A copy of my beloved 1983 paperback edition of Fatal Vision now sells for $75 on Amazon. Photo courtesy of Goodreads.
#books #truecrime #writing #horror #murder
I was a "true crime" nut for many, many years. I went through dozens of books from the genre from the early 80s to the early 2000s. I finally got tired of them a while back, mainly because most of the really good true crime writers had either died, retired, or moved on to other things. In addition, TV shows like CSI and all of its spin-offs also made forensic science--which was one of my favorite aspects of the early true crime blockbusters--more common and a lot less interesting. (Boy, how I loved the extensive "blood spatter" discussion in Joe McGinniss's 1983 masterpiece, Fatal Vision.)
I read my first true crime when I was a teen-ager some time in the mid-70s. That would be In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which is credited with inventing the classic true crime novel format. Capote's unflinching look at the massacre of a Kansas farm family, combined with his masterful prose, is just un-put-downable.
Although Capote invented the genre, the true crime craze really took off with the publication of Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter, one of the best-selling books of all time. After that, the genre incrementally gained steam, until the 90s, when everybody and their Aunt Fanny were peddling true crime books. I read most of them that were at least decent, although a couple I tossed aside for being poorly written and unreadable. Many are now out of print.
But the masterpieces, the absolutely top-tier accounts of murder, corruption, mayhem and madness, are all still in print, for good reason. Most of them were also made into movies or television miniseries; I watched those avidly as well as reading the books.
Why did true crime take off so much with the reading public in this era? IMHO, the craze was related to the popularity of the opulent night-time soap operas like Dynasty and Dallas. Except for those dealing with the notorious killers like Manson, Jeffrey MacDonald, and Ted Bundy, most of the best-sellers were about glamorous, screwed-up rich people, bumping each other off for money or sex. Readers wanted real-life versions of the night-time soaps, and publishers were only too happy to supply them with their fix.
Here are my Top Ten true crime novels, ranked:
1.) In Cold Blood (1965), by Truman Capote. Gotta go with the book that started it all for my number one, although it is not my personal, tippy-top favorite. Not just because it's a groundbreaking book, but also because it's simply a literary masterpiece of prose. It tells the story of the murders of a Kansas farm family, the Clutters, by a couple of petty, nomadic grifters. Capote interweaves the biographies of the victims with those of the grifters. Brilliantly written, this book is especially riveting as Capote describes the day leading up to the murders in graphic detail. In 1967, it was made into a classic b&w movie, starring Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the grifters. Ironically, many years later, Robert Blake stood trial for the murder of his wife, Bonnie Lee, and was acquitted.
2.) Fatal Vision (1983), by Joe McGinniss. My absolute favorite true crime book from a personal standpoint. A prominent journalist and political writer, McGinniss was hired to write a book sympathetic to Captain Jeffrey MacDonald, an army doctor accused of killing his wife and two little daughters in 1971. But after spending extensive time with MacDonald, McGinniss became convinced of his guilt, and wrote this exhaustive, spell-binding book that lays out the case against MacDonald. It's almost 1000 pages long, and it's packed with an almost unbelievable amount of detail. Fatal Vision was made into a high-profile television miniseries in 1984, starring Gary Cole as MacDonald. Unfortunately, the miniseries is not on disc but you can find it on YouTube or used VHS.
3.) Helter Skelter (1974), by Vincent Bugliosi. The prosecutor who put Charles Manson in prison wrote this voluminous account of the infamous Manson Family murders and subsequent trials. One of the best-selling books of all time, it will probably never go out of print. I defy anyone to stop reading Helter Skelter once they pick it up. In 1976, it was made into a stunning and haunting miniseries, starring Steve Railsback--a Charlie doppelgänger and excellent actor--as Manson. On disc.
