The Murder Files: History’s Greatest Secrets Revealed

History’s Greatest Secrets Revealed

by Sam Pilger

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing collection of some of the most famous cases of murder ever. Ranking from John Lennon to Robert Kennedy, OJ Simpson to the Black Dahlia. Ed Gein is mentioned as well. Many captivating photographs, fine descriptions what actually happened, good background stories and even some cases I never heard about. It also includes famous open unsolved cases. This book didn't get me off the hook. I can highly recommend reading it!

[Francis Boucher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting read. A lot of those cases I had never heard of before, and it was fascinating to read about some of them like the Brazillian Maniac, which surprised me and The Killer couple, which was hard to read.

My biggest issue with the book was that many sentences were written in a way that forced me to read them over again due to confusing mistakes.

In general, the book was a great way to learn about some of the biggest murders in history.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read, as I have really gotten into true crime. I only wish it went a little more in depth. But I do love how it covers multiple cases.

[Andrea A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short story accounts of serial killers, celebrity murders, and unsolved cases. Examples include, The Lindbergh Kidnapping, Manson Murders, The Black Dahlia, and JonBenet Ramsay.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're interested in learning about true crime, this is a great book for introducing famous and/or unique cases such as The Manson Murders, Jack the Ripper, OJ Simpson, etc. As someone who knows a lot about these cases, it was more or less the same basic information with little additional details about well-known cases. I did learn of some events and people I had never heard of before such as The Brazilian Maniac (this man is fascinating), the Olympian runner murderer, etc.

The book could have benefited from a round or two of addional editing. There were far too many errors that made some facts confusing. And there were a lot of run on sentences that basically listed unnecessary information.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lately I've been listening to a podcast about murders and unsolved mysteries and I've really enjoyed it. I picked this book without knowing what murders it was going to talk about. Some I had heard of and some I hadn't. These felt like high level stories of what took place. There are some sick people in the world.

[Sofi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a surprising amount of cases that I hadn’t heard of. It’s a nice starting point for looking into cases with further reading in the back, but it didn’t have much info about each case.

[Elliott Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book. Was only $5 at the Barnes & Noble. Would read again. Four stars.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Murder Files by Sam Pilger is an interesting read that taught me about several new historical crimes, along with some additional information on cases I was already familiar with. The book is well-organised and offers a decent overview of various infamous murders throughout history.

However, while it’s informative, it feels like a recap of information already readily available in other sources. For seasoned true crime enthusiasts, it might not bring much new to the table. Additionally, I found it overpriced for what is essentially a rehash of well-known material.

Overall, it’s a good read for those looking to brush up on some historical crime stories, but don’t expect ground-breaking insights.

[Sarah Goad · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about the different cases but some of how they were closed and/or convicted kind of pissed me off. Take Luis Garavito for example, he was a pedophile who raped and murdered 138+ which officers think his murder count in 300 and instead of receiving 1,853 years and 9 days in prison, he only got 22 years for “helping the police locate many of the bodies.” I mean come on really. This man took advantage of the conflict in Colombia and took young boys, sexually abused them, raped them, and tortured them and yet he got a reduced sentence for “helping.” Like I said, the book was interesting but the outcomes were irritating.

[Susan Blissett · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, quick look at various murders from the 19th century to the present day, covering serial killers, celebrity murders, unsolved murders and gruesome murders. The book has an engaging layout, in the style of the other books in this collection, with photographs and pictures adding interest, as well as covering each murder with the titles ‘The Events,’ ‘Background’ and ‘The Theories’ splitting up each chapter. Overall, a whistle-stop tour of various murder cases, which could be enhanced with more information to add to the intrigue of each case.

[SteveL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid start for anyone looking to learn more about true crime. It covers multiple cases in small bite sized chunks across four distinct subtypes in the true crime genre.

While it is a good starting point, if one is already into true crime the book feels lacking. Most summaries are only three to four pages, which is good for beginners but for anyone past that it feels lacking as you want more information then the bare bones. It does offer a glossary for more in depth reading.

[Books and a Brew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of global murder cases spanning the last two centuries, told in short form.

I picked this up in a charity shop as I was looking for a bit of inspiration for a new novel I’m writing.

Not anything particularly new here, but the stories are told concisely and respectfully.

This is a quick read but holds some intriguing histories of murder.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting reading about all of those murders. Not the biggest fan of nonfiction though. I thought the dates of the murders was kind of weird as most were around the same time not many early or recent o es mentioned.

[Jade Crewe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting & Factual Read - Gives the reader all the accounts of murders across the centuries from Jack The Ripper, Harold Shipman to the Assassination Of Robert.F Kennedy & The Butcher Of Plainfield. Would definitely recommend to people who enjoy reading true crime books.

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection going into the gruesome details of infamous murders. The collection is well written and gives a good insight into each event.

[niamh 📸 · Rating 4 out of 5]

the clown picture needs a trigger warning

[Paula Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.Short and not long winded stories. A must for true crime reader's

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read. Lots of interesting cases.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book , very factual , could not put it down
Read in 2 days

[Laura Harden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This type of stuff is so interesting

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got kinda repetitive icl

[SH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good fast read for anyone interested in true crime!

[Micki Lou Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, short sections about each crime and made it very easy to read. I am slightly odd as I like to read about this sort of thing so some of the cases I was already familiar with but the majority were new and gave me insight into why and how some people can do this and how they were caught. I would recommend this to all crime fans as it was a very interesting read.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of cases over the decades, this book outlines a brief overview of murder cases and their outcomes that happened.
while interesting, I thought that there could've been a little more information about each case that maybe it might have made it a little more insightful.

[Melanie Rippon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in UK as “True Crime Casebook - Murder”

[antwan frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. Anybody who like true crimes will enjoy this book. I can't believe that Alfred Hitchcock Psycho was inspired by one of these crimes.