The New York Times Book of Crime: More Than 166 Years of Covering the Beat

by Kevin Flynn (Editor), Richard Price (Foreword)

From the archives of The New York Times, 166 years of the most notorious real-life crimes.
 
For 164 years, TheNew York Times has been a rich source of information about crime, its reporters racing alongside tabloids to track the shocking incidents that disrupt daily life. This fascinating compilation, edited by seasoned Times crime-beat veteran Kevin Flynn, captures the full sweep of the newspaper’s coverage of the subject—from the assassinations of icons like Lincoln, President Kennedy, and Malcolm X to the deadly trails left behind by serial killers like H. H. Holmes (America’s first recognized serial killer), the Son of Sam, and Jeffrey Dahmer. This comprehensive review examines issues like incarceration, organized crime, and vice—from the Attica riot to the powerful Medellin Cartel—as well as the infamous crimes that riveted the world. The kidnappings of Jaycee Dugard and the Lindbergh baby. The Manson murders. The robberies that exasperated law enforcement, from bank heists by Dillinger to the enduring mystery of the greatest art heist in American history at Boston’s Gardner Museum. White-collar crimes from Ponzi to Madoff. Crimes of passion, such as Harry Thaw’s dramatic shooting of Stanford White, his rival for the charms of the beautiful Evelyn Nesbit. Chapters are organized by topic and include explanatory material by Flynn to provide context. The book features approximately 40 photographs as well as reproductions of front-page stories. Although the focus is on the US, important international stories are included.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Journalism, Historical

416 pages, Hardcover

Published March 14, 2017

About the author

Kevin Flynn is an American journalist who is an editor with The New York Times and the co-author of 102 Minutes. His work as an investigative editor helped earn The New York Times numerous awards, including a 2009 Pulitzer Prize. He served as the police bureau chief of the newspaper from 1998 to 2002, when he became investigations editor for the newspaper's Metro desk. He is currently investigations editor for the paper's Culture desk.

Reviews

[Abigail Mohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot! For someone who is just getting into true crime, I would have liked a bit more explanation about some of the less familiar cases, but maybe that’s just a personal preference. This was really entertaining, and I loved seeing how the New York Times described the events in a way that was somehow both detached and personal all at once.

[Robin Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting - and frequently upsetting - series of articles covering the most famous crime cases of the last 150 years. This is often difficult to read, but a great resource. (16+)

*Please note: this review is meant as a recommendation only. If you use it in any marketing material, online or anywhere on a published book without asking permission from me first, I will ask you to remove that use immediately. Thank you!*

