Murder, Madness and Mayhem: Twenty-Five Tales of True Crime and Dark History

by Mike Browne

In the spirit of the popular Canadian podcast Dark Poutine, host Mike Browne chronicles some of his all-time favourite stories

In Murder with a Twist, we are confronted by unusual weird motives, strange perpetrators and bizarre murder weapons. In one story, we see a man who is willing to kill to possess a human voice. In another, two women in an elder-care home play a deadly game to prove their love to each other.

Perpetual Puzzles covers six stories that remain unresolved and will leave you with more questions than answers. They include the archaeological find of the century, which turns out to be something far more sinister, as well as the discovery of a dead man on the beach with a mysterious clue in his pocket.

The Madness of Crowds reveals that murder and mayhem are sometimes a group effort. We meet two young Canadians who leave home one summer to find work and instead end up on a murder spree, and a bizarre California cult that asks its members to topple the Mormon church.

The book concludes with Notable Disasters, which describes some of the most tragic and deadly events in history, including the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, as well as the disastrous Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017.

The book includes a foreword by Alan R. Warren, bestselling true crime author and host of the House of Mystery Radio Show.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Crime, Mystery, Canada

333 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2021

Reviews

[Ammar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok
Expected better selection

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a real fan of true crime nor do I care to ogle at disasters, so this didn't do a lot for me, but it was well narrated & interesting enough. Given the number he covers, there isn't a lot of depth on any of them, but that was did work for me. An overview plus some odd details was all I needed & he went beyond that most of the time. I think the ToC covers the rest pretty well.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Murder with a Twist
Chapter 1: Girl Gone
Chapter 2: Spell Murder for Me
Chapter 3: The Boozing Barber
Chapter 4: The Elementary School Murderer
Chapter 5: Bad Apples
Chapter 6: Sing a Song of Murder
Chapter 7: Antifreeze and a Cold Heart

Part 2: Perpetual Puzzles
Chapter 8: The Oak Island Mystery
Chapter 9: Who Was the Persian Princess?
Chapter 10: The Love Me Tender Murders
Chapter 11: Dark Water
Chapter 12: The Unknown Man
Chapter 13: The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Part 3: The Madness of Crowds
Chapter 14: Northern Rampage
Chapter 15: The UFO Cult
Chapter 16: Colonia Dignidad
Chapter 17: The Ripper Crew
Chapter 18: Los Narcosatánicos
Chapter 19: Children of Thunder

Part 4: Notable Disasters
Chapter 20: The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918
Chapter 21: The Eruption of Mount St. Helens
Chapter 22: The Space Shuttle Challenger Explosion
Chapter 23: The Grenfell Tower Fire
Chapter 24: The Boxing Day Tsunami
Chapter 25: The Chilean Mining Accident

[Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a long time listener of Dark Poutine Podcast and I always look forward to new episodes on Mondays. Mike Browne is a fabulous podcast host and I love how he discusses every case with compassion and care without sensationalising the cases. So, when he announced about his new book, I was over the moon, and I knew I had to read it! This book was fantastic and I LOVED it!

There are twenty five new and fascinating true crime stories and dark history which are divided into four categories:

Murder With A Twist - cases with strange motives, bizarre murder weapons and methods of killing.

Perpetual Puzzles - cases that remain unsolved and filled with mystery.

The Madness of Crowds - cults. Really weird cults.

Notable Disasters - tragic events in history.

Mike Browne is a great storyteller and his writing is so engaging. It was difficult to put down this book and I try not to finish it in one sitting! Some of the cases are difficult to read due to the nature of the crimes but overall, there is not a lot of gore details.

In a nutshell, this is a MUST READ!


Pub. Date: Nov 2nd, 2021

***Thank you HarperCollins Canada and NetGalley for this gifted review copy to read and review. All opinions expressed are my own.***

[Randi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and felt incredibly meh about it. It felt more like a random assortment of short stories than a book - nothing really tying the stories together or drawing me in encouraging me to listen further. Didn’t have the details or rapport that a podcast of a similar nature would have. The story’s seemed to really gloss over things and end so abruptly. It was fine, but probably wouldn’t recommend to a friend.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5
Audiobook
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really love the Dark Poutine Podcast, and for the most part this book followed suit. I would have liked it more if the stories stayed more “true” to the Dark Poutine podcast vibe and stuck to Canadian true crime, folklore, etc.
Overall it was an enjoyable listen!

