True Crime Enthusiasts discussion

Hi there fellow true crime fans. i thought it might be fun to start a discussion about the best true crime books youve read recently, while its still fresh in your mind. just tell us what it was and if you liked and would recommend it to us all. perhaps one of us has read it too so we can discuss. ill start it off

The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge by T.J. English

i definitely enjoyed it, its a true crime where the criminals were the cops. a tale of corruption and turmoil in new york during the late 60s early 70s and american racists being exposed for the ignorant scum they are. i certainly recommend it, it was a very good read.

Unfortunately, it's been a while since my last true crime read.

Wow! Checked My Books and it's been 3 years! The last one I read was . I thought it was pretty good. But one of the best I've read is

Both of these involve crimes that happened in my home state of Washington. A Twisted Faith involves a minister gone horribly,horribly wrong.

i have both of those in my line up in kindle, lol, i look forward to getting into them. ive heard nothing but good things about ann rule but the twisted faith book sounds much more interesting. 3 years? it might be time to dust off the old crime files

dave wrote: "Hi there fellow true crime fans. i thought it might be fun to start a discussion about the best true crime books youve read recently, while its still fresh in your mind. just tell us what it was an..."

dave wrote: "Hi there fellow true crime fans. i thought it might be fun to start a discussion about the best true crime books youve read recently, while its still fresh in your mind. just tell us what it was an..."

Hi all. I agree totally about T.J. English's book, The Savage City. Great read. The best true crime book I've read recently is actually an older one, Echoes in the Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh. This is one of those stories that would never make it as fiction because readers would criticize the characters and plot as being implausible. It's a real page turner, one of those books that supports the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction. Joseph Wambaugh is a great writer and he tells this wild story with great skill and insight. If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend Echoes in the Darkness.

Catherine wrote: "dave wrote: "Hi there fellow true crime fans. i thought it might be fun to start a discussion about the best true crime books youve read recently, while its still fresh in your mind. just tell us w..."

i am absolutely going to be looking that up, sounds like a great read. thanks for posting

Sure, I hope you like it. I really want to read The Blooding, also by Joseph Wambaugh, but for some reason it's ridiculously expensive ($19.33 for the paperback on Amazon.)

I haven't read any Joseph Wambaugh yet. But I really want to read . It's about a fire investigator that is an arsonist.

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.

oh i donno, it sounds like a pretty interesting book, and ive not read an arsonist story yet. i think it would be good to read at least one version of a psychopaths story to really see the whole spectrum of terror that exists out there. i shall definitely be looking into that one too, thanks kirsten.

I've seen the story on several different true crime shows and he's usually been there.

Joseph Wambaugh is a master researcher in my opinion. His stories are particularly interesting to me because I live in Los Angeles where most of them took place. Wambaugh was an officer in the LAPD for several years before he became a full-time author.

Yeah, I heard that. Did you see the film of ? Did you think it was close to the book?

i dont think ive read any of joseph wambaugh, lol, i feel so left out. im gonna have to up my game to keep up with you ladies, lol

Yes, I own it on DVD and it is very close to the book indeed, primarily because Wambaugh produced it himself and insisted on authenticity. The DVD I have includes a bonus feature about the making of the film and shows the incredible attention to true detail that went into this movie, i.e. filming in exact locations, etc. James Woods' performance in The Onion Field is absolutely brilliant.

do you folks have any other true crime movie recommendations? im going to be looking up the onion field for sure, but id love to know some more. im pretty up to date with the majority of them, but i love seeing a new movie based on a real crime. i think my favourite so far has been 10 rillington place. such a story, its almost unbelievable

Changeling with Angelina Jolie is very good, albeit intensely disturbing. I'm guessing you've probably already seen it. I'm not really up on true crime movies so thank you for the 10 Rillington Place recommendation. I've just added it to my Amazon watchlist.

oh its a great one, and a sad sad story. if youre interested i can give you lots of tips for good movies, im just a big a movie nerd as i am a book nerd, lol. and true crime is one of my favourite genres with that as well as with literature.

Hi folks
I haven't read a lot of true crime lately. The newest one I read was last month, called The Constance Fisher Tragedy

It's not a recent crime ( happened in the 50's I think ?) Dang, my memory is bad ...
Anyhow, it's Andrea Yates many decades ago. Talks a lot about the state of the mental health care system back in the day, and how the people were "sorta" diagnosed and treated .
It's quite an interesting story .
I haven't read very many others for a long while now, but have a truckload of them on my Kindle waiting on me.
Maybe this group will give me a jump start to pick some of them up again .

ive not read that one but after checking out the link you provided i am definitely adding it to my list. does anyone know a good book about andrea yates? it would be interesting to read both and see how each lady was treated in the different time periods of mental health care.

Dave
I haven't read any about the Yates case, but I'd be very surprised if there isn't a book about it . Not sure .
It would be interesting to see how different the cases may have been handled .

There is a book called "Are You There Alone? The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates" by Suzanne O'Malley. I haven't read it. I can't handle reading or even hearing about crimes against children. The only true crime book involving a child victim that I recall reading was about the 1927 kidnap and murder of Marion Parker.

