12 Disturbing True Crime Stories of Murder and MayhemVolume 10 of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2022)Readers Love This Series - Over 7,000 Five-Star Ratings on Amazon & GoodreadsTrue crime is not for everyone. But chances are, if you've picked up this book, you already know that. Actual true crime is not like watching an episode of CSI. Even television true crime documentaries can skim over the sticky details. Real true crime can be unsettling for many people. However, I do my best not to leave out any details in my books. My intention isn't to shock but rather to give the reader a glimpse into the killer's mind. I don't begin to think that I can understand the mind of a diabolical monster, but I can guarantee that curiosity will keep us turning pages and endlessly searching for answers.
Each story in my books requires hours of tedious research. I search through court records, old newspaper articles, police records, autopsy reports, and first-hand accounts. Although I may occasionally change a character's name or fictionalize bits of dialogue, these crimes really happened to real people. Sadly, this is the world in which we live.
A sampling of the stories includes:
A Sad Holiday Season - In the north of England, a sixteen-year-old girl disappeared after Christmas shopping with her friend. A massive manhunt led police to a serial killer who lived just blocks away from her home.
Pretty in Pink - A teenage girl showed up at the door of a farmhouse bruised, bloody, and unable to remember how she got there. Investigators dug through the clues to uncover a bizarre love triangle and a gruesome murder.
A Perfect Holiday - After her partner is sent to prison for molesting her eldest daughter, a mother will do anything to keep her two youngest children from being taken by social services.
The Christmas Tree Farm Murders - An elderly couple in southwest Washington disappeared hours before they were due to host a Christmas party at their home. It took detectives twenty-seven years to bring the killer to justice.
They Got in the Way - A single mother of two young children would do absolutely anything to spend more time meeting sex partners online. Even the unthinkable.
The Girl Scout - When a seven-year-old girl disappears from her upstairs bedroom in the middle of the night, a small community realizes they have a devious predator in their midst.
Plus many more disturbing stories.
We may never really understand what goes on inside the mind of a killer, but at least by studying the case histories and knowing their backstory, we might gain insight into what makes them tick. With any luck, we can learn from the past.
