San Antonio Public Library discussion

I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug in all it's forms documentaries, books, podcasts never really bit me, however, one cannot overlook the large audience it has. I hear about true crime cases all the time from friends, co-workers and even just online with articles that come up.

So let's talk about true crime, yea or nay? Do we love it?Do we hate it? What was the first true crime story that hooked you? How far down the rabbit hole have you gone? Did you become an amateur sleuth for a time trying to learn more about the specific case?

If you love true crime, what grabs you about it?
If you hate it, what don't you like about it?

True crime is indeed popular. I watch it on TV but read for relaxation and enjoyment so therefore don’t read it. Too scary.

I remember reading Helter Skeeter back in the 70's. It was gruesome and scary. I don't read a lot of true crime anymore, but I listen to the podcast Murder Book with Michael Connelly. It's very interesting.

The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story

I listened to my very first True Crime audiobook on a long solo road trip a few weeks ago. A Stranger Beside Me by Anne Rule. Told in her voice, the story of her friendship with Ted Bundy before and after he evolved into the serial killer he was discovered to be. Some parts were truly disturbing, but overall a very insightful handling of the subject.
Someone Knows Something is a true crime podcast on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Listening to the witnesses and victims relay the stories of crimes long unsolved is captivating!

I am not a true crime fan but I will say my all time favorite true crime book was In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. The movie was a pretty good rendition of the book as well with the main characters resembling the killers and portraying them accurately. But, as a rule I avoid this genre. Not my thing.

I heard Ann Rule speak once about Ted Bundy. They were acquaintances working side-by-side at an Emergency Call Center. She said he had nice manners, good looks and was very charming. He would walk her to her car and tell her after she got in to be careful driving home. Creepy. After she became intrigued enough about the murders to write about them, her knowing him was a hindrance in her finally realizing he was the killer.

I feel like I sit at the fringes of the true crime fandom. Some of it is interesting, and I do love having Cold Case Files on in the background, but I don't really get into the podcasts or following active cases.

There was a case though that hooked me for a bit. I read an article about a pair of Australian twins, one who died and one who lived, by what looked like possible murder/suicide at an American gun range, and there were a lot of strange details about the case.

I guess what draws me into true crime is more the unexplained and unusual, bordering into the supernatural, which makes sense because I love shows like Fringe and X-Files.

Nancy wrote: "True crime is indeed popular. I watch it on TV but read for relaxation and enjoyment so therefore don’t read it. Too scary."

I admit reading a True Crime book recently and getting a little uneasy. I watch horror movies all the time, but something about knowing it is true...

Lisa L wrote: "I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug in all it's fo..."

Personally I kinda hate true crime, BUT I will play nice & answer the question!

Two of my favorite true crime write-ups come from The New Yorker, both long-form publications written in the aughts:

The Chameleon by David Grann — The inspiration behind a documentary called The Imposter which garnered a lot of buzz when it released to film festival audiences, this true crime story takes place right here in San Antonio! It's about a boy who goes missing and then turns up in Europe several years later... but not everything is as it seems. There's an incredible twist in this story, one that fits the bill of "truth is stranger than fiction," and while the documentary is good, the publication itself is better as it gives all starring characters a fair shake and features just a touch more exposition.

We Two Made One by the inimitable Hilton Als (!!!) — Apparently the inspiration behind an upcoming feature film starring Black Panther's Letitia Wright about identical twin Barbadian-Welsh sisters who suffer tragic maltreatments at the hands of their nativist community. The sisters suffer so much abuse that they eventually go mute and engage in an arson spree. This story felt relevant today as we're hearing a lot about insidious racism in the UK from Meghan Markle and her husband, and Hilton Als cannot help but wonder if the severity of these twin sisters' sentences, when they are caught and locked away in a mental institution for nearly half their lives, is yet another symptom of an unjust, racially biased judicial system—but in Great Britain.

I guess what I generally don't like about true crime is that it's rarely compellingly told. It frequently comes across as sensational, and it often seems to be geared toward non-critical, baser audiences. I'm not about that lifestyle; I want more lush, critically acclaimed stuff! Lol.

I don't like True Crime because it frequently comes across as sensational and exploitive. I like the mystery aspect. (I enjoy Mysteries.) But too frequently I feel like the people involved in making the show/podcast/book seem to have forgotten that real people suffered--even died--because of the crime.

Andrew wrote: "Lisa L wrote: "I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug..."

Andrew wrote: "Lisa L wrote: "I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug..."

Andrew wrote: "Lisa L wrote: "I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug..."

Andrew wrote: "Lisa L wrote: "I read my first non-fiction true crime book for a book club I host and it got me thinking.

I went down the rabbit hole, so to speak, about all things true crime. The true crime bug..."

Lisa L
We two made one sounds like a story I first read about in the Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace. I wonder if there have been any efforts to republish the novels written by the twins.

And in direct answer to the True Crime question.I generally hate True Crime unless it is about financial crime. Generally, I do not want to read about torture and suffering in my free time. But, I do like Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore, brother of Gary Gilmore. He has a lot of insight.
As for true crime, the last book I read that I loved was Nathaniel and the Midnight Movers by J. Ronald York. It is a book about a group of men in the 1970s who stole fabulous furniture from model homes. It is hilarious.

Several years ago, I read Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History by Scott Andrew Selby. It was very interesting and there was no torture or suffering.

Cris wrote: "I don't like True Crime because it frequently comes across as sensational and exploitive. I like the mystery aspect. (I enjoy Mysteries.) But too frequently I feel like the people involved in makin..."

I agree, Cris. In their attempt to make the villain more evil, writers sometimes forget to show compassion for the victim. But most mystery/suspense writers, including me, take pains to humanize the victim so readers experience real loss for the tragedy they suffer.

Hey, I don't know if anyone is still reading this true-crime thread, but this NYT article recommended this book as one of the best True Crime books of the year: Couple Found Slain by M. Brottman.
Review here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/06/bo...

More recommendations for True Crime from my all-time favorite non-fiction Readers' Advisory source: Shepherd.
https://shepherd.com/best-books/crime

I used to read a lot of true crime, like Helter Skelter and books by Joseph Wambaugh. More recently, I read The Devil in the White City and other books by that author. I haven't read any recently.