BookSirens ARC | True Crime Stories You Won't Believe

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via BookSirens in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Books like this can be very sensationalistic (thanks, Victorians) so I was pretty cautious going in, given the title. I have read books similar to this before that make it a huge gross spectical and the victims get lost in the chaos. I was pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case here. The author did a remarkable job conveying the facts of the case and the outcome, while preserving the dignity of the victim(s).

I would not say that I am a true crime junkie, because I think that is weird. People get so caught up the clues and the crimes, trying to solve the murder themselves that the victims are sometimes forgotten as once being living, breathing people who never asked for such excruciating and oftentimes humiliating publicity. It's weird and not okay. Yet the genre of true crime has grown so massive, so mainstream, that it is hard to avoid.

Also, I tend to prefer my true crime stories to come from the Victorian era or earlier and I am not sure why - the Victorians themselves were absolutely bonkers about murder, but the crimes themselves are usually intriguing. It's almost like murderers in the era wanted to make sure to get the maximum amount of shock value that they knew would encite hysterics.

Unless you read a lot of books about the same era, a lot of the cases will be new to you. I was familiar with a few of them, such as Joseph Vacher, a serial killer from the 19th century also known as the French Ripper. I read a book about him not too long ago, The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science. Great read. I'll review it eventually. Probably.

There are 32 in all, and there was a bit more detail for each than I had been expecting from a book like this. Each chapter runs six pages or so, but the author packs quite a bit into each. Nothing too in-depth, but enough of a clear picture for the reader to decide if they want to do further reading on that specific case. I always think it is a great sign when an author can get me to do so, because when you read as much as I do, there's a certain point where there's nothing new left to learn about a topic for the time being (ex: the Tudors and Plantagenets. I know these families inside and out it feels like, so I do not typically read generla histories on them anymore and gravitate toward biographies of specific historical figures from the periods).

The cover notes that this is volume one, and I am planning on reading any subsequent volumes if they remain of this quality. Though many stories are quite obscure, I think that is part of what makes this work. Though Ed Gein is given a chapter, for the most part they are stories that many are not familiar with. I also appreciated that even in instances where I knew about the case, and knew of some of the yuckier details being available, the author did not choose to go that route. He gave details without being grusome or sensationalizing anything.

There are also a wide variety of stories here, from various countries and time periods, crossing the socio-economic spectrum. I also appreciate the fact that he did not glorify the killers.

Highly recommend for true crime fans, and recommended for those looking for something different from their usual fare.