Fiction
In The Woods: There are two murders in this one! One, of a young woman, that is being investigated by two detectives, and one that took place many many years ago, in one of the detectives' past. The two intersect in interesting, inexplicable ways.
We Need To Talk About Kevin: This book examines a teenage boy who murders his school classmates, daring its readers to make a judgment call on nature v nuture.
American Psycho: These murders, committed by a Wall Street banker sociopath, are especially gruesome.
To Die For: The movie they made out of this one was honestly great, but the source material about an ambitious newscaster who needs her traditional husband out of the way is very much worth reading!
The Name of the Rose: A murder mystery among medieval monks! There are some obvious nods to Sherlock Holmes and it's much more entertaining than you might think.
Nonfiction
Say Nothing: One kidnapping (and, eventually confirmed, murder) of a mother in Northern Ireland provides a lens through which to examine The Troubles.
Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: We will never know what actually happened and who actually killed JonBenet Ramsey, which is very frustrating.
Party Monster: Addicts killing each other over drugs is nothing new, but the over-the-top setting of Club Kid NYC provides an interesting twist!
The Stranger Beside Me: The classic, in which Ann Rule gradually comes to realize that the serial killer stalking young women in Washington state might actually be her suicide crisis hotline coworker Ted Bundy.
Devil in the White City: This book examines both H.H. Holmes and the Chicago World's Fair he used the chaos of to help disguise his crimes.
Posts
We Need to Talk About Kevin was such a terrifying book. Great list.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
I read that book a few years back and still think about it often!
DeleteI like that you did fiction and non fiction. The Name of the Rose is a great movie, haven't read the book. https://pmprescott.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI never even knew there was a movie! I loved the book, so I'll definitely check out the film
DeleteReally good list.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteAmerican Psycho is probably one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. My friend recommended it to me and lent me her copy without giving me any warning as to what it was about, lol, so it was quite a shock once I started reading it!
ReplyDeleteI'd seen the movie so I was expecting it to be messed up, but the movie is actually pretty tame in comparison.
DeleteI saw the Name of the Rose movie but I've never read the book!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Sean Connery in the lead role just does not work in my head, so I'll definitely have to watch it to see how that plays out!
DeleteOoo! I like your topic! There are so many good books around murder.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I struggled to come up with something for Halloween this time around since I don't read horror/unsettling stuff too often, but it turns out I've actually read a lot of books about murder!
DeleteAll of these are great, spine-tingling, chill inducing reads and I adore the way you set out to split it into fiction and non-fiction. Such a good variety!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I like reading both, so I figured other people might like to, too!
DeleteThe only one of these I’ve read is The Stranger Beside Me. I need to check out the others because I love spooky stuff.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I frighten easily, so none of these are especially spooky! Actual horror keeps me waking up any time there's a noise in the night for days
DeleteLove your choices - especially We Need To Talk About Kevin - it gave me chills!
ReplyDelete