Murder Book

If you love true crime at all, this book will speak to you! I got to reflect on my obsession with Law and Order, read about the development of true crime in it's different mediums, even got to dive into a few big name cases, all with a bit of biography of the author and humor spread throughout. I saw myself reflected in this, and I didn't hate it hahaha.

I will read N. E. THANG. this woman writes lol! She is funny and capable of making a subject like women's obsession with true crime, our ability to mistrust our instincts, bias in the media, and a woman's near-endless capacity for empathy, and turn it into a funny and dare I say ‘light' read. HFC is funny, down-to-earth, open, and honest. She breaks down these short stories of True Crime in a way that is compelling and interesting, and in turn funny. I will pledge to read not only anything she writes/illustrates but also anything she recommends and there are tons of recommendations in this book, books, podcasts, tv shows, movies, and so much stuff. I'm over here dancing in my seat in anticipation because she rec'd things I have yet to read!!

I am not a murderino, but there are some true crime things that I love, find fascinating, or can't look away from (Catch Me If You Can, documentaries about theft, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...).

I also identified with Campbell as my mother and I will talk of cases such as Andrea Yates, Laci Peterson, and other morbid happenings, such as the news. Campbell mentions something along these lines: talking about a somewhat taboo subject with someone you trust and exploring concepts that cause anxiety, tension, unease, etc can be freeing, can release some of the tension the topic causes. My mom would often ask, how could a person (often a parent) do such a thing? It's partly rhetorical but also not. Sometimes the answer is a controlling partner/family member, trauma, abnormal psychology, sometimes there is no answer and you value the safety that you've experienced.

Also I grew up really close to a CA prison, which I knew had housed someone related to the Manson family, but damn it was actually Charles Manson for a number of years as well as Bobby Beausoleil, a former associate of Manson. Just learned: Timothy Leary served time at CMF in 1973–1974 “for possession of marijuana and escape from a minimum-security prison at San Luis Obispo”

Campbell comes across to me as authentic, funny, relatable, and reliable as she cites her sources, even if it's just the phrase ‘light googling'. I laughed at: “not Napa, Sonoma”
Some things I didn't love: sometimes is was hard to read due to the lettering or occasionally the flow of panels were confusing and the use of jk/lol, sometimes it worked for me and other times not so much.

More like 3.5 stars. Weirdly relatable but also she was somewhat too much. And this book didn't need to be as long as it was.