Katherine Dykstra’s What Happened to Paula: On the Death of an American Girl is much more than a book about […]
“A Most Damnable Fraud?” Public (Mis)conceptions and the Insanity Defense
James Kahler murdered his two daughters, ex-wife, and grandmother in Kansas on Thanksgiving in 2009. Kahler’s defense team wanted to […]
Evidence Written in Blood: Forensic Science and the True Crime Consumer
According to reports, in December 2001 Michael Peterson found his wife, Kathleen Peterson, dead at the bottom of a set […]
Justice and Agency: Why Women Love True Crime
When I was young, I was obsessed with Unsolved Mysteries. While not typically a “go-to” show for an eight-year-old, my […]
Disappointed Love and Dangerous Temptations: Textile Factories and True Crime
Mary Bean enjoyed “unlawful relations” in the summer of 1849; by the fall she was pregnant. In November she entered […]
“Ample Justification for the Deed”: Public Interest in the “Sickles Tragedy” as Gender Performance
Congressman Daniel Sickles murdered Philip Barton Key on February 27, 1859, just steps from the White House. The day before, […]
“Charlie Says” and the Santa Cruz Prison Project
Joan Didion, Again “Many people I know in Los Angeles believe that the Sixties ended abruptly on August 9, 1969.” […]
Blinded by the White: Race and the Exceptionalizing of Ted Bundy
Take care of yourself, young man. And I — I say that to you sincerely. Take care of yourself. It’s […]
Sherlock Holmes Comes to Paris: True Crime and Private Detection in the Belle Époque
What’s the appeal of true crime? There’s the mystery to solve and the lure of thinking about violence from a […]
Fictional Detectives and Real-Life Forensic Science
On April 10, 1935, Lord Hugh Montague Trenchard, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, invited policemen and politicians to celebrate […]
