“Stephen Jackley had, like many young people, looked around and concluded that the world was not fair. And like many young people, he’d wanted to make a difference. It’s just that, rather than going on protest marches, involving himself in politics, or running sponsored marathons, Stephen ended up robbing banks.” In the later parts of …
Tag: reading
Autopsy by Ryan Blumenthal
As true crime enjoys a recent surge in popularity, we have learned that the most compelling stories, and the most worthwhile ones, are told firsthand. Whether it is victims writing their true stories of trauma, or first responders recounting the harrowing details of a case, true crime readers tend to clamour for the authentic narrative …
At Any Cost by Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar
Even the most tragically familiar stories can devolve into shocking and unbelievable true crime cases. Part true crime narrative and part courtroom drama, At Any Cost: A Father’s Betrayal, A Wife’s Murder, and a Ten-Year War for Justice by Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar (2021 St. Martin’s Press), recounts the worst results of domestic violence …
Continue reading At Any Cost by Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
My favorite nonfiction texts are those that place narratives about individuals in larger sociological contexts, because they draw the reader in on a human level and allow them to connect with larger-than-life stories. Not only does no other work of true crime do that better than The Devil in The White City: Murder, Magic, and …
Autopsy of a Crime Lab by Brandon L. Garrett
Brandon L. Garrett’s monograph Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics (University of California Press, 2021) is a brutally honest look at the inadequacies of forensic science, its practitioners, and a legal system that legitimizes aspects of the field that seemingly have no genuine scientific basis. In this carefully and expertly researched book, Garrett, …
Continue reading Autopsy of a Crime Lab by Brandon L. Garrett
Last Call by Elon Green
Elon Green’s Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York (Celadon Books 2021) has three central avenues of exploration: a queer history of the United States and New York City in the 1980s and 90s, a history of the AIDS crisis and its massively devastating effect on the queer …
Wish You Were Here by John Allore and Patricia Pearson
“I found myself asking, what would my sister have made of all this? Was I championing her cause or making a fool of myself? Our series had taken the police and the school totally off guard, and I was enjoying every minute of it. But was Theresa laughing alongside me, or scorning me for being …
Continue reading Wish You Were Here by John Allore and Patricia Pearson
Rachel’s Top Ten True Crime Books
Hi all! This week as we continue to introduce ourselves and the world to this site, Rachel has her Top Ten True Crime Books (so far!). While her list is an eclectic mix of time periods and authors, you can definitely tell where she brings together her interest in Victorian scholarship and true crime. Click …
