Library Journal
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Our fascination with true crime disturbs some—after all, aren't we exploiting victims by enjoying the stories of their deaths? Not necessarily. With nuance and sensitivity, Weinman (The Real Lolita) curates essays that consider the explosion of interest in true crime, stories from the perspectives of victims, and tales that present new information about notorious killers. Prolific and masterful essayists explore our deepest fears, our desires, our need to be valued, and our tendency as a species to observe and learn from one another's misfortune. Michelle Dean proves the adage "truth is stranger than fiction" with the tale of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a victim of Munchausen's by proxy who killed her abusive mother; Alex Mar's account of the "Slender Man" stabbings offers a rich, layered contemplation of female adolescence; Jason Fagone shadows a trauma surgeon who treats victims of gun violence; and Alice Bolin muses on why we draw a distinction between prestige true crime shows and pulpy, "lowbrow" ones. Each piece is gripping and demands attention and introspection. VERDICT This enthralling volume insists that there can and should be humanity within true crime. Whether readers are spellbound or disgusted by the genre, this is a must.—Ahliah Bratzler, Indianapolis P.L.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A collection of perceptive essays reveals the range of true-crime writing featured in magazines today. The essays, all published in the past few years, veer away from the typical true-crime formula, which tends to focus, as editor Weinman notes, on “beautiful dead white girls.” In this collection, women are at least as likely to be perpetrators of crime as victims, and the contributors are hyperaware, sometimes to a fault, of their inherent fallibility in reporting the truth of the events they're considering. Weinman, who has vast experience in the genre, divides the book into three sections. The first includes relatively traditional crime stories told from unusual angles. Pamela Colloff's careful, thorough “The Reckoning,” for example, considers the 1966 University of Texas clock tower shooting not from the point of view of the gunman but by looking closely and compassionately at the decadeslong effects of the shooting on Claire Wilson, who was wounded in the tragedy and lost the baby with whom she was eight months pregnant. The provocative second section features essays on the intersection between crime and culture, such as Alex Mar’s incisive examination of two girls seemingly compelled to attempt murder by the internet meme of the “Slender Man.” Over the course of the essay, Mar establishes parallels to the girls who incited the Salem witch trials and another pair of girls in 1950s Australia. The third section widens out to include stories that wouldn't necessarily seem to fit the true-crime formula. These include Jason Fagone's graphic “What Bullets Do to Bodies,” in which he chronicles his experiences with the chief trauma surgeon at a Philadelphia hospital, and Melissa Del Bosque's insightful “Checkpoint Nation,” which explores the question of whether the Border Patrol often oversteps its authority. Other contributors include Michelle Dean, Alice Bolin, and Emma Copley Eisenberg. A well-chosen sampling of writings from a rapidly expanding and developing field. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Weinman (The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World) provides a worthy successor to the Best American Crime Reporting annual series in this thoughtful and wide-ranging true crime anthology, which includes 13 previously published essays. The recent shift in reporting such stories from the victim’s perspective is exemplified in the deeply sad retelling of the 1966 University of Texas mass shooting, Pamela Colloff’s “The Reckoning: The Story of Claire Wilson.” Wilson was seriously injured by the sniper who carried out a shooting spree from the UT Tower, killing Wilson’s boyfriend and the baby she was carrying at the time. Sarah Marshall’s disturbing “The End of Evil” details her struggle to decide whether serial killer Ted Bundy should be thought of as belonging “to a separate species from the rest of us.” And in an era when true crime podcasts and TV shows continue to proliferate, Alice Bolin’s “The Ethical Dilemma of Highbrow True Crime” details the problems of such popular fare, which often contains unverified and potentially libelous speculations. The superior quality of these essays begs for future volumes. Agent: David Patterson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (July)

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

In recent years, popular culture has been hijacked by true crime. There are numerous podcasts, documentaries, television series, and even fan conventions dedicated to the macabre genre. It is safe to say that true crime has taken up residence in our zeitgeist. Weinman (The Real Lolita, 2018) has carefully curated a collection of tales about murder, mayhem, and other misdeeds that will transfix voracious true crime consumers. Divided into three parts, these journalistic pieces run the gamut of true crime. Stories like Michelle Dean’s “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter to Be Sick” offer in-depth looks into cases that captured the media’s attention. “How a Dubious Forensic Science Spreads Like a Virus” by Leora Smith and “Checkpoint Nation” by Melissa del Bosque explore the limitations of our legal system. Other pieces, like Emma Copely Eisenberg’s “I Am a Girl Now . . .” and Pamela Colloff’s “The Reckoning,” put victims at the forefront. As a whole, these tales reflect on and seek to understand society’s insatiable appetite for crime stories. This anthology is essential reading for all true crime fans.