I harbor a not-so-secret fondness for true crime novels. In fact, I went through a phase in the 90s where I read almost nothing but true crime, until I realized that most true crime novels are formulaic and boring (because most true crimes are formulaic and boring).
If you have never explored the True Crime shelves, here's a short list of the best of the best:
1. Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
Capote's 1966 book about a quadruple murder in small-town Kansas is generally considered to be the first (mostly) non-fiction novel. This ground-breaking true crime novel is as vivid and terrifying today as it was in the 60s.
2. Ann Rule, The Stranger Beside Me
Ann Rule's book revitalized the True Crime genre, which had largely sunk out of the popular consciousness by the time Ted Bundy began stalking the streets of Seattle - when he wasn't working alongside the unsuspecting Rule at a crisis hotline. Her book not only emphasized how normal the average serial killer appears to his friends and coworkers, it also launched Rule's inimitable writing career.
3. Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City
The 1893 Chicago World's Fair featured Thomas Edison, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Susan B. Anthony - and a charming doctor who lured victims to a hotel that he purpose-built for the occasion, where he killed them and dismembered their bodies. A truly amazing work of historical research and gripping writing, and it's all true.
4. John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
This book breaks every convention of the genre. Instead of being based on the research the author gathers, the author himself is the narrator, describing his entertaining search for the truth about a high society murder in Savannah, GA. Populated with wacky characters and more southern Gothic than you can shake a stick at, Midnight is quite an entertaining read.
Image courtesy Flickr/intrepidteacher
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