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

History + Journalism + crime = JOY

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and a graphic description of brains oozing from the president’s skull. Archduke Ferdinand is next. Gandhi is the third political murder. JFK’s shooting is covered by Tom Wicker on 11/23/63. Malcolm X was gunned down at the Audubon Ballroom in NYC. The Memphis killing of Martin Luther King is covered by Earl Caldwell. Another piece covers Robert Kennedy’s death in 1968. Sadat and Bhutto are the two final political assassinations. The second chapter, Heists, begins with the 1882 train robbery led by Jesse James. John Dillinger is next, followed by the Great Train Robbery in the U.K. A jewel heist in the 1960s provides some very funny material. Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy was accused of pistol whipping Eva Gabor and relieving the actress of ½ a million in jewelry. Green Acres is the place to be. The Lufthansa heist resulted in a bloodbath with no honor among thieves. Willie Sutton robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” The D.B Cooper hijacking case remains unsolved. The kidnappings of Lindbergh, Charles Bronfman, Patty Hearst, Aldo Moro, and Jaycee Dugard are the subjects of the third chapter. Andrew Kehoe blew up a school in 1927, killing 43 people. Kehoe’s case begins the chapter on mass murder with a bang. Richard Speck killed eight student nurses and the lunatic is profiled. A short piece on the Columbine massacre is included, and eight years later a similar shooting occurred at Virginia Tech. The carnage continues with the Colorado movie theater blood bath with the shooter, James Holmes declaring himself Batman. Robin should have smacked him upside the head. Anders Breivik killed 77 people in Norway and was sentenced to twenty one years at a prison with TV and exercise equipment. What a country! The Sandy Hook incident is here and I would have included an Alex Jones conspiracy theory addendum. Dylann Roof’s Charleston church shooting was infamous enough to make the book. The next nut case is Omar Mateen, who killed fifty at an Orlando nightclub in 2016. The Mob chapter begins with the Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929. The familiar names of Kefauver, Valachi, Galante, and Gotti are all here and Whitey Bulger completes the chapter. Murder is the subject of chapter six and is led off with the Stanford White murder at MSG. I read Ragtime many years ago and it was based on this case. Emmett Till requires no explanation. Earl Caldwell details Charles Manson’s trial and conviction. The 1980 shooting of John Lennon is included. The familiar Jean Harris murder of the Scarsdale Diet doctor is next. O.J. and his story is here and so is the over hyped Jon Benet Ramsey case; the butler did it. Six pages give us a pretty good overview of the Kitty Genovese murder in Kew Gardens. Thirty eight neighbors in a nearby apartment building ignored the screams of the dying woman. The Innocence Project and both the innocence and guilt of Steven Avery reads like an episode of the Twilight Zone. The Amanda Knox case gets a page and a half. Oscar Pistorius shot his girlfriend through a bathroom door, believing she was an intruder. Oh yeah, the bad guy stopped by to take a dump. The final murder here is the strange and twisted case of Robert Durst. The subject of chapter seven is prisons. The first article is from 1852. The use of water torture was common. The uprising at Attica in 1971 gets a few pages and was the subject of Tom Wicker’s excellent book, “A Time to Die.” The Alcatraz escape is here and remains unsolved fifty seven year later. The strange saga of El Chapo is next. Jack the Ripper leads off the serial killer chapter and he was never caught. The Chicago killer H.H. Holmes was hanged in 1896 for multiple murders. For more on Holmes, I recommend “The Scarlet Mansion and “Devil in the White City.” Albert DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison in 1993. “The Boston Stranger” by Gerold Frank and “A Death in Belmont” by Sebastian Junger are two excellent books on the killer. The Son of Sam gets two pieces. Jimmy Breslin’s book on Berkowitz is good. John Wayne Gacy is profiled. The killer clown offed thirty three boys and was disposed of by the state of Illinois by lethal injection. Ted Bundy’s execution in Florida makes the grade and many books are available, the best of which is “The Stranger beside Me” by Ann Rule. The cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death with a broomstick in prison in 1994. What a funny way to die. The final serial killer is John Mohammed, the D.C. sniper. Sex crimes are the topic of chapter eight and it begins with the child rapist Roman Polanski. He is still hiding in France. Next is Robert Chambers, who strangled Jennifer Levin to death in Central Park. John Wayne Bobbit and his surgically inspired wife Lorena are next. The Central Park jogger case and its’ DNA twists exonerating the five minority youths is a riveting account of justice gone wrong. A 2002 article details the Catholic Church’s priestly musical chairs with clergy accused of sexual abuse; as a former R.C. I am embarrassed. The final sex crime is the Penn State scandal with the coach/rapist Jerry Sandusky. He should rot in hell along with Joe Paterno. The vice chapter begins with a 1926 medical study of the dangers of marijuana. The debate continues almost one hundred years later. Prohibition worked so well that there were 32,000 speakeasies in NYC alone in 1929. The fifty pus year war on drugs has been as equally futile. Meyer Lansky grew up in NYC’s Lower East Side. His 1983 obituary is highly entertaining. The shooting death of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is reported. It made no difference in the trafficking of cocaine as others simply took his place. Eliot Spitzer was caught with his pants down, so to speak, and resigned as governor of NY for patronizing prostitutes. A 1920 article on Charles Ponzi begins the chapter on white collar crime. He was deported and died broke. Charles Van Doren of the quiz show scandals is here. The thief and con artist Michael Milken was sentenced to ten years in prison but only served two. I was recently exposed to this human piece s*** while watching a Yankees game. Next in line are fellow ass***** Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of Enron fame, two more individuals who should have been quickly removed from planet earth. Karma intervened in the form of a fatal heart attack for Mr. Lay six weeks after his trial. The book finishes with Bernie Madoff, the king of Ponzi schemes. One hundred and fifty years in jail seems about right.

