Your True-Crime Hall of Fame
A question for you about true-crime books, even if you don’t think of yourself as reading much true crime: Which books would you put in a true-crime canon? If someone comes to you and asks for three classics/must-reads in the genre, which three would you recommend?
Let me back up a bit here. For years now, I’ve wanted to do a blog that serves as a sort of review clearinghouse for true-crime pop culture — books, TV shows, documentaries, even Lifetime movies — with all sorts of different features. One of those features is a true-crime pantheon or essential bookshelf, and I’d probably nominate In Cold Blood, Fatal Vision, and The Executioner’s Song. Or Stranger Beside Me. Or Helter Skelter. Or Whitewash. Or do we consider the JFK genre, which is not only gigantic but frequently and very deeply bonkazoo, its own thing…or does it need its own shelf.
All stuff I’m mulling over while I think about getting a site like that off the ground, what to call it (“Blood Read” is not doing it for me), how to find the “Mark Harmon as Ted Bundy” miniseries on DVD, and so on, but in the meantime! Three (3) true-crime classics: go.
Tags: Ann Rule books Harold Weisberg Joe McGinniss Norman Mailer sites true crime Truman Capote Vincent Bugliosi
It’s not pure ‘true crime’, but “Thunderstruck” by Erik Larson offers a fascinating take on the Crippen case against a background of the history of radio/wireless communication.
Filmwise, there’s always “10 Rillington Place” – rarely seen and underrated story based on the Christie murders (and who’d have thought sweet Dickie Attenborough could play such a good creep? Between this and Brighton Rock, I think he could’ve been one of the great baddies, if he’d been cast more often.)
Filmwise, I have to recommend the “West Memphis Three” movies, although they are heartbreaking and infuriating. They need to be seen and reseen so people can understand how easily human nature and prejudice can nudge justice so spectacularly off the rails.
How about “The Monster of Florence: A true story”. A really interesting look at a series of murders in Florence. Plus it connects to the Amanda Knox case.
Would “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father” count?
I read The Trials of Maria Barbella many years ago and remember just loving it. Really obscure and not popular at all, but I was working at a library at the time and stumbled across it.
I (strongly, enthusiastically) suggest these two:
Death at the Priory: Love, Sex, and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick – probably the most fascinating true crime story I’ve ever read, and the first title that comes out of my mouth whenever I have a relevant reason to recommend it to someone.
The Innocent Man by John Grisham – I haven’t read anything else written by Grisham, yet I feel confident in saying it’s likely the best (and certainly the most important) thing he’s ever written.
@Cara, you beat me to it! I know!! It’s terrible. But anyway, <The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art but Matthew Hart. There’s also The Gardner Heist, although it’s been so long since I’ve read it that I don’t remember how I felt about the actual writing.
I also just finished reading Cheryl Paradis’ The Measure of Madness: Inside the Disturbed and Disturbing Criminal Mind, which is focused more on trying to find out why the people she describes did the heinous things they did. I don’t know if that qualifies as completely within the true crime genre, but it’s a great read.
Oh! Also: The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles. I know there’s a whole lot of Black Dahlia crap out there (bite me, Steve Hodel), but this one is genuinely good and makes an actual, believable case against the proposed murderer.
Throwing in a quick second for Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City. The true-crime side is properly terrifying, and it’s an interesting survey of the World’s Columbian Exposition as well.
I am watching this thread and copying and pasting directly from comments into the library reservation system. I devoured Fatal Vision after reading about it here, and look forward to more. So yes Sars, please do pursue this project. I would definitely use it.
My contribution is to suggest Paul’s Case by Lynn Crosbie, a Canadian writer better known for poetry. It’s more speculative fiction than true crime, but if you know anything about the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka case and enjoy really ferociously good writing, this book is stunning.
You may want to try “The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House” It’s really good and talks about one of the first real Scotland Yard Murder cases in 1860. Very interesting.
