Author: Romeo Vitelli
Published By: Providentia Books
Volume I
This was a great read, although I was already familiar with a few of the cases presented in the book, the overwhelming majority was unknown to me. The author handled the subject well: he was respectful of the victims and didn’t glorify the killers. Due to it being relatively short (less than 200 pages) and featuring so many cases, don’t expect a thorough coverage of every single one. The writing was clear and to the point, the chapters (each containing a case) were roughly the same length, which made the reading flow nicely. There were no inaccuracies that I could find and, even though the coverage wasn’t detailed, the author made sure to include all relevant events.
The only issue I had with this read was the lack of organization regarding the order in which the cases were presented. They were from different places and different time periods, two things that could have been used to group the stories and give a better structure to the book. Furthermore, the author gave no reason as to why he didn’t properly organize the stories.
Overall, I recommend this to anyone interested in true crime. I’m eager for the release of the future volumes of this collection and will be sure to read all of them.
Volume II
I’m happy to report that this second installment was just as interesting, thoroughly researched, and well-written as the first one. Vitelli acknowledges the racism and other harmful biases held by society and law enforcement, pointing out how those may have (and probably did) influence the case in question. What I like most about his books, is that he provides plenty of historical context for when, and where, the murder was committed.
My only complaint is that the stories are not organized in any discernible manner. I think it’d be interesting if the cases were presented in chronological order, perhaps dividing them into sections by century. However, the lack of organization doesn’t make the reading experience unpleasant, only a little confusing at times. I look forward to the subsequent volumes in this series and, hopefully, there’ll be several of them.
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