The World's Dumbest Criminals: Outrageously True Stories of Criminals Committing Stupid Crimes

by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Two men in England photographed each other stealing thousands of dollars from gambling machines. An armed man successfully robbed a pharmacy and was captured after he boasted about it on social media. A burglar spent some time cleaning the house he was robbing, and even restocked some groceries, before he was discovered fast asleep in the homeowner’s bed. (“He did burn an old saucepan, but that happens!” reported the homeowner.) Two drunken louts stole a penguin from an aquarium and tried to release him into a canal when they were sober (he was returned to the polar enclosure, unharmed). Another man attempted to hold up a bank using a cucumber as a weapon. Two fellows tried to rob a bar where the town’s police department was holding a retirement party for one of its members. For every Moriarty, there are a thousand stupid criminals who get caught in the act, or who boast about their success on social media, or whose acts are so outrageous that the police have little difficulty tracking them down. Throughout history, these criminals have been easily captured, and have sometimes even died during an ill-fated escape. New criminals are apprehended every day thanks to their own genius, their exploits captured on YouTube and Instagram. Hilarious and outrageous, this book will make you shake your head and perhaps second-guess your own plans to commit petty larceny.  

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Humor

304 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2020

Reviews

[Allie MacPhail · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this at an airport, loved the cover and the title, I expected entertaining.
What I got is a lesson— one must open the book before you buy it, now I am the one who feels dumb!
The stories were not engaging, or actually even really that funny. Yes there are dumb people in this world and yes some of those dumb people commit crimes and get caught..but now I know some of those dumb people in the world purchase books at airports expecting to feel superior and morally above but some how end up feeling less than for thinking a book like this was going to be good! They should write a sequel about all the dumb people like me who wasted money on this book.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Diverting enough if you need something to pass the time, provided it's consumed in small doses. Otherwise, all these little tales of idiocy that are at best mildly amusing quickly start to blend together.

[Noelle Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really enjoyable to read! Apparently, criminals are summer than I realized and the reports in this book definitely earned a few chuckles.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just funny.

[Betty-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining. The crimes may not have been stupid but the manner in which they were perpetrated was highly questionable. lol

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be better entitled, "A Collection of Crimes, Some Dumb, Some Weird, Most Sad".
While there are a great number of stories, covering a great number of crimes, many seem repetitive, especially the ENTIRE CHAPTER of the exact same crime, over and over, committed by different people: trying to steal a standard transmission car, while not knowing how to drive stick.
Many stories that could have been humorous are deflated by the inclusion of the sentencing, victim impact stories and the sad stories of the criminals' lives.
It's not a bad book. For the most part, it just feels like the author was working very hard to hit a word/page count, so expanded the scope of his subject until it vastly exceeded the bounds contained within the title, "The World's Dumbest Criminals".

If you want to read about strange crimes, you'll get that here.
If you want a funny book, there are better choices.

[Caralyn Rubli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as funny as I thought it would be. Mostly a collection of vaguely interesting crime reports.

[Morgan L]

D.N.F.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Not as funny as I was expecting, more mildly amusing. There really are some dumb criminals out there.

[David O'Malley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worlds dumbest book. We’ll written, but why?

[Marla Nayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many dumb criminals! I think my favourite was a bank robber who went into a bank and filled out the withdrawal slip (remember when we had to do this on paper?). When he got to the teller and gave her the slip it had multiple spelling mistakes. She said that she couldn’t cash it due to the mistakes and he had to correct it. Instead, he went across the street to a different bank and gave the same slip to the teller, who said she couldn’t cash it because it was from a different bank. By the time he got back to the first bank the police had arrived. Other gems: a robber bragging about his activity on social media (really???), falling asleep in the house you are robbing, trying to rob a bar where the police department is holding a retirement party. These reminded me of the Darwin awards. In that case they win an award by taking themselves out of the gene pool. In this case they end up convicted. A fun and decidedly easy read with lots of laughs.

[Aida · Rating 1 out of 5]

Already hated the book from reading the preface. “Some might be tempted to add Donald Trump to the list but history will have the final word on him.) Not that I care about Trump but these people’s obsession of a man thinking he is worst and only awful human on this planet while ignoring other criminals such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, don’t forget Obama for starting wars and being responsible for killing millions but that’s okay because he’s a democrat. If you’re going to mention one person mention everyone as opposing to signalling one person out because what you hate republicans so they’ll all bad? It’s disgusting and divisive.

[Library Cool · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and easy bathroom reading which was a perfect break from the dense academic reading I'm trudging through at university. Felt good to feel a smug sense of superiority over the hapless criminals who's incompetence is so eloquently captured in this book. Coming away from it, I have to wonder just how much crime would vanish overnight if drugs were universally legalized.

[Destringe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me like five months to finish this book, but I'd recommend it. The stories are short so it's pretty good for a funny read while eating a quick snack. Overall, the crimes were pretty dumb and fun to read. A pretty chill read as a whole.

[Patricia Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

who doesnt love criminals that do dumb things you cant fix stupid......loved the book so many stories to make you laugh and wonder what were they thinking

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious!

[Cindy Mac Jac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some people are really stupid.

[Geeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Some were interesting, others plain reads.

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Decent read, some people out there rlly are stupid lol but this was definitely entertaining
A little repetitive though, a lot of the same story just with different people

[Ilona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories are very funny, most stories are so so. It is the perfect book to read out loud in the car when you are on a road trip. Light reading.

[8tailfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some interesting short crime stories that I like & I will read the sequel too this book: the world's even dumbest criminals.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some hilarious pieces in this. After a while though, it got to be a bit repetitive.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. A great book to dip in and out of when you're mood need lifting.

[spike marlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly book with some pretty stupid criminals. The book is made up of short vignettes about the things that dumb criminals do. Our jails are full of them.

[Zenith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Boring and repetitive. A true airplane (or bathroom) book.

[Kayla Bedard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a book that you can pick up and put down often. A bunch of short stories about not so smart criminals with minimal details.

[Maude · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the short stories in this book! I laughed out loud a few times. It was the perfect book for when I didn't have much time to read. I was reading a few stories at a time.

[Alexe · Rating 5 out of 5]

so funny! the chapters are small, which makes the reading faster. but I laughed many, many times reading this.

[Arzoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but some bank burglary stories could have been removed to keep only the most funny ones.

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

some laugh out loud moments from this read.