I may have forgotten the title and author (had to go look it up) but the book itself and the murderer it’s about have stuck with me–
“The Misbegotten Son: The True Story of Arthur J. Shawcross” by Jack Olsen
Hm… I just read two in this genre. I’m usually not a fan but I really liked these:
While They Slept – An Inquiry into the Murder of a Family by Katherine Harrison
The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo (a little preachy but a good story)
And now, I must seek out these other titles! Off to the Kindle library!
Small Sacrifices-This is one of the few good Ann Rule books in my opinion.
Nutcracker Murders by Shana Alexander-I reread this every few years.
John Douglas (most of his works, not all) but especially “The Cases That Haunt Us.”
absolutely “Homicide.”
If it fits,
“Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder by Vincent Bugliosi” is just fascinating. Certainly real people died in a crime.
Ooh, @Cara, you are so right about Skip Hollingsworth’s articles. I hope Texas Monthly will publish a compilation at some point.
Flawless, Scott Selby and Greg Campbell, about the largest diamond heist ever, which happened in 2003 inside the Antwerp Diamond Center.
Storming Las Vegas, John Huddy, about a Cuban emigre who uses his Russian Special Forces skills to knock off a couple of casinos and armored trucks in Las Vegas.
Tokyo Vice, Jake Adelstein, about an American reporter for a Japanese newspaper who ran afoul of the Yakuza and was threatened with death if he kept writing about the bosses.
Dangerous Doses, Katherine Eban, about the illegal prescription drug trade in Florida, and how those drugs you might be taking could be expired, or worse, been stored in the trunk of a Chevy Celebrity instead of a pharmacy fridge.
No Angel, Jay Dobyns, about an ATF man who infiltrates the Hells Angels and almost gets made one of the gang before the investigation is over, his cover is so good.
El Narco, Ioan Grillo, about the drug cartels in Mexico from street level.
Finally, Jump Out Boys, Hank Barr, written by the head sound man and producer of COPS about the first ten years of the show. Sarah’s read this one ;)
Enjoy,
Matt
Love love love Devil in the White City. Read it for a class in college, and still re-read it from time to time. There’s actually a Lights Out (old radio show) episode based on the case as well, called Murder Castle.
Erik Larson, the author of that book, is fantastic in general. I just finished Thunderstruck, also one of his, which is another half-true-crime-half history, this time including the invention of radio. His are usually large-ish books, but they do not read like typical non-fiction at all to me.
Oh, and while I’m going all fan-girl about this, check out Final Witness on ABC. Just watched an episode last night, and it’s totally got a modern-day Unsolved Mysteries feel to it. I may be in love :)
The Boston Stranglers, Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers, and The Black Dahlia.
I also really loved In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter.
The author of “Columbine” had a good ed in the Times about the Aurora shootings and what we DON’T know. Concise, elegant, sad, spot-on. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/the-unknown-why-in-the-aurora-killings.html?_r=1
I can recommend both Philip Sudgen’s and Donald Rumbelow’s Jack the Ripper books.
That leaves one? Okay, it’s not a book, but it’s novella-length: “Angels & Demons.” Horrifying.
If we’re including cybercrime, Clifford Stoll’s The Cuckoo’s Egg would be on my top three.
Votes for Helter Skelter and Devil in the White City, for sure, but I also enjoyed Every Knee Shall Bow, about Ruby Ridge. Very interesting!
The first book that came to mind was “The Devil in the White City.”
“The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher” by Kate Summerscale. Cannot recommend this highly enough.
“One of Your Own” by Carol Ann Lee (about Myra Hindley/Ian Brady). Brilliantly done.
“The Unicorn’s Secret” by Steven Levy (Ira Einhorn/Holly Maddux). I’ve probably read this a dozen times.
“The Complete Jack the Ripper” by Donald Rumbelow is a great old chestnut. And Patricia Cornwell deserved to be criticised for stating that she’d closed the case, but “Portrait of a Killer” IS a very interesting read, and one I go back to again and again.
Oh! AND “The Poet and the Murderer: A True Story of Verse, Violence and the Art of Forgery” by Simon Worrall. Totally gripping, some great history in there, and incredibly interesting descriptions of historical-document forgery techniques too.
I wish someone would read this and tell me what THEY think happened, because I’ve read it 3 times and still can’t figure that shit out.
