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Old 03-19-2013, 09:46 AM
 
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I don't know if this has already been done but I would like to know what everyone's best true crime books are? I love reading true crime and would like to know some good books to read.

Please add any good books even if you only have one.

My best top 10 that I can remember are:

1. Helter Skelter – Vincent Bugliosi
2. Fatal Vision – Joe McGinniss
3. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
4. The Stranger Beside Me – Ann Rule
5. Murder in Little Egypt – Darcy O’Brien
6. Bitter Blood – Jerry Bledsloe
7. Small Sacrifices – Ann Rule
8. Shot in the Heart - Mikhail Gilmore
9. Echoes in the Darkness – Joseph Wambaugh
10. Careless Whispers – Carlton Stowers

Also a couple of good Australia ones are

Someone Else's Daughter - Julia Shepphard (about the murder of Anita Cobby)
Sins of the Brother - Mark Whittaker, Les Kennedy (about Ivan Milat)
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Old 03-19-2013, 09:59 AM
 
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Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets - David Simon


This is the book that the TV show "Homicide: Life on The Street" was based on. It was written about the year 1988, so it's a bit dated, but it's still a very good book about the Baltimore homicide squad.

Simon's later book, "The Corner", is very good as well.
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Old 03-19-2013, 10:21 AM
 
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Just read The Stranger Beside Me -excellent (how Ann Rule came to have serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer as co-worker...)
Ann Rule also wrote a book by about a wealthy guy who had his divorced wife killed in Florida- can't remember the title right now...
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Old 03-19-2013, 12:19 PM
 
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^^^ Every Breath You Take is the book about the guy (Allen Blackthorne) who had his wife killed. That & If You Really Love Me are the only Ann Rule books I've read so far - I have Small Sacrifices and The Stranger Beside Me on the "soon to be read" pile.

Some books I've enjoyed:

Helter Skelter
Son - Jack Olsen (my favorite true crime writer, and this is one of his best)
Under The Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer
The Corpse Had A Familiar Face - Edna Buchanan
The Company She Keeps - Georgia Durante
She Wanted It All - Kathryn Casey

I've tried a couple times to get into In Cold Blood, because I know it's a classic, but I can't seem to get into it.
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Old 03-19-2013, 12:23 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pigeonhole View Post
Just read The Stranger Beside Me -excellent (how Ann Rule came to have serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer as co-worker...)

Not Dahmer, Ted Bundy.
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Old 03-19-2013, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Baltimore, MD
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Wow. Thanks for this list. They just opened a brand new library new me and true crime is my fave genre ever since I read Helter Skelter years ago.

I also enjoyed:

The Gainesville Ripper: A Summer's Madness, Five Young Victims- The Investigation, the Arrest and the Trial by Mary S. Ryzuk - scared the crap outta me!

The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer by Jason Moss - Couldn't put it down!

Secrets in the Cellar by John Glatt - UNBELIEVABLE story!
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Old 03-19-2013, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Nassau, Long Island, NY
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The Ultimate Evil by Maury Terry. It's about David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam.
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Old 03-19-2013, 05:49 PM
 
Location: Texas
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Serpentine by Thomas Thompson.
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Old 03-19-2013, 09:09 PM
 
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Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh
Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss

That was it for me ... I can't handle it. No more true crime for me. When I read "In Cold Blood" my husband was in the Army preparing to depart for Vietnam. During his training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds it was the second shift 4-midnight. I would sit in the parking lot on base with my book and a flash light reading ... I wouldn't stay at home alone. LOL

I can read Stephen King and his vampires (Salem's Lot) ... werewolf (Silver Bullet) and all kinds of creepy things but I just can't read True Crime.
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Old 03-19-2013, 09:31 PM
 
271 posts, read 597,907 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bernie20 View Post
I don't know if this has already been done but I would like to know what everyone's best true crime books are? I love reading true crime and would like to know some good books to read.

Please add any good books even if you only have one.

My best top 10 that I can remember are:

1. Helter Skelter – Vincent Bugliosi
2. Fatal Vision – Joe McGinniss
3. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
4. The Stranger Beside Me – Ann Rule
5. Murder in Little Egypt – Darcy O’Brien
6. Bitter Blood – Jerry Bledsloe
7. Small Sacrifices – Ann Rule
8. Shot in the Heart - Mikhail Gilmore
9. Echoes in the Darkness – Joseph Wambaugh
10. Careless Whispers – Carlton Stowers

Also a couple of good Australia ones are

Someone Else's Daughter - Julia Shepphard (about the murder of Anita Cobby)
Sins of the Brother - Mark Whittaker, Les Kennedy (about Ivan Milat)
This is one great list. I think I read all of these but thank you, some I will read again.
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