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TRUE CRIME CASES often have books written about them ..... some are exposes, some are memoirs from the accused or convicted person/s. OR memoirs from the (surviving victims) or victims family's and even jury members and lawyers.

TRUE CRIME (NOT FICTION) link......

Just a few different cases to start us off,


**CULT CRIMES
CHARLES MANSON CASE (Murder) Book & Film- Helter Skelter (and multiple documentaries)Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders (one big ass book- v good. Not seen the hollywood film but have seen docos)
JIM JONES 'JONESTOWN' CASE (Mass murder/Suicide)
Doco Film 'Jonestown paradise lost' was the best I've seen, and though there are multiple books written such as Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple which I's like to read. A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown is great.

** QUESTIONABLE CRIMES . MURDER CASES
STEVEN AVERY (Netflix series 'Making a murderer') The Innocent Killer
THE MEMPHIS THREE (Book and Film - Devils Knot) as well as many others Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three
OJ SIMPSON CASE (see OJ thread)
(note, I may be one of a few who thinks Avery is likely guilty. and OJ also 100% guilty)

**ABDUCTION/CAPTIVITY
NATASCHA KAMPUSCH 3096 Tage film same name, dubbed in english
STEVEN STRAYNER I Know My First Name Is Steven film same name
ELIZABETH SMART My Story (documentaries google
MICHELLE/GINA/AMANDA ... CLEVELAND ABDUCTIONS film same name Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland

Some years ago I read Devil’s Knot and literally devoured the book. I did have some knowledge about the case but not too detailed since I only read some articles about it online in the early 00-years. The book was a fascinating and shocking read. Afterwards I also watched the West of Memphis documentary and liked it a lot. I have yet to see the Paradise Lost-documentaries about the case…they’re hard to get here in Austria:)
However, I saw the trailer for the Devil’s Knot adapation and hated every second of it. It looks way too clean and Hollywood-esque for such a dirty, cruel plot. The fact that Resse Witherspoon is the female lead, makes it even more easy for me to neglect the movie:)

A book/movie adaptation that I also enjoyed very much is Maziar Bahari’s Then They Came for Me: A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival about his capture by Iranian officials some years ago. I read it because I knew about his case from The Daily Show and wanted to read the book before watching Jon Steward’s adaptation Rosewater. While the movie has a very different vibe than the book, I enjoyed the both and can highly recommend them.

I have been a true crime buff for a long time.

Ann Rule books:
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story by Ann Rule
Dead By Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer? by Ann Rule
Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal byAnn Rule

Scott Peterson

Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson byKeith Ablow
For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice by Sharon Rocha
Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson Is Guilty by Anne Bird

Black Dahlia
Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder byJohn Gilmore
Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder by Steve Hodel

Killing of a Spouse
The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten, 1960-1980 by Peter Bogdanovich
Every Woman's Nightmare: The Fairytale Marriage and Brutal Murder of Lori Hacking bySteven Long
Fatal Vision byJoe McGinniss
Blind Faith by Joe McGinniss
Burning Bed: The True Story of an Abused Wife byFaith McNulty

Other Murders
Amy Fisher: My StoryAmy Fisher
Mommy's Little Girl by Diane Fanning (Casey Anthony)
Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer by John E. Douglas
Bitter Blood: A True Story of Southern Family Pride, Madness, and Multiple Murder by Jerry Bledsoe

I love true crime thanks to the ID channel. I have not read anything recently in this genre, but her are a few I remember reading

Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China


Pretty Little Killers: The Truth Behind the Savage Murder of Skylar Neese

Death in a Texas Desert: And Other True Crime Stories from the Dallas Observer

This one is on my TBR list
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by michelle knight

Simon wrote: "Some years ago I read Devil’s Knot and literally devoured the book. I did have some knowledge about the case but not too detailed since I only read some articles about it online in the early 00-yea..."

Hey Simon! PARADISE LOST is on you tube! you can watch it there (I am Australia and works for me :) I am yet to watch them, I started West Of Memphis. Am unsure about the case as I heard the 3 convicted were just recently set free..... so i wonder if we will ever know the full story? sounds (from the little i have researched - ) that the 3 boys DID do it. (yet some new fibre on a piece of rope was that of a stepparents)
I have not read the book (and i li]ke Reese and she was very un-reese in the film) Bu]t Devils Knot film was crap. (and dull) I think I w]i]ll watch the Docos. The real life crime scene footage is horrible :( poor kids

thanks for your adds, some great stuff to look up/research

ANN RULE BOOK (DIANNE DOWNS CASE)- Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder FILM SAME NAME (great film)

DARA..... I started (TED BUNDY) ANN RULE- THE STRANGER BESIDE ME last night (my 1st Ann book) .....wow Rule is a good writer! Are her other works as well written? (or perhaps it reads so well as she is linked to Bundy) I am just learning in Depth about Bundy now]..... I think I will find the case fascinaing. (what did you think of film? I}'m yet to find a copy)

Thanks for reminding me about the SCOTT PETERSON case... I remember following it and I read a book the mistress Amber something wrote. (which of the materials listed do you think is the best read?...has he now been executed?) oh whats the film/etc?

