True Crime: Massachusetts

by Eric Ethier

The harsh discipline of Puritan life bred the hard-bitten and hard-working people of Massachusetts, but did it also breed a unique type of criminal? This book explores the headline crimes of the state to find an answer. Included are the cases of the alleged axe-wielding Lizzie Borden, the executed anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti, the legendary Brink's robbery, the mysterious Boston Strangler, the Big Dan's spectator rape, the desperate college professor who murdered a young prostitute, and the fur salesman who slaughtered his wife and unborn child in cold blood.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Melinda]

This was not as exciting as it could've been, and that was because of the writing style. Won't pick up any more by this author.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It delivers as a review of the notorious criminal cases in the state of Massachusetts beginning with the most famous: Lizzie Borden but also the Boston Strangler and the most horrific, the gang rape of a Portuguese woman in a bar.

It's a series of short stories giving the details as they are known. Focused and specific, it's a slim volume that captures the cases and adds a few additional ones (like Bulger that came to an end after the book was published). Short and pointed, this is the kind of book students would want to read who like true crime.

[Tony Mistretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven high-profile true crime stories that took place in Massachusetts, the earliest one having occurred in 1892 and the latest in 1989. I remember having heard about a few of these in the news as they occurred during my lifetime. These were especially interesting to me because I didn't always follow the news closely and I learned about them in more detail when I read the book. The chapters are concise and easy to read, drawing upon information from other books, newspapers and magazines.

[Jessica Fellows · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the title and the history to back it up there was potential for a book that could not be put down. Sadly it was poorly written. There was no flow with the stories even within the chapter the author jumped around.

[Andi Plouffe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only a handful of the most common stories you hear, but told with little detail on what happened (not much storytelling) but loads of specific dates, locations and such like that. Meh

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Massachusetts has no shortage of crime in it's long history but True Crime doesn't really mine much more than the best known cases and then offer then re-heated. The most recent case is the Chuck Stuart one and even that is nothing more than what I already knew from reading the news or watching a documentary on it. The Lizzie Borden case is sad because it's Wikipedia thick. I was disappointed to see that we get no coverage of the Boston Police Strike or the multitude of corruption scandals. Ed King had 6 out of 10 cabinet appointees go to jail. So this is pretty lame and tame.

Don't waste your time