4.) The Stranger Beside Me (1980), by Ann Rule. A retired policewoman from Seattle, Ann Rule was friends with serial killer Ted Bundy several years before she realized what he was. This is the definitive book on Bundy, by the woman who probably knew him better than anyone else. It’s been updated several times since its first publication, most notably in 1989 after Bundy was executed in Florida. One of the best features is that Rule wrote detailed mini-biographies of all of Bundy's known murder victims at the time, more than two dozen of them. A television movie based on this book was aired in 2003 on Lifetime, starring Barbara Hershey as Ann Rule, but it was inadequate and the story is crying out for a Netflix series or long movie. The book also launched Rule’s long and prolific career as the Queen of true crime in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s.
5.) The Executioner’s Song (1979), by Norman Mailer. The enfant terrible of American letters in the mid-late 20th Century, Mailer won a Pulitzer Prize for this enormous tome about spree killer Gary Gilmore, the first person to be executed in the U.S. after the death penalty was restored in 1977. Again, this is an account that gets deep into the head of a killer. It was made into a miniseries in 1982, starring a pre-famous Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore and Roseanna Arquette as his girlfriend, Nicole. On disc.
6.) Small Sacrifices (1987), by Ann Rule. Rule’s other great true crime masterpiece deals with the case of Diane Downs, a single mother who shot her three children, killing one child and seriously maiming the other two. Rule did exhaustive research to give readers a thorough sense of Diane, her family, her kids and her relationships. It’s a fascinating, heartbreaking tale of a sociopath and her surviving innocent children. This book was made into an excellent miniseries of the same title in 1989, starring Farah Fawcett as Diane in one of her best performances. Unfortunately, it’s only available on used VHS or YouTube.
7.) Blood and Money (1976), by Thomas "Tommy" Thompson. This book tells the story of Joan Robinson Hill, a Texas oil heiress who died under mysterious circumstances, while her husband was having an affair with another woman. Her husband, Dr. John Hill, a famous plastic surgeon, was accused of murder and tried twice; during the second trial, he was killed by a hit man hired by Joan’s wealthy father. Thompson wrote several other true crime books, but this one was his masterpiece. A television miniseries based on another book, but about the same case, was made in 1981, called Murder in Texas. It stars Farah Fawcett as Joan Hill and Sam Elliott as the Jeckyll-and-Hyde doctor. Unfortunately, you can only find it on used VHS and YouTube.
8.) Everything She Ever Wanted (1993) by Ann Rule. This book is about Pat Allanson, a greedy Southern Belle who manipulated her besotted, younger husband into killing his wealthy parents to support her Scarlett O’Hara fantasy of living on a grand plantation. She was eventually convicted of trying to poison an elderly couple after her husband went to prison. This is another voluminous, unforgettable Rule portrait of a sociopath and her devastating impact on the people around her. It was made into a 2009 miniseries under the same title, starring Gina Gershon as Pat, and is available on disc.
9.) Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder: A Family Album (1985), by Shana Alexander. This is the story of Frances Bradshaw Schreuder, a pushy, greedy heiress who manipulated her teenage son, Mark, into murdering her wealthy father, Franklin Bradshaw. (Crazy Frances was obsessed with ballet, hence the title.) In this crackerjack study of Frances, Alexander gets deep into the head of a complete nutjob, her miserly father and her spineless, enabling mother. The story was made into two miniseries that debuted in 1987, one based on this book starring Lee Remick as Frances, and At Mother’s Request, starring Stefanie Powers as Frances, which is based on another book about the same case. Both miniseries can be found on YouTube.
10.) Until the Twelfth of Never (1993), by Bella Stumbo. This book outlines the story of Betty Broderick, the trophy wife of Dan Broderick, a wealthy doctor-lawyer who dumped her for a younger model. Broderick then shot her ex-husband and his new wife dead while they were asleep in their bedroom. The book details how Broderick, a genteel Junior League-type wife and mother, descended into homicidal craziness due in part to her cruel husband’s behavior. An article about the case, written by Amy Wallace, was made into two televison movies, A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story and Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick's Last Chapter in 1992, both starring Meredith Baxter as Betty. Both can be found on YouTube; the first one is also available on disc.
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