It’s starting to bug that every true crime book now has to be the “crime of the century” or, in this case, “the kidnapping that changed America”. Want to know what big change this historic kidnapping caused? The crime of kidnapping was changed from a misdemeanor to a felony. That’s it! That was pretty much its only legacy; no one that bungled this case even learned their lesson. A bunch of people failed spectacularly here and the only outcome was that kidnapping now had a […]
Good Intentions, Horrible Execution (No Pun Intended) (I Probably Shouldn’t Make Serial Killer Puns)
It’s important that I stress this first: Larry Crompton seems like a wonderful person and his dedication to the victims, even after his retirement from law enforcement, is more than admirable. That said, and even he agrees with me in the introduction, a writer he is not. And I don’t place the blame entirely on his shoulders either; the publisher should not just fire their editors, but draw and quarter them and then literally set them on fire. When the possessive form of “it” makes […]
It was Arthur Leigh Allen. I Just Saved You Time.
Graysmith wrote what is considered the definitive book on the Zodiac back in the 80’s. It was so well researched and well done that when someone in a police department retired and another officer inherited the Zodiac case, that book was required reading. This is not that book. Due to libel, Graysmith wasn’t able to publish the circumstantial evidence that made Arthur Leigh Allen the best bet for the Zodiac. So once Allen kicked it (yeah, I know I shouldn’t be so flippant, but Allen […]
A little slice of Savannah.
I’d been looking forward to reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for quite some time. Ever since I read Capote’s In Cold Blood, I’ve been really interested in well-written true crime books, particularly ones written in the form of a non-fiction novel, a form that Capote pioneered. What I ended up getting was one but not really the other. This book isn’t really true-crime, although it has elements of that genre, and there is a murder at the heart of the narrative. But that’s not what […]
The Italian police are just the worst.
I picked up The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi several times at my local used book store and the library before I actually bought it. The cover, which depicts a Renaissance sculpture, suggests that the “True Story” takes place at that time. In reality, the Monster of Florence murders occurred between 1968 and 1985, and were never solved. The scandalous killings of 16 people, each involved couples, murdered at local trysting spots amongst the hillsides around the city of Florence. Both […]
This is what happens when a comedian writes a true crime book.
Man, it’s been a really long time since I’ve had a book hangover, I forgot what it was like. I also forgot that you can usually tell when it’s about to happen. Towards the end of the book–which you have finished at all costs, ignoring sleep and food–you start to feel a little funny, like the boundaries between real life and book life have disappeared. And then afterwards, you’re just done. With books, with stories, with bathing. After I finished it, I ended up starting […]