Reader's Digest True Crime: Tales of Murder & Mayhem

by Reader's Digest Association (Editor)

More than two dozen gripping tales of murder, kidnapping, robbery, and much more from the Reader’s Digest archives.

For more than 90 years, Reader’s Digest has been telling the amazing true stories of real-life thrillers, unsolved mysteries, and tales of cold-blooded murder—and of the regular folks caught up in these harrowing situations. Now we’ve pulled together a collection of more than two dozen of these gripping narratives, including:
A woman’s account of being taken hostage by a convenience store robber True crime writer Ann Rule’s encounter with Ted Bundy before she knew he was a killer The case of the man who rigged the lottery The inside story of how Al Capone was finally arrested for tax evasion The unlikely tale of a widower father who enlisted his teenage son and daughter to help rob banks
 

These modern classics are for crime aficionados and novices alike, tantalizing enough to hold your attention yet brisk enough to be your best beach or book club read. Enjoy the ride with an airplane bomber, an identity thief, and a Bonnie-and-Clyde team living on borrowed time. (Enjoy even more their comeuppance.)

 

Genres: True Crime

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 22, 2019

About the author

The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global media and direct marketing company based in Chappaqua, New York, best known for its flagship publication founded in 1922, Reader's Digest. The company's headquarters are in New York City, where it moved from Pleasantville, New York.

The company was founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace in 1922 with the first publication of Reader's Digest magazine, but has grown to include a diverse range of magazines, books, music, DVDs and online content.

Reviews

[Myrtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little dissapointed in this one. Let me clarify, I just finished reading the best book about forensics, which you should totally read by the way. Saying this book does not measure up to the one I just read is not saying much.
However, don't be deceived by the cover. The majority of the cases are petty crimes such as cheating at bridge or identity theft. There are still some murder/kidnapping cases, and I enjoyed those, but not as much as one might think. I still liked the book and it was a fairly easy read.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the cases I hadn't heard of before. They were interesting to learn about. My heart breaks for the families and friends of the victim's, and some of the killers. A few stories were repeats of stories that are still being retold continually by other authors or TV shows. Their losses are still profound.

[The one and only crazy cat lady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff. Some stories I hadn't heard and details in others I had that I didn't know.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 24 real-life crimes including the guy who tried to rig the Iowa lottery.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much and I would recommend it to anyone who likes true crime books as well and enjoys learning about past criminals.

[Judy Tarver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love all of the books Reader’s Digest publishes. While I did not dislike this one, I found that about half of the stories in it were not very interesting.

[Mary Kamrath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short true crime tales.

[Amber Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not very good writing, I don’t think spy cases should be in true crime and very bland for being about crime. Lurid as vanilla pudding mostly.

[Gabriella Muniz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but I think it was a literal boring

[Jami Saner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting short stories.

[Dominique King · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at the book store just before the Christmas holiday...when the pickings were a bit slim.
It was all right as a quick pick-up and put-down. although I really do prefer a longer book about a single case.
This one had a mix of stories I'd heard about many years ago...and the one I particularly enjoyed was reading one from Ann Rule (a favorite true crime writer for me) that told about how she came to get started with writing in the genre years ago after having written about Ted Bundy, who she worked with at a telephone crisis center before she found about about his spree as a serial killer! I'd heard the story, but didn't remember reading the exact piece in her own words.