AMY FISHER....The Drew Barrymore TV FILM is my fave version. I read Amy's 2nd book and hated it though never read that first book,

I had recently heard after all these years the BLACK DAHLIA CASE is SOLVED?? (a cops dad did it...in fact the cop himself aparantly worked out it had been his decesed dad... did you hear of this?)
I dont understand WHY she was killed. seems a random crime...?
did you like the FILM BLACK DAHLIA? (not seen.,,,,,is it good)

MAYA.... Michelles book is quite good. (though I did not enjoy amanda and Ginas...I have reviwed both books if youd like to look) I read alot about true abduction/captivity (memoirs) and can rec some amazing ones.

Thanks Kerry. yes, I chose to read Michelle's story because the other book had so many bad reviews.


For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice I just remebered this book when you mentioned scott peterson

Kerry wrote: "sounds (from the little i have researched - ) that the 3 boys DID do it."

How is the whole thing portrayed in the movie? Does it have a the boys did it or the boys are inncovent vibe?
Sure, we'll probably never know the truth, yet my guess is the boys are innocent:)

Thanks for the youtube hint...I hardly ever watch something on youtube, therefore I would have never checked for the movies there.

The boys (the victims) are in it alot, Reese isnt the main focus.
With knowing more about it than me, - and believing the WM3 to be innocent...do you have a theory about who actually comited the crimes and or why?

PARADISE LOST for you :) (first film) (It is actually in english. no subtitles) I will watch it soon


oh sorry- it doesnt have EITHER vibe to be honest, its very ambiguos all through out. (i dont think enough material in it) it felt very neither here nor there. (devils knot film i mean)

Kerry wrote: "With knowing more about it than me, - and believing the WM3 to be innocent...do you have a theory about who actually comited the crimes and or why?."

I have no idea:)

Kerry wrote: "PARADISE LOST for you :) (first film) (It is actually in english. no subtitles) I will watch it soon."
Just started the movie (thanks for the link) and realized that I already saw it...must have completely forgotten about it:)

Thank you for your question. It's a pleasure to read and respond in this forum.
If you want to read about Jonestown, the books and articles by Lawrence Wright are a great place to begin. He also wrote Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief which was made into a documentary last year.
Andy Temple of our group read The Night Listener earlier this year and described himself as bemused by it. It's a novel based on what really happened between Armistead Maupin and the woman who pretended to be A.G. Johnson. ( for those of you unfamiliar with the case.)
The book isn't exactly true crime in the usual sense, since Maupin wrote it as a novel specifically so that he could embellish the narrative and recreate the story as he would have liked it to play out.
The film is almost a summary, leaving a great deal out and adding a tawdry breaking/entering/arrest/tasering scene and a later attempted-murder scene, which I tend to agree with Mr. Temple were included out of a belief that viewers would otherwise find the film "boring".
I am not enthusiastic about Alan Parker's adaptation of Mississippi Burning for similar reasons. The reality was starkly horrifying enough without adding cinematic elements. By not adhering to the facts, the film risks being taken less seriously. ()
Jay Young of our group would like to see A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping That Haunted a Nation made into an American Experience documentary. It was already covered in storytelling fashion on This American Life which is where we first heard of it.

Iris Nicholes

I recently watched Final Vision on ID about how author Joe McGinniss came to the conclusion that Jeffrey MacDonald was guilty of killing his whole family. MacDonald originally hired McGinniss to prove him innocent and later sued him. It was quite interesting. Did anyone else see it?

Dara S. wrote: "I recently watched Final Vision on ID about how author Joe McGinniss came to the conclusion that Jeffrey MacDonald was guilty of killing his whole family. MacDonald originally hired McGinniss to pr..."

Hi Dara, I had actually never heard of it but just looked it up on your recommendation and it seems an interesting case (the film has Scott Foley in it so thats a plus lol) I will get a copy to watch. Is there a book as well?

I'm about to undertake ready for the Jan 17th start of the American Crime Story 2 : The assasination of Gianni Versace