The Bookshelf: A love letter to fellow true crime fanatics

Published 11:00 am Sunday, November 12, 2023

If you are curious about getting into true crime, or if you think you’ve read and viewed it all, “Murder Book” is one you’ll want to get hold of. It works as a fantastic primer for newbies as the author goes in depth on the giants in the field: “Zodiac” by Robert Graysmith, “The Stranger Beside Me” by Ann Rule and “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote.

But true crime isn’t limited to books, and Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell also delves into “The Thin Blue Line” (the first big, popular documentary about a crime that proved the guy was innocent and got him acquitted); the TV documentary “The Staircase” (the one about the crime novelist whose wife winds up dead at the bottom of some stairs, but it turns out maybe an owl did it?); and “My Favorite Murder” (a podcast where two comedians talk about their lives and anxieties and also their favorite murder they learned about that week).

Campbell’s book is hand drawn and evokes the style of Charles Schulz. She is also a comedian so her humorous tone is a welcome counterpoint to the crimes being committed between the covers. I recently saw “Killers of the Flower Moon” (based on a true crime novel of the same name by David Grann) at the Regal theater in Chattanooga. “Murder Book” turned me on to Grann’s book which investigates a series of murders of wealthy Osage people that took place in Oklahoma in the early 1920s after big oil deposits were discovered beneath their land. The book also details the birth of the FBI, which the movie didn’t have time for.

The author spends the last part of “Murder Book” describing how women podcasters (Karen and Georgia, Laci Mosley), directors (Erin Lee Carr, Liz Garbus), TV hosts (Tamron Hall, Nancy Grace) and of course authors (Michelle McNamara, Sarah Weinman) have made true crime better. She finds that with more women directing the narrative, we have greater insight into crimes and less of a one-sided view in the way females discuss criminals, approach victims and tell their stories.

Author Liana Finck said, “This is a fun and very funny book about the most terrifying subject ever.” It is a fine book on its own, and an essential true crime handbook as well.

You can borrow “Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession” and any of the other books that Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell touches on with your PINES library card.

Brian Latour is the branch manager of the Chatsworth-Murray County Public Library.