Oh, and Sars, do you know about this website? http://www.moviesbasedontruestoriesdatabase.blogspot.com/
I have to ask rather than suggest:
Any recommendations for a good, solid, and well-written review of Jack the Ripper? There are so many books available, I just don’t know where to start – and would prefer something that is more along the lines of “Just the facts, ma’am” instead of wild conspiracies.
Thanks!
Although if I had to suggest, I would definitely include Helter Skelter.
@Lisa, I love/hate you for that link!
@AnnaN, I’m in the middle of one right now — it lives at the BF’s house, so it’s taking me kind of a while to get through it — that’s very good. It gives some historical background, but not so much that you’re drumming your fingers, and it goes into more detail about the conclusions John Douglas draws (or starts to) in “The Cases That Haunt Us.” It’s by Robert House, link here.
@AnnaN, you (and other true-crime afficionados) might also like http://www.casebook.org for Jack the Ripper. It’s EXHAUSTIVE. You can spend hours there (not that I’ve done that *cough*).
Thank you Sarah and Tina. I’m on it!
I’m on the fence about “Helter Skelter”, since it could have been much better (Bugliosi tends to ramble and pontificate a bit, the book is kind of all over the place, although there are parts that are brilliant), but this is the book that started me on my road to Death Hag-dom, and now the Manson Murders are kind of my ‘pet’ case. So I have to love it for that reason alone.
“A Death in Greenwich”, about the Martha Moxley murder (by now-convicted Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel) is quite riveting, whether you love or hate Mark Fuhrman. I don’t feel one way or the other about him personally.
I suppose “In Cold Blood” would be my third, even though I don’t really like Capote’s style, but the case is very interesting.
I’m probably too late for anyone to read this, but I love ‘And the Sea Will Tell’. It’s by Vincent Bugliosi and is just a great read.
Not sure if this is entirely what you are looking for but I also love ‘The Smartest Men in the Room’ about the Enron scandal.
Any of the sensationalist write-ups by Harold Schechter, especially DERANGED: The story of Albert Fish and Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief by Bill Mason.
Ditto on Under the Banner of Heaven. Still gives me the heebie jeebies!
Ooh, I forgot one! The biography of Squeaky Fromme. Worth reading in conjunction with Helter Skelter. Amazingly, the part after Manson is arrested is still fascinating.
I’ll third or fourth Under the Banner of Heaven, as it’s one of my favorites in years.
I’m also partial to Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People (probably the best book on that subject, and I’ve read almost everything, including the paltry selection of academic books on the subject).
I don’t love Gregg Olsen, but I do think Bitter Almonds is great. About the Excedrin killings.
A Kindle discovery two summers ago was The Yosemite Murders by Dennis McDougal. This one is fascinating because it’s about what happened to the older brother of Steven Stayner (“I Know My First Name is Steven”), who is now on death row.
It’s also really well written.
Fatal Vision and Helter Skelter are so awesome because of the relationships between the author and the accused. There’s actually a personal stake in the writing in a way that most straight reporting can’t really achieve. For that reason, I suggest a book you recommended a while ago about Christian Longo called TRUE STORY. The back-and-forth between the murderer and the journalist is riveting and adds this almost “unreliable narrator” aspect to the book.
For movies, don’t forget the Amy Fisher genre. Drew Barrymore, Alyssa Milano: How can you choose just one???
Two of my favorites, both well-written and well-researched accounts by respected journalists:
1.The Healer: A True Story of Medicine and Murder, by Leonard Levitt. An Amazon reviewer’s excellent summary: “He lives a double life at the expense of his wife’s sanity until he ends it all for her with a syringe full of Demerol.” Charles Friedgood, M.D., almost got away with it, too. The Long Island heart surgeon, who’d planned to use his late wife’s money to finance a life abroad with his Danish mistress, even signed his wife’s death certificate (!), saying that Sophie Friedgood had died of a stroke (!!).
2. Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder, by James Stewart. Michael Swango, also known as “Dr. Death,” has admitted to only four killings, although the FBI believes he was responsible for as many as 60 deaths (no, not a typo) during the 15 years when he was a medical student, an intern, and a physician at hospitals in the U.S. and Africa.
