 | In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.10 The masterpiece. Two new films about Capote deal with the strange and intricate relationship he formed with the two killers. The book is essential true crime reading.
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 | Son: A Psychopath and His Victims by Jack Olsen
Buy used from: $1.09 Classic true crime account of a serial rapist and his murderous mother, with a sympathetic portrayal of the victims of a terrible crime spree.
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| Give a Boy a Gun: A True Story of Law and Disorder in the American West by Jack Olsen
Buy used from: $4.00 Story of murderer Claude Dallas, and a great examination of some American myths that allowed two cold-blooded murders to be interpreted as heroic.
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 | Doc by Jack Olsen
Buy used from: $0.01 A disturbing but fascinating account of how a predator can find just the right population to exploit - in this case a doctor with no conscience and a community of women vulnerable to manipulation.
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 | The Poet and the Murderer by Simon Worrall
Buy used from: $1.20 Readable, highly literate account of the crimes of Mark Hofman, master forger and murderer.
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 | Defending the Devil: My Story As Ted Bundy's Last Lawyer by Polly Nelson
Buy used from: $15.30 There are no shortage of books about Bundy, but I found this repellently fascinating - a last look at the man who is the prototype for the modern serial killer.
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 | Ted Bundy : Conversations with a Killer by Stephen G. Michaud
Buy new: $13.45 / Used from: $12.77 Fascinating view of the self-protective psychological armor of the serial killer.
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| The Only Living Witness by Hugh Michaud Stephen G./Aynesworth
Buy used from: $0.01 Solid account of Bundy's crimes and capture.
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| Monkey on a Stick (Onyx) by John Hubner
Buy used from: $0.01 Great, readable account of how spiritual movements are manipulated for money and power.
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 | Cruel Doubt by Joe McGinniss
Buy used from: $0.01 A great and chilling view of a family's ordeal at the hands of their psychopathic father.
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 | True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel
Buy used from: $0.01 Two fascinating stories in one book - the crimes of murderer Christian Longo and the author's attempt to redeem himself after falsifying material in a story for the New York Times.
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 | The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm
Buy new: $10.04 / Used from: $4.04 Fascinating meditation on the necessary deceit and difficult moral position of a journalist trying to get close to a murderer in order to tell a story.
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 | The Onion Field by Joseph Wambaugh
Buy used from: $0.01 Vintage Wambaugh on his home turf: The murder of an LA detective and its aftermath.
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 | Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals from the Pilgrims to the Present by Jay Robert Nash
Buy used from: $6.44 Must-have for the true crime buff. An encyclopedia of American criminals, big and little, told in Nash's unique hardboiled patter.
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 | A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders by Gary M. Lavergne
Buy new: $14.21 / Used from: $7.99 Thorough and clinical examination of the circumstances of the Austin, TX sniper killings. Deals with many of the myths and legends that have grown up around this spectacular crime.
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 | And the Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bugliosi
Buy used from: $0.01 Bugliosi is best known for Helter Skelter, his solid account of the Manson family, but I recommend his account of a murder that nearly escaped detection.
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 | The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrere
Buy new: $11.90 / Used from: $0.01 This story has been the basis for a movie and at least one episode of Law and Order. Short, readable account of a man whose life was a lie.
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 | A Cold Case by Philip Gourevitch
Buy used from: $0.01 Excellent account by Gourevitch of how a 27-year old murder is finally solved. Great police procedural.
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 | The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad by Stacy Horn
Buy used from: $0.17 New account by Stacy Horn of the cold case squads of NYC.
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| Have You Seen My Son by Jack Olsen
Buy used from: $0.01 A little-known novel by a master of true crime. A fun, fast read.
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