Catherine
I agree about true crimes against kids. Those are the hardest to read about ,so I don't read many of them . The ones I do, don't have graphic step-by-step details about what happened to the kids.
The book I mentioned above didn't tell much at all about the kids, mainly just their ages ,but is didn't go into anything very detailed . It seemed to focus more on the WHY of the crime ,and trying to figure out exactly what her diagnosis was and how to treat it .

i absolutely agree with both of you, anything with kids is always the hardest to read in true crime. ive noticed though when the crime does involve children the authors are always very respectful and keep the details to a minimum. at least with the books ive read. with these 2 cases though i am very interested in the way the women were treated. theyre both similar crimes, horrific though they may be, that occurred so far apart but not far enough that there arent accurate records. i want to know about the way both women were treated, diagnosed and sentenced. see the differences in the systems of the different times. if there are any similarities whatsoever between yates and fisher before the murders, it all piques my curiosity indeed.

The best true crime book I have ever read is "A Stranger Beside Me" by Ann Rule. I don't know why I have such an interest in Ted Bundy...maybe because he escaped from the jail in the town I live in before he went down to Florida...

Is this a group where we read true crime books and discuss them as we read them? Sorry, but I'm new.

Yes ma'am. You're in the right place!

Certainly is, Sheila! I hope you'll be active. Sadly this group isn't as active as I'd like!

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 40 true crime ebooks a year, and those are the two I enjoyed most!

Best true crime book I've ever read is probably "Fatal Vision" by Joe Maginnis. How McDonald was allowed to roam free for ten years after doing what he did is beyond me.

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 40 true crime ..."

Hi. I have a keen interest in the murder of JonBenet. Have several books at home that I haven't got round to reading yet, including Foreign Faction. I did enjoy Steve Thomas' book. Just as a matter of interest, who do you think done it ?

Neil wrote: "Just as a matter of interest, who do you think done it?"

In my very humble opinion, Burke. After reading Foreign Faction - Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?, I just can't shake that idea off. Some websleuthing forums have found him in Twitter and Facebook and he looks like a well adjusted young man, but he gives me the shivers. His current gf is the spitting image of what his sister would have grown up to look like.

It's been a while since I've searched out a true-crime book. It seems that a book comes out on the major cases today even before the trial of the accused is completed. Some interesting suggestions here, though, on where to start looking.

World's Most Evil Psychopaths
This is a great read!

I thought "The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, A Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town" by Ron Franscell was one of the best true crime books I've ever read. I finished it a while ago, but it still stays with me, it's so descriptive and personal.

Unmasking the Serial Killer

I am new to the group and by far the best true crime book I read was called "The Crime of the Century" about the murder of the nurses in an apartment in Chicago. All Ann Rule books are favorites. I just finished "The Bully" about a group of teenagers who kill one of their friends...quick read, happened in Ft. Lauderdale in 1993....good book.

Jo wrote: "I am new to the group and by far the best true crime book I read was called "The Crime of the Century" about the murder of the nurses in an apartment in Chicago. All Ann Rule books are favorites. I..."

Jo wrote: "I am new to the group and by far the best true crime book I read was called "The Crime of the Century" about the murder of the nurses in an apartment in Chicago. All Ann Rule books are favorites. I..."

I remembered the name of the killer in The Crime of the Century which I'm sure most of you will recognize....Richard Speck. Happened July 1966. The Authors are Dennis Breo and William Martin. Worth the read.

The Richard Speck story is the subject of the next episode of A Crime to Remember on Discovery ID.

Thank you Catherine, I'll check it out.

I've just completed and published a true-crime book titled "SimilarTransactions"— similartransactions.com. I've got free PDF copies for bloggers and readers willing to review the book. For more information, visit the website. The book is available in paperback and eBook from most book retailers.

http://www.amazon.com/Similar-Transac...

I would be more than happy to review your book, sounds very interesting. I am going to order the hardback version even though I have a Kindle. I prefer to flip back and forth to pictures in the book while reading the text in an actual book, seems easier to me. I will write my review when done probably will take me awhile, lots to do in January. Thanks!

Great! Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

I ordered the hardback but would also like the free digital copy on Kindle. The link asking for reviews from you on Amazon now says it is $3.99. How can I get it for free? Thanks so much!!

Not a problem. Our publisher has sent a PDF of the entire book, along with press information. Please let us know if you received this.

Jo, we need an email address so that we can send the PDF of the book to you. Please send to [email protected]. Thanks. I sent a PDF to the wrong person, it seems.

Herb, thank you so much. I will send my email address to the address you supplied. Received the hardback yesterday and will be reading it on my vacation starting this coming weekend. Thanks again.

Just finished by Dan Morse

and

by Caitlin Rother

both were excellent. Rother's been one of my reliable "pre-order" true crime authors for a few years now. This is Dan Morse's first book and I'm already waiting for his next.

I have written a short story called Drugged which is on Kindle and paperback. Its about the harsh reality of street drugs.
Drugged I have written it in a rap style. Maybe different to what you are used to reading but I hope you like it.
Thanks
SD Ann

Undercover Jihadi and Bride of ISIS for sure. I was developmental editor for both, which were true works of love.

JillyUndercover Jihadi: Inside the Toronto 18 — Al Qaeda Inspired, Homegrown, Terrorism in the West