What’s really scary is that the medical community (medical school classmates and instructors, fellow doctors, and hospital administrators) had many chances to blow the whistle on both Friedgood and Swango but chose not to.
Friedgood cheated, falsified records, and screwed up surgical procedures, costing him job after job until he wound up working in bare-bones inner-city clinics, preying on the poor and working-class patients who had few other choices for health care. “Swango too often found himself inexplicably near the beds of patients who died but had recently been very alive,” says a doctor who reviewed Blind Eye for the New England Journal of Medicine.
But both docs benefited from regulators’ failure to share crucial information with their counterparts in other states (Swango served prison time in Illinois for poisoning his co-workers on an ambulance service, but he still obtained residencies in New York and South Dakota); hospital administrators’ fears that they’d be sued if they gave a physician a negative recommendation or tried to get his license pulled; and the tendency of other doctors to cover up for their colleagues. Pretty scary.
I just finished “The Killer of Little Shepherds”, and it’s a great story with some fantastic detail, but it drags in places. I kept it on my true crime bookshelf.
I’m another Ann Rule reader. I picked up “The Stranger Beside Me” at a lakehouse one night and could not put it down. I thought “The Only Living Witness” was written well too. I wrote a paper on Bundy for my deviant behavior class.
I can highly recommend “Talked to Death” by Stephen Singular. It’s about the murder of radio DJ Alan Berg, but it also traces the history of white supremacism.
@Kathy “Blood and Money” is one of my favorites, partly because every time I reread and bring it on the subway, at least one person sees it and says “oooo, Blood and Money, that looks fascinating.”
Thompson’s other book, Serpentine, is even better. Although Thompson’s sexist ageism bugs. (He considers women to be ‘rapidly aging’ around 27 or so.)
Helter Skelter is one of my favorites, there’s just something about the way Bugliosi dives into his job that’s endearing.
Very late to the party, but had to recommend the book Anatomy of Injustice. It reads like a thriller, but will make you incredibly angry at the miscarriage of justice perpetuated by the police and the courts.
I thought Columbine was good too, but I’m troubled by the way everyone seems to want to let Dylan Klebold off the hook as if he wasn’t really a killer. The book doesn’t go into much detail about what happened in the library and it seems a little suspicious to me, given that Klebold killed a number of the victims there.
Interesting; maybe I experienced it differently as an audiobook, but I thought Klebold was…well, “annoying,” for lack of a term with more gravitas. Not that I’d want my diaries from high school read into the books-on-tape record, but he came off rather slappably, for me.
I’m not sure who you mean by “everyone,” though. The author of the book wrote a great piece for the NYT editorial page in response to the Dark Knight shooting, about not being too reductive about mass murderers. I think he knows there’s nuance there, unresolved complexity, especially with Klebold
I am coming to this super late too, but I really loved Zodiac by Robert Graysmith. I admit that part of my fascination with this one is because I grew up in Northern California, but it’s still a great, creepy read.
Totally agree with @Jane about The Cuckoo’s Egg! Fascinating look into uncovering computer crime before anyone (except hackers) suspected such a thing could exist.
http://tinyurl.com/9fzn2zk
I have such a long list of books to read after reading this thread! And I have one to contribute that is a bit different.
The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog by Bruce D. Perry.
He’s a child psychologist and writes about how children he’s worked with have coped with being the victims of crimes (including abuse/neglect hence the title) and what led up to them committing crimes.
[…] This is the inaugural installment of The Blotter, the true-crime/pop-culture project I mentioned some time ago. This is kind of a provisional place for/version of it until I see what […]
Pretty neat site. Check out 1: Angel of Darkness) The story of Randy Kraft. 2) The Serial Killer Whisperer This is just down right I dont know how to catorgize that puppy. 3)The Ultimute Evil. By Robert GraySmith-The Zodiac writer.
Movies 1) Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer.
2) Citizen X- The Red Ripper -from Russia with love and loathing
3) What ever you are filming now you sick little puppy.