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually so good and gave me a new podcast to listen to once I’ve caught up to my current ones. Love that it’s Canadian based, I’ll always support my home land! That being said this book touched briefly on a lot of really interesting stories and had me totally engrossed. My only complaint is that some stories were so interesting that I was left feeling dissatisfied and wanting more.

[Milana M (acouplereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Browne, host of the popular Canadian true crime podcast Dark Poutine, has put together a compilation of his fave true crime stories and dark history tales. Divided into 4 sections, only 2 stories have been covered on the podcast so most of the information has not been covered if you’re a fan of the podcast.

This is only my second true crime book so take this however you choose but I don’t think this style of storytelling was for me. It was more of a cut and dry recollection of facts, a bit like a Wikipedia article. Whereas I prefer more of a storytelling aspect to the writing.

There were quite a few entries that I already have more in depth books waiting for me so I either skimmed or skipped those entirely. There were others that I’d already heard in great detail on other podcasts so those were interesting but since each entry was about 5-7 pages long it wasn’t adding any additional information to what I already knew.

Overall it was just okay for me and I was hoping for more of a personal touch or anecdotes with the stories, and less of a textbook style of reporting. A bit of a bust for the first read of the year personally, 3✨.

[Paris Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhhh this was good but I really should not have kept reading after realising that it was all true crime stories and not fiction

[Kathleen Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of stories, mostly well known but a few more obscure. I love the variety - solved, unsolved, murders, disapearances, natural disasters, etc. It's a great read if you want an overview of a bunch of cases.

The beginning was a bit hard to get through as I personally found it a bit triggering- the author shares his experience being almost kidnapped as a child- and how this traumatic experience lead to a later interest in true crime. It's compelling, and I'm glad the author included it- but it caught me a bit off guard.

I also had to skip the chapter on Sylvia Marie Likens. I just personally couldn't stomach that horrific story of abuse and SA. The nice thing about this books format is that it's broken up into different cases, so you can easily pick and choose, skipping over cases you find uninteresting or too brutal.

The rest of the book I found engaging and a good read. The audiobook is great and feels just like a podcast- just longer and with multiple stories.

If you enjoy true crime podcasts or documentaries, you would enjoy this book.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very compelling and engaging!

[Becky H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been listening to the Dark Poutine podcast for a while, after hearing about it on from the fantastic My Favorite Murder.

This book is full of 25 stories - it covers natural disasters, murders, mysteries, and cults. I liked the variety of the stories (most of which have been featured on tv shows like 'Forsenic Files' or some National Geographic special).

I liked the different sections in this book, as I don't think it's necessarily a binge read. I picked through it depending on my mood or what I was interested in - while there's no new material covered for a true crime buff, the material is covered with real compassion and humanity. The writing done is factual but with human interest being the most important aspect.

I'll keep listening, and keep reading if there's another one of these books in the works.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.

I would have thought with a name like "Dark Poutine" to distinguish himself as a Canadian podcaster that they would be Canadian-based story, but none of them were.
A lot of the stories were just regurgitated facts from well-known stories, with nothing new presented. Some of them were lesser-known, but incredibly gruesome. There was no in depth look, or an attempt to connect any of the stories with humanity.

[Laura]

I'm calling it at the final part. I need to do better at ending a book even if I haven't finished it. There's not enough time in the world. I had hoped for some interesting cases but there's mostly the most famous ones in the world, with no insight or analysis or anything additional here that makes his specific recounting worthwhile. Instead of little known Canadian cases we have Elisa Lam and Heaven's Gate told as if he is reading off of wikipedia, and a Somerton Man that I am pretty sure I could have recited off the top of my head. Aside from one quick reminder that indigenous women are often targeted because the cops straight don't care, there's really no opinion or discussion in any of the stories, even in places where it really should have. Murderers claiming they were in a satanic cult hit my "well that sounds fake" meter before he dryly told us "police found no evidence of the cult and this story was later recanted". I just need true crime authors to give literally any reason for me to listen to THEM tell me this story rather than any of the millions of other podcasts or books. A point of view, a quirk of humor, a delicate hand with respect to the victims, anything.

[Dayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love true crime, so I wasn't too put off by the simplicity of this book and the way it relayed some of the more popular (and occasionally lesser known) cases.

That being said though, I also was expecting...more? With a title like that, this book was somewhat dry. It had a lot of murder, but lacked a bit of madness and mayhem. I listened to the audiobook and I'll admit that there were times where my mind refused to focus on what I was listening to because I wasn't that invested.

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves true crime because of the stories are very intriguing, but it definitely felt more like a podcast (which props because that's what this is based on, right?) then a go-to book for the true crime enthusiast.

Happy reading!

[Courtney MA · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realized early on that I wasn’t the audience for this book. As a true crime aficionado, I heard about or read about 90% of the stories told in this book and was therefore quite bored. However! If you like true crime in small amounts this is perfect for you, or if you’re new to true crime/dark history. I will say some of the details were unnecessary and the writing wasn’t stellar. You can clearly tell the author is a podcast host and I think that’s probably the medium in which he thrives at storytelling.

[Amanda Borys · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not an afficionado of true crime and I did recognize some of these true crime stories. However, overall I though the book was well put together and the stories were well written and sympathetic. The part I liked the best was the final section, about natural disasters. The true crime stories are hard to take after a bit, as it is hard to understand how there could be that many cruel and selfish people out there.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this book of short stories. 👍🏼 It was a good read, I should’ve been done much sooner than I was, but I really procrastinated with my reading this past year (only completing 5 books). 😑 My favourite genre for reading is nonfiction (specifically true crime), and I also really enjoy listening to true crime podcasts, so this book was right up my alley. 🎯 I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that also enjoys true crime. 🙌🏼

[Courtney Lavallee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good for what it was, I learned some new things but also had quite a few stories I already knew a ton about.

This was still an enjoyable read, especially just coming out of a slump. It was easy to read and enjoy while not having to learn a whole new world, or keep characters straight ect.

[Amanda (bookedwithamanda) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a good book and the stories are quick but informative. If you're newer to true crime this would be a great addition to your reading list. I already knew most (if not all) the stories but I still enjoyed reading them.

[Melissa Whalen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! As a big fan of Dark Poutine I would like to say how proud I am of Mike. He is a fantastic host and now a fantastic author. I loved the style of the different categories and cases/stories. Super excited to read the next one!

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of the Dark Poutine podcast, and I was excited to listen to this audiobook read by the author & host. This compilation of Canadian and worldwide crimes and disasters delivers Browne’s trademark focus on victims while relating the facts of the cases without the digressions of the pod. One hates to call something so dark entertaining, but this book is.

Read on audio through my public library.

[Amie's Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a True Crime fan. I listen and subscribe to several true crime podcasts. As I live in Canada, I am extra interested in those podcasts which are Canadian based. It is through that medium that I first became aware of Mike Browne.

Mike Browne is the host and creator of the "Dark Poutine" podcast. When I learned he was planning to author a book of true stories, I was immediately intrigued. I wondered if he would simply convert episodes of the podcast into written form or if he planned to tell all-new tales. I now have my answer. Instead of rehashing stories he had previously covered, MURDER, MADNESS AND MAYHEM is filled with new and fascinating true stories.

The book contains a total of 25 stories, which have been divided into four categories. Those categories are:

MURDER WITH A TWIST contains seven stories that prove that truth really is stranger than fiction. The strangest is the story about spelling out the word M-U-R-D-E-R.:

PERPETUAL PUZZLES consists of six stories that remain mysteries to this day. These tales are guaranteed to leave readers wondering.  

THE MADNESS OF CROWDS delves into the weirdness that can develop when twisted people join together.

and

NOTABLE DISASTERS is not a typical chapter you would find in any other true crime book... This is a good thing. I love that Author Mike Browne included such events as the horrific Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, and the story of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, England that took the lives of 72 people and injured more than 60 others in June of 2017.

