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Thursday, September 22, 2022

True Crime




A mood strikes, you start by searching things like scams and MLM, or even cults on youtube, then it shifts to things like malpractice, you find Dr. Death streaming on Peacock, and after binging the miniseries you find the documentary, and the next thing you know you’ve been streaming serial killer docu-series for an abnormal length of time. You step away, dazed, blinking, unsure of the time or day, you’ve been trapped in the True Crime zone. You want to sleep but have become hyper-aware of every tick, every tock, every creak, scratch, thump, and bump. When you do slip into sleep, there is every chance it will not be peaceful.

In 2010 Grad student Amanda Vicary and Psychology Professor R. Chris Fraley, from the University of Illinois, noticed that more women than men were leaving reviews for True Crime books on Amazon. As Vicary continued her research, she found that “‘Compared to men, women liked reading about the psychological content of true crime stories,’ Vicary said. ‘Stories where an FBI profiler interviewed a killer, or that you're trying to get to the inner workings of a killer in some way.’ Women, she found, were also more likely to read true crime books if the victim in the story was female.

‘My conclusion was that women all seemed to like reading about survival, whether it was preventing or surviving a crime,’ says Vicary. ‘Research shows that women fear crime more than men since they're more likely to be a victim of one. My thinking is that this fear is leading women, even subconsciously, to be interested in true crime, because they want to learn how to prevent it.’”

-What One Researcher Discovered About America's True Crime Obsession Sarah Watts


The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land by Denton, Sally


"A shocking massacre in 2019 sparks a probing investigation into the strange, violent history of a polygamist Mormon outpost in Mexico. A harmless, unassuming caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen in northern Mexico on November 4, 2019. In a massacre that produced international headlines, nine people were killed and five others gravely injured. The victims were members of the La Mora and LeBaron communities-fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the LDS Church and settled in Mexico when polygamy was outlawed. In The Colony, the best-selling investigative journalist Sally Denton picks up where initial reporting on the killings left off, and in the process tells the violent history of the LeBaron clan and their homestead, from the first polygamist emigration to Mexico in the 1880s to the LeBarons' internal blood feud in the 1970s to the family's recent alliance with the NXIVM sex cult. Drawing on sources within Colonia LeBaron itself, Denton creates a mesmerizing work of investigative journalism in the tradition of Under the Banner of Heaven and Going Clear"--. Provided by publisher.



Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath by Browder, Bill


"When Bill Browder's young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail, Browder made it his life's mission to go after his killers and make sure they faced justice. The first step of that mission was to uncover who was behind the $230 million tax refund scheme that Magnitsky was killed over. As Browder and his team tracked the money as it flowed out of Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas, they were shocked to discover that Vladimir Putin himself was a beneficiary of the crime. As law enforcement agencies began freezing the money, Putin retaliated. He and his cronies set up honey traps hired process servers to chase Browder through cities, murdered more of his Russian allies, and enlisted some of the top lawyers and politicians in America to bring him down. Putin will stop at nothing to protect his money. As Freezing Order reveals, it was Browder's campaign to expose Putin's corruption that prompted Russia's intervention in the 2016 US presidential election."--Amazon.



The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, A Murder, and an Unlikely Fight for Justice by Gilmer, Benjamin


"A rural physician learns that a former doctor at his clinic committed a shocking crime, leading him to uncover an undiagnosed mental health crisis in our broken prison system--a powerful true story expanding on one of the most popular This American Life episodes of all time. When family physician Dr. Benjamin Gilmer began working at the Cane Creek clinic in rural North Carolina, he was following in the footsteps of a man with the same last name. His predecessor, Dr. Vince Gilmer, was beloved by his patients and community--right up until the shocking moment when he strangled his ailing father and then returned to the clinic for a regular day of work after the murder. He'd been in prison for nearly a decade by the time Benjamin arrived, but Vince's patients would still tell Benjamin they couldn't believe the other Dr. Gilmer was capable of such violence. The more Benjamin looked into Vince's case, the more he knew that something was wrong. Vince knew, too. He complained from the time he was arrested of his 'SSRI brain,' referring to withdrawal from his anti-depressant medication. When Benjamin visited Vince in prison, he met a man who was obviously fighting his own mind, constantly twitching and veering off into nonsensical tangents. Enlisting This American Life journalist Sarah Koenig, Benjamin resolved to get Vince the help he needed. But time and again, the pair would come up against a prison system that cared little about the mental health of its inmates--despite an estimated one third of them suffering from an untreated mental illness. In The Other Dr. Gilmer, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer tells of how a caring man was overcome by a perfect storm of rare health conditions, leading to an unimaginable crime. Rather than get treatment, Vince Gilmer was sentenced to life in prison--a life made all the worse by his untrustworthy brain and prison and government officials who dismissed his situation. A large percentage of imprisoned Americans are suffering from mental illness when they commit their crimes and continue to suffer, untreated, in prison. In a country with the highest incarceration rates in the world, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer argues that some crimes need to be healed rather than punished"--. Provided by publisher.



Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Keefe, Patrick Radden


The Jefferson bottles : how could one collector find so much rare fine wine? -- Crime family : how a notorious Dutch gangster was exposed by his own sister -- The avenger : has the brother of a victim of a Lockerbie bombing finally solved the case? -- The empire of edge : how a doctor, a trader, and the billionaire Steven A. Cohen got entangled in a vast financial scandal -- A loaded gun : a mass shooter's tragic past -- The hunt for El Chapo : inside the capture of the world's most notorious drug lord -- Winning : how Mark Burnett resurrected Donald Trump as an icon of American success -- Swiss bank heist : the computer technician who exposed a Geneva bank's darkest secrets -- The Prince of Marbella : the decades-long battle to catch an elusive international arms broker -- The worst of the worst : Judy Clarke excelled at saving the lives of notorious killers. Then she took the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- Buried secrets : how an Israeli billionaire wrested control of one of Africa's biggest prizes -- Journeyman : Anthony Bourdain's movable feast.



A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Bradbury, Neil


"A fascinating tale of poisons and poisonous deeds which both educates and entertains." --Kathy Reichs A brilliant blend of science and crime, A taste for poison reveals how eleven notorious poisons affect the body--through the murders in which they were used. As any reader of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring-and popular-weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or the handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict? In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history, and true crime, Dr. Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes-some notorious, some forgotten, some still unsolved-are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved: eleven molecules of death that work their way through the human body and, paradoxically, illuminate the way in which our bodies function. Drawn from historical records and current news headlines, A Taste for Poison weaves together the tales of spurned lovers, shady scientists, medical professionals and political assassins to show how the precise systems of the body can be impaired to lethal effect through the use of poison. From the deadly origins of the gin & tonic cocktail to the arsenic-laced wallpaper in Napoleon's bedroom, A Taste for Poison leads readers on a riveting tour of the intricate, complex systems that keep us alive-or don't"--. Provided by publisher.



Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation by Krouse, Erika


"Part memoir and part literary true crime, Tell Me Everything is the mesmerizing story of a landmark sexual assault investigation and the female private investigator who helped crack it open. Erika Krouse has one of those faces. "I don't know why I'm telling you this," people say, spilling confessions. In fall 2002, Erika accepts a new contract job investigating lawsuits as a private investigator. The role seems perfect for her, but she quickly realizes she has no idea what she's doing. Then a lawyer named Grayson assigns her to investigate a sexual assault, a college student who was attacked by football players and recruits at a party a year earlier. Erika knows she should turn the assignment down. Her own history with sexual violence makes it all too personal. But she takes the job anyway, inspired by Grayson's conviction that he could help change things forever. And maybe she could, too. Over the next five years, Erika learns everything she can about P. I. technique, tracking down witnesses and investigating a culture of sexual assault and harassment ingrained in the university's football program. But as the investigation grows into a national scandal and a historic civil rights case, Erika finds herself increasingly consumed. When the case and her life both implode at the same time, Erika must figure out how to help win the case without losing herself"--. Provided by publisher.



American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years 1950-2000 by Vronsky, Peter


"Fans of Mindhunter and true crime podcasts will devour these chilling stories of serial killers from the so-called "surge" or epidemic years of serial murder. With books like Serial Killers, Female Serial Killers, and Sons of Cain, Peter Vronsky has established himself as the foremost expert on the history of serial killers. In this first definitive history of the worst decades of American serial murder, when the number and body count of serial killers exploded, Vronsky tells the stories of the most notable and unusual serial killings from the 1950s to the early twenty-first century. From Ted Bundy to the Golden State Killer, our fascination with these classic serial killers seems to grow by the day. American Serial Killers gives true crime junkies what they crave, with both perennial "favorites" (Ed Kemper, Jeffrey Dahmer) and many fascinating lesser-known killers such as Melvin Rees, Harvey Glatman, and Danny Rolling"-- Provided by publisher.



The Babysitter: My Summers With a Serial Killer by Rodman, Liza


"A chilling true story-part memoir, part crime investigation-reminiscent of Ann Rule's classic The Stranger Beside Me, about a little girl longing for love and how she found friendship with her charismatic babysitter-who was also a vicious serial killer. Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1960s, Liza Rodman was a lonely little girl. During the summers, while her mother worked days in a local motel and danced most nights in the Provincetown bars, her babysitter-the kind, handsome handyman at the motel where her mother worked-took her and her sister on adventures in his truck. He bought them popsicles and together, they visited his "secret garden" in the Truro woods. To Liza, he was one of the few kind and understanding adults in her life. Everyone thought he was just a "great guy." But there was one thing she didn't know; their babysitter was a serial killer. Some of his victims were buried-in pieces-right there, in his garden in the woods. Though Tony Costa's gruesome case made screaming headlines in 1969 and beyond, Liza never made the connection between her friendly babysitter and the infamous killer of numerous women, including four in Massachusetts, until decades later. Haunted by nightmares and horrified by what she learned, Liza became obsessed with the case. Now, she and cowriter Jennifer Jordan reveal the chilling and unforgettable true story of a charming but brutal psychopath through the eyes of a young girl who once called him her friend"--. Provided by publisher.




The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Jobb, Dean


"Framed around one salacious trial in 1891 London, a fascinating and vividly told true-crime narrative about the hunt for one of the first known serial killers, whose poisoning spree in the US, Canada, and England coincided with the birth of forensic science as well as the public's growing appetite for crime fiction such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels"--. Provided by publisher.



The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Kean, Sam


"Science is a force for good in the world--at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn't everything, it's the only thing--no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process"--. Provided by publisher.





Links:

Women, more than men, choose true crime over other violent nonfiction BY DIANA YATES 


Why Do Women Love True Crime? By Kate Tuttle


https://www.bustle.com/p/why-are-people-so-obsessed-with-true-crime-experts-reveal-the-evolutionary-reasons-why-18138062


My Favorite Murder -Podcast



 

 









 

 

 


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