Best True Crime You've Read Recently

[SerialReader]

I'm watching "Making a Murderer" on Netflix and I'm also reading The Innocent Killer, by Michael Griesbach. Great reading!

[Jilly]

I started Making a Murderer and had to take a break. The tragic things is that there are many thousands Stephen Averys in the country. As a volunteer for the National Center for Reason and Justice, the pleas for help flood in from the wrongly accused and convicted. But we don't have enough volunteers.

Jilly
Artistry in the Written Word
Investigative Journalist/NCRJ Advocate
www.jillyprather.com

[SerialReader]

Jilly wrote: "I started Making a Murderer and had to take a break. The tragic things is that there are many thousands Stephen Averys in the country. As a volunteer for the National Center for Reason and Justice,..."

Sad but true. I'm now watching the Brendan Dassey trial and this is so painful.
Does the National Center for Reason and Justice have a website?

[Jilly]

Yes it does. It is www.ncrj.org.

[SerialReader]

Jilly wrote: "Yes it does. It is www.ncrj.org."

Thank you very much!

[Jilly]

You are so welcome. If you feel you have a little time to help out, we would welcome you!

Jilly Prather
Bestselling Ghostwriter & Developmental Editor
Investigative Journalist/NCRJ Advocate
www.jillyprather.com

[SerialReader]

I would definitely go check the website and see if I can be of any help.. I'm documenting myself and I'd love to take the wrongful conviction topic on my book club. People need to know about how and why these things happen.

[Clare]

Now listening to

[karen]

hello! at the risk of being an obnoxious person who joins a group just to plug a book, but is hoping that by candidly acknowledging that i have joined a group just to plug a book makes it somehow less obnoxious, i am here... to plug a book!

this is coming out at the end of the month:

True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray

and the title alone seems to make it a good fit for people in this group. i read an ARC of this because even though i don't read a ton of nonfiction, he happens to be one of my favorite novelists, and it's really good, so i've been cheerleading it a bit around the site, and i thought it would make sense to let fans of the genre know it existed, even though i've never done this before; just barged into a group like this, and i'd feel embarrassed and dorky about it if i didn't legit love his writing.

so, yeah.

that is a good book i am recommending to you true crime enthusiasts.

[River]

I am actually currently reading High Hopes The Amityville Murders

I have read it before but recently got it in the mail and had to re read it. Such a great book if you are interested in the Amityville Murders. I would highly recommend it.

[Clare]

Secret Lessons

[Candi]

First group post, hoping I'm doing this right :-) I

[Alex]

Failure of Justice: A Brutal Murder, an Obsessed Cop, Six Wrongful Convictions Super interesting read about the wrongful convictions involved in the Beatrice 6 case. Was really intriguing, and now that the case is being re-examined, brings you in closer to the story and decision-making showcased in this book.

[Catherine]

Vincent wrote: "I am actually currently reading High Hopes The Amityville Murders

I have read it before but recently got it in the mail and had to re read it...."

I remember reading that book many years ago. I'd like to read it again.

[Paige]

Where can I find the Brendan Dassey case documentary?

[Stephanie]

For sure, Adnan's Story by Rabia Chaudry is the best recent thing I have read...although I kept getting so annoyed at the miscarriage of justice, I had to stop reading more than once.

Even if you haven't listened to the Serial (or Undisclosed) podcasts, this book is a great story. Rabia is amazing.

[Stephanie]

Totally agree re Columbine!!!!

Neil wrote: "Amaya wrote: "My all time best: Columbine

But then, I just finished Foreign Faction - Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?and it is equally good.

I've been reading 30 to ..."

[C]

Stephanie wrote:

But then, I just finished Foreign Faction - Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?and ..."

If you liked Foreign Faction, you'll like Listen Carefully: Truth and Evidence in the JonBenet Ramsey Case

It just came out in December.

[Susan]

Catherine wrote: "I read Fire Lover. Very good. Not as compelling as The Onion Field or Echoes in the Darkness because...well, arsonists aren't quite as "interesting" as other criminals."

Sounds like a great read. But, I would have to disagree on them not being as interesting. Their motivations are sometimes quite unique. Next time you're at a fire, don't watch the fire or the firemen, watch the crowd of people gathered. You might be surprised who seems to stand out. They sometimes like to be a spectator in the crowd. That's why it's important to get photographs early and keep taking them to see who the last person to leave is.

[Maggies]

I just finished Absolute Madness and thought it was great. The way you made all the puzzle pieces fit together to form a tale of death and mental illness made me what to both see this cold-blooded killer caught and persecuted but also that this man might get the help he asked for before he was lost to his illness and brutally killed so many others.

[Diane in Australia]

House of Horrors
Author: Nigel Cawthorne

3 Stars = It was okay.

This was a difficult book to rate. The facts of the true life horror that happened to Elisabeth, her siblings, and her children, is worth 5 Stars. But this book was published so close on the heels of the gruesome discovery that it doesn't even include Josef's trial, and seems to be mostly a regurgitation of facts available elsewhere.

If you don't have any knowledge of this crime, you may find this book enlightening.

[Diane in Australia]

Wolf Man: The True Story of Francisco Arce Montes - The First Global Serial Killer
Author: Wensley Clarkson

4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.

Wow. This guy, Montes, is beyond weird. I can't even think of how to describe him. I'll say one thing, he must have nerves of steel, to do what he does. Most serial killers at least try to reduce the risk of being caught in the act.

If you like true crime, you have got to read this. It will blow your mind, and not just because of the murders ... all of it ... Christine Le Menes, the queen of bad decision making ... the French gendarmes ... and more. Wowsers.

[Diane in Australia]

Lambs to the Slaughter: Inside the Depraved Mind of Child-Killer Derek Ernest Percy
Author: Debi Marshall

4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.

Derek is another killer that totally fits the cliche of 'cold-blooded killer'. As the blurb says, he killed a 12 yr old girl, and did horrific things to her.

Detectives find his handwritten notes. ".... so utterly foul that the detectives need to take breaks from reading them every few minutes. .... The notes, secreted in his locker, detail abduction, torture, murder, mutilation. .... His fetishes for urine and faeces and for cross-dressing; of the cunning way he will entice his prey with promises and threats."

As to the other murders he is suspected of doing, it must be such torment to the many people who had a loved one murdered ... to know he's in custody ... keeping his secrets.

[Diane in Australia]

Stolen Away: The True Story of California's Most Shocking Kidnap-Murder
Author: Michael Newton

4 Stars = Outstanding. It definitely held my interest.

For some inexplicable reason I ended up reading two true crime books, back to back, wherein a 12 yr old girl is murdered. I told my husband I wouldn't be repeating that pattern again. Too much grief, and horror.

Anyway, back to this book. Another cruel, cruel killer. Another innocent, trusting child. The murderer is William Edward Hickman. The child is Marian Parker. Her father, Perry Parker, went through a horror upon finding his daughter's body that would send most people 'round the bend. I am a mother ... of a daughter ... and I'm not sure I would have kept my sanity, if I saw what Perry saw.