[Dean Jobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Flynn, a New York Times editor who quarterbacked the paper’s police coverage for five years, compiled this absorbing anthology of murder and mayhem that America’s paper of record deemed “fit to print.” The usual suspects are lined up, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to the arrest of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 2016, but lesser-know crimes are also featured. While all of these articles can be easily accessed through the Times’ digital archive, Flynn’s brief annotations provide updates and context. Reading crime stories, he notes, is “a guilty pleasure.” So is his collection of true-crime gems.

[Rinda Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty quick and interesting read. The book covers a wide variety of crimes reported in the New York Times and does a good job of highlighting ones from throughout the last 160 years. It was nice to learn about crimes and events in history that I didn't know about. I didn't read every single article, I skimmed through ones regarding crimes I already knew a lot about (Bundy, H.H. Holmes, Gacy, Alcatraz escapees, etc). My favorite part was seeing how the writing style changed and evolved throughout the centuries. Overall a pretty intriguing read for any true crime lover.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the format and organization of the book. The introduction mentioned how many stories they did not include. I would have liked the book to include the more obscure and older crimes. We've all heard about the Kennedys, MLK, and other familiar crimes dozens of times. The best parts were about the speakeasys, and the kidnappings. Another book would be welcomed. After all , this is the New York Times!

[e b · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of historical interest to those interested in journalism and its evolution over the past century and a half. Others will probably prefer more fleshed-out accounts written after time has made more aspects of these cases clear. The quick notes after the pieces conveying what happened after are occasionally helpful, occasionally not, and sometimes not there at all. The reportage is generally of quality, though some - I'm thinking of the Dillinger piece in general - are dull are dirt and it is unclear what happened to occasion the writing of the piece (Dillinger's death? Capture? Neither is mentioned and there are no notes afterward).

Started skimming, which I almost never do. Not a waste of time by any stretch, but in every case (as I said before) I'd rather read a New Yorker-type piece of more depth and detail.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting tour through the Grey Lady’s coverage all of the different varieties of crime. At times, I wished that it had included more background information on some of the crimes with which I was less familiar, but considering the nature of the book in that it consists entirely of newspaper articles, that is probably an unrealistic expectation on my part. Some of the sections, particularly the section on mass murder, were hard to read, but that may have had something to do with the Las Vegas mass shooting that happened while I was reading the book this week. All in all, true crime fans will find plenty to interest them here.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary resource, which I have downloaded so that I may call it my own (at least that is my hope, it is a library book, after all).

This book is an anthology of major crimes, organized by topic, and reflecting the writing styles of the day, whether in describing the icewater showers visited upon prisoners in the 19th century, or in describing the announcement of the verdict when an elite girl's school's headmistress was convicted of murder of her diet-guru lover. The weapon was said to be for suicide, she said, but the jury determined otherwise, quod the Times. If only that gift for understatement would reappear today.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book over two and a half months reading one article a day. The articles date from the late 1800s to the early 2010s, with the majority of them from the latter half of the 20th century. The book is divided into themes with articles in chronological order within the theme such as (heists, the mob, murder, white-collar crime, etc.). There is a photograph for most articles.

I found the book interesting but not overwhelmingly so. I'd have preferred the book to be entirely chronological without the themes I now better understand some topics. It was certainly with the read.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating collection of NYT reports of various crimes over the decades. Included are the Manson murders, OJ, Jeffrey Dahlmer, HH Holmes, The Valentine's Day massacre, and so much more and categorized from kidnapping, vice, assassinations, serial killers to white collar crime. It was also interesting to see how reporting has changed over the years and writing styles differ. Recommended for anyone interested in journalism or true crime.

