, we finish up our top five series with Rachel's top texts of 2021. Check them out below! 1) When She Was Bad by Patricia Pearson (Penguin Random House, 2021) Pearson’s text, as a reprint of the same 1997 edition with a new chapter, is shockingly still relevant. I loved this book’s meditation on the way …
Jesyka’s Top Five True Crime Texts of 2021
As we near the end of 2021, all of us at True Crime Index have been looking back on a year of excellent books. We wanted to share these favourites with you in hopes that you too will give them a read. Up first is Jesyka's Top Five: Empire of Pain: The Secret History of …
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