Murder Next Door: How Police Tracked Down 18 Brutal Killers

by Edward Baumann, John O'Brien

Documents police efforts to track down eighteen brutal killers, including Eunice Yvonne Kleinfelder, a self-described devil worshiper who boiled her lover to death, and Tommy Pitera, a Mafia hitman who dismembered his many victims. Reprint.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of stories. I am a true crime buff and sometimes I get frustrated because the basic cable true crime shows and collections of stories on forensics or detection of crime seem to feature the same infamous cases repeatedly. I was pleased that this book only contained 2 stories I was already familiar with : Bambi Bembeneck ans Belle Gunness.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fine read, with a wild variety of true-crime stories committed by the good, the bad and the ugly. They give a taste of all the different kinds of good police work that need to go into good crime-busting.

[Lady ♥ Belleza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise accounts of 18 killers, not extremely well known and a wide variety of types for lack of a better word.

[Abigail K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baumann and O'Brien have written a very interesting, detail-oriented, and easy-to-read (as easy as reading murders can be) book on several compelling murder cases. While a lot of the stories follow the typical theme of "the spouse did it," there are still new pieces of the puzzle to solve and creative, albeit frightening and sometimes gross, plot points to these cases. Each chapter covered a different case, which kept the book flowing very nicely and made it easy to take pauses when needed. What I enjoyed the most about this book was how local the cases were to where I grew up. When the authors referenced cities, I knew their locations. It made following the true stories easier, and it gave me some more curious history for my hometown region. Yes, there's blood, and gore, and sadness, as should be expected in a nonfiction examination of many homicide cases, but the viewpoints of the dedicated officers working the cases added a great new perspective. While it is a little outdated now, and sometimes the slightly misogynistic tones came through stronger than I would like, overall, I thought it was a good read.

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mobile Public Library had a copy of Murder Next Door for sale for $1. I bought the old copy and really enjoyed it.

Murder Next Door is an account of 18 true crime stories by two Chicago journalists. Most of the stories are set in the Chicago area. The book has many strong points. It's consistently interesting - few of the cases are well known. Murder Next Door would be a great "fill-in" book because readers don't have to read all of the stories or read them in any particular order.

The negative of the book is that it's often in bad taste. The authors often use a jaunty, sarcastic tone and show little sensitivity to the victims. If anyone in my family had been murdered, it would be painful to see that person's death discussed in the flippant tone that the authors use.

[Beth Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book as several of the cases occurred either in places near my home or places I have been before. Not terribly well written and as it was published 30 years ago it shows its age but still a quick an intriguing read for me this 3rd or 4th time I've read it.

[Alex Ostrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a good, interesting read. Every story was fun and interesting. Based on two Chicago crime fighters, they go through 18 different murders, adding some jokes and an interesting sense of humor. The stories where more in depth than the typical, who did it scenario. This book is definitely for the young adult readers. Based around the interests of a teenager/young adult. Could have been more detailed, but overall good.

[ML Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1991, two Chicago crime reporters detail 18 murders, mostly in the Midwest. The stories are presented in a factual style, but with a bit of morbid humor. It’s similar to watching any of the reality crime shows on TV.

[Suzan Poisner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a basic-level book. I found it dated, and a lot of the key information was glossed over or missing.