Snake Eyes: Murder in a Southern Town by Bitty Martin (Rowan & Littlefield 2022) is a straightforward and classic example of true crime that focuses on a little-known case, beginning in 1960s Arkansas, and the complex people and events that led to its resolution years later. Martin’s book begins with the sudden and shocking death …
Tag: literary
Shadowman by Ron Franscell
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 …
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 …
True Crime Holiday Gift Guide – True Crime Index
This year at True Crime Index, we have been fortunate enough to read some of the best and most-anticipated true crime texts published this year. Covering an array of crimes and historical periods, the texts we reviewed this year featured something that appealed to nearly every true crime buff. Therefore, we’ve decided to put together …
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A Killer by Design by Ann Wolbert Burgess
For fans of John Douglas’ Mindhunter (1995) and Robert Ressler’s Whoever Fights Monsters (1992), foundational true crime texts on the history and genesis of FBI criminal profiling, Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess’s new book A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and my Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind (Hachette Books 2021) is the culmination of an …
White Hot Hate by Dick Lehr
A thoroughly researched and incredibly expansive true crime text about a recent case and its social, political, and geographical contexts, Dick Lehr’s White Hot Hate (Mariner Books 2021) is perfect for readers interested in the US justice system and the complex consequences of fanaticism and misinformation. Lehr’s book is a deep-dive into a 2016 case …
Mystery at the Blue Sea Cottage
Mystery at the Blue Sea Cottage by James Stewart James Stewart’s Mystery at the Blue Sea Cottage: A True Story of Murder in San Diego’s Jazz Age (Wild Blue Press 2021) is a compelling true crime tale of murder, mystery, and the glitz and glamour of California’s performance culture in 1920s America. The text recounts …
Cultish by Amanda Montell
Amanda Montell’s Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (Harper Wave 2021)is a deep-dive into the linguistics surrounding cults and other groups. Montell’s study covers various groups whose affiliations are based on adherence to a set of core values that are reinforced through the use of language. A compelling new book, Montell’s well-researched and humorous text tries …
The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream by Dean Jobb
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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