[Iva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing collection of columns of mostly known crimes and criminals. In short, I didn't learn anything new about the Lindbergh kidnapping, Roman Polanski, John Wayne Gacy or H. H. Holmes. The real-time articles should have been more satisfying. In spite of Richard Price's enticing introduction, I didn't find the excitement he promised in this collection.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

For one this book is pretty expensive but you get a lot of information so it’s okay. My only complaint about this book is some of these articles were some of the first articles to be written on some events and have lots of inaccuracies especially the one on Columbine so I don’t know just don’t take everything at face value I guess but other than that it’s a really great book.

[Diane B · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are excerpts reprinted, so it is interesting to read not just about the crimes, but to see how the reporting changes over time.... chosen language and emphasis on facts vs. opinions. Fascination. Rush to judgement. Sympathy. Morbid curiosity. Of course, any one of these could become fast food for Netflix, HBO or Apple TV....

[Jeannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who could resist this - a selection of the most interesting crime columns from the wonderful NYT. The selection goes from old to new and covers assassinations, murders, organized crime and more. Very, very hard to put this down!

[Lilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book earls NOT finished. Because after 1/3 into it, I realized it's hard to remember what I read in the previous pages. So I enjoyed a lot when I was reading and could recall something interesting but was not able to remember clearly what the "something" is

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting collection of historical news reports covering assassinations, killers and other infamous crimes. While there may not have been any new information revealed, seeing the original coverage was moving. I was only disappointed that there weren’t more pictures.

[Mandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why I spent my time reading a book containing articles about crime. I would have rather spent my time reading an in-depth book about a specific crime. The articles themselves were good and interesting.

[Christina Arreola · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of articles for true crime lovers everywhere!

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New York Times has been a major source of information about crime for more than 166 years. This compilation captures the full sweep of the newspapers articles on crime. Split into 11 chapters, each chapter focus on a different type of crime including assassinations of President Kennedy and Malcolm X, kidnappings of the Lindbergh baby and Jaycee Dugard, bank heists by Dillinger and the mystery of the missing paintings at Boston’s Gardner Museum, and so much more. With approximately 40 black and white photographs, The New York Times Book of Crime is sure to engross readers of mysteries and crime.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome book

[Lorraine Altschuler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great news stories, very interesting!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Anna Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a fascinating compilation of the most scintillating crimes. one of the few books I have reread many times

[East Greenbush Community Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed account of many crimes over the past century and more. One suggestion: provide the dates of the articles.

[Judi · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was more interesting were the changes in how language has been used throughout the eras - we're certainly much less formal than before.

Received as a goodreads giveaway.

[Carolyn D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I entered to win this book, specifically for my son with autism. His thing is cops, fire, ambulance, crime, etc. He loves it!

[Book Club of One · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC version of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.

In his Forward, Richard Price thinks that this book will be a pleasurable read and finishes this brief section with the directive to enjoy it. The New York Times Book of Crime is exactly what one gets. A highlight reel of all the worst depravity that man has done to other man as featured in pages of the New York Times. It is not a pleasant read. While the articles are all brief and informative, as one would expect from a newspaper of this caliber, it offers nothing new.

The crime groupings are arranged alphabetically beginning with Assassination and ending with White Collar. Within each of these chapters, the reader is presented with chronological examples, sometimes with a post script about the outcome. Pictures are provided for some articles, but the quality is mixed. Some photos as they would appear in the papers, others in terrible quality. Hopefully the final published version will improve on this. Each article also features the original date of publication, but this is hidden at the end of the article which I found aggravating.

I feel a book featuring important historical events of the 166+ years of the New York Times would have been a better more balanced read. It would not have been just a depressing reminder of all the ways people have killed, maimed, abused, or defrauded one another.
If anything this might appeal to those interested in the field of journalism, as researchers would know to approach the NYT directly.

[Les Gehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a collection of news stories from the New York Times reporting on the sensational crimes of the past 166 years as they happened. Of course, while all the stories are well-written, some are better than others, and the changes in style over the years are obvious. It is well-illustrated with photos, some of which are quite gruesome. I found it fascinating to read what was written about some of these infamous crimes at the time they happened, without the filter of 100+ years of re-telling and editing.