Book Review: "The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers" edited by Mitzi Szereto (2019)
The Best New True Crime Stories Book Review
Published by Mango Publishing
Diversity and education is the name of the game when it comes to Mitzi Szereto. She believes strongly in variety and doing her homework and won’t publish anyone who doesn’t do the same. Having previously reviewed another of her books, Ladies of Gothic Horror: A Collection of Classic Stories, I was excited to get my hands on another of her collections. This time around she’s stepping out of the realm of horror fiction and into the all-too real world of the serial killer.
The cool thing is that you’re not getting a rehash of all the infamous serial killers you know so well- Bundy, Gacy, Dahmer, Lucas, et al. Instead, Szereto has compiled a laundry list of the top names in true crime literature and podcasting field to cover an equally wide variety of lesser known serial killers from the United States, Canada (who knew those nice people even had serial killers?!), the U.K., Australia, Brazil, Italy, Japan, and even Macedonia.
We’re not just talking about highly intelligent white men between the ages of 20 and 40, either. The women are represented as well. It’s not just the lone wolf; there are society darlings and parents as well. The cases go as far back as the early twentieth century and extend all the way to the modern day. There’s a doctor with a body count of 250 and a couple who lured nine people to their deaths as a team. You’ll learn about a young Brazillian man who killed from his motorcycle for a quick getaway. You’ll be appropriately appalled at the smorgasbord of evil on display.
What elevates The Best New True Crime Stories is the social conscience and depth of thought that it’s written with. This is no lurid “look at the gore” collection that glorifies the serial killer; neither is it a heavily moralized tome designed to pass judgment. The assembled authors (which includes a stellar piece on “The Kicevo Monster” from Mitzi Szereto herself) all go to great lengths to show you that the victims aren’t the only human beings involved. It’s not about sympathy for the murderer, necessarily- it’s understanding that there are at least two sides to every story. This is a collection that understands objective journalism and does the necessary homework. Included, as always with Mitzi Szereto’s work, is a complete appendix of everything you need to know about the contributors and their sources. Good stuff!
That’s not to say that they all read like a by the numbers newspaper column (though there are a couple that do). There’s a firsthand account from a woman who was nearly the first victim of The Yorkshire Ripper (“The Stranger in the Square” by Danuta Kot) that will legitimately send a chill down your spine. Also, there’s an epistolary style retelling of the “Buxom Belle”, Belle Gunness (“Buxom Belle: Her Own Story” by Vicki Hendricks) told from her perspective that serves as a fascinating window into the mind of a very complex woman.
A personal favorite was “The Beast of BC” by Mike Browne. I read this one to my wife and we debated and discussed it at length. The moral quandary at play in that case- the sheer horror of what he did to all those children and how he leveraged his knowledge into a dangerous legal precedent of bodies for cash had us as heated as the first time we watched Making a Murderer on Netflix. It’s powerful stuff.
The best of the collection open a moral debate, raise deeper questions, and teach you about the diversity of the serial killer, dispelling the notion that there’s only one kind. Even the more pedestrian entries are meticulously researched and competently written. There are no throwaway or filler entries to be found. The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers is an extremely enlightening and eye-opening addition to the true crime genre that had me Googling and debating so much that it took me longer to read than was justifiable.
In short, it’s a rabbit-hole kind of book. Buckle up and take notes, true crime junkies.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Best-New-True-Crime-Stories-ebook/dp/B07RM66DCN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1582597135&sr=1-3
Contributors: Steven Wade, Craig Pittman, Joe Turner, Francesca Roe, Vicki Hendricks, Lee Mellor, James Young, Danuta Kot, Mitzi Szereto, Marcie Rendon, Martin Edwards, Mike Browne, Anthony Ferguson, Mark Fryers, Richard O. Jones, Deirdre Pirro