You will definitely want your friends and family to read this book so that you can discuss it with them. If you work in an office, this book is sure to heat up conversations around the water cooler.

One of the characteristics that I most appreciate about Mike Browne is that he does not cheapen his stories by resorting to shock value. He includes enough details to ensure the reader understands the magnitude of what the victims suffered, but does not include gratuitous gore.

Mike Browne is a fabulous podcast host, and now he has expanded into being a fantastic author as well. I look forward to his next book as well as to the next episode of Dark Poutine.

I rate MURDER, MADNESS AND MAYHEM as a solid 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

Merged review:

I am a True Crime fan. I listen and subscribe to several true crime podcasts. As I live in Canada, I am extra interested in those podcasts which are Canadian based. It is through that medium that I first became aware of Mike Browne.

Mike Browne is the host and creator of the "Dark Poutine" podcast. When I learned he was planning to author a book of true stories, I was immediately intrigued. I wondered if he would simply convert episodes of the podcast into written form or if he planned to tell all-new tales. I now have my answer. Instead of rehashing stories he had previously covered, MURDER, MADNESS AND MAYHEM is filled with new and fascinating true stories.

The book contains a total of 25 stories, which have been divided into four categories. Those categories are:

MURDER WITH A TWIST contains seven stories that prove that truth really is stranger than fiction. The strangest is the story about spelling out the word M-U-R-D-E-R.:

PERPETUAL PUZZLES consists of six stories that remain mysteries to this day. These tales are guaranteed to leave readers wondering.  

THE MADNESS OF CROWDS delves into the weirdness that can develop when twisted people join together.

and

NOTABLE DISASTERS is not a typical chapter you would find in any other true crime book... This is a good thing. I love that Author Mike Browne included such events as the horrific Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, and the story of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, England that took the lives of 72 people and injured more than 60 others in June of 2017.

You will definitely want your friends and family to read this book so that you can discuss it with them. If you work in an office, this book is sure to heat up conversations around the water cooler.

One of the characteristics that I most appreciate about Mike Browne is that he does not cheapen his stories by resorting to shock value. He includes enough details to ensure the reader understands the magnitude of what the victims suffered, but does not include gratuitous gore.

Mike Browne is a fabulous podcast host, and now he has expanded into being a fantastic author as well. I look forward to his next book as well as to the next episode of Dark Poutine.

I rate MURDER, MADNESS AND MAYHEM as a solid 5 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

[Lilian · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of Mike's Dark Poutine podcast, I really appreciated how much education I still got from this book.

I learned new things about Elisa Lam's case and the Dyatlov disaster and got a brand new education on Glen Taylor Helzer and the case of Catherine & Gwendolyn, the murderous nurses.

Just like his podcast, Mike's book is educational and respectful of the victims and their families--and his narration in the audiobook is compelling & captivating! A must listen for any true crime fan!

[Jilly Wonker]

I listen to this podcast and bought this book. It is nicely-written and has digestible recounts of true to life events. Although I would say I am familiar with most of these cases already 😅😅

[Mike Mackley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, wasn’t a huge fan of this book. There are 25 short stories and maybe 5-6 fit the bill of “True Crime”. I don’t consider natural disasters like Mount St. Helens or the Chilean mine disaster true crime. It’s not poorly written or anything like that and some of the stories are pretty good. That said, the stories are just re-written and fairly popular stories. Nothing new an interesting. Overall disappointed.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get myself to finish the book. It is separated into 3 parts and only the first one is captivating. I stopped a few pages into part 3. I found there was far too much backstory most of which was not relevant (siblings ages etc). I still learned a lot from the parts I did read though. Stories that occurred in my lifetime and in my country that I had no idea even happened.

[Nichola · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have realised two things with this book.

The first is that we sorely need more men like Browne to discuss their own personal trauma. Very important.

And secondly that I have read way too many crime books this year because almost none of these cases were new to me.

[Wayne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good. Who knew there were so many boring murder cases to be badly written about.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a general introduction to some well-known true crimes, but it’s not likely to satisfy the true crime reader looking for more-depth information about particular cases.