June 15, 2019
Profiles of women who have left distinctive marks in crime. Obsessions with real-world whodunits seem endless, and Monroe capitalizes on this trend with close-up views that seek meaning beneath the mayhem. Looking at detectives, victims, defenders, and killers, writer and firefighter Monroe investigates the influences and insatiable hungers North American women seem to have for true crime, using four women's stories as vehicles for understanding. The author's view of Frances Glessner Lee's handcrafted miniatures contextualizes both her impact on police work and ambition as a woman seeking access and respect greater than what her generation was typically afforded. Lee is positioned at the forefront of the narrative as figurehead, harbinger, and god-mother to subsequent true-crime aficionados and the budding field of forensics. Monroe tackles victimhood through the blurred lens of public spectacle, considering the infamous Charles Manson murders. She examines the defender role via a death row courtship featuring Lorri Davis, who devoted herself to freeing a prosecuted outcast of the "satanic panic" era. Monroe ably dissects the hidden bias within notions of "victim" and "perpetrator," looking at such issues as the implicit racism of the criminal justice system and the so-called "war on drugs." She stumbles somewhat in blending these insights smoothly with the biographical information. Throughout the book, Monroe balances elements of biography, sociology, and memoir, and she also examines participation and spectatorship, writing that murderous interests may derive from divergent impulses like justice-seeking, overcoming trauma or powerlessness, responding to objectification through knowledge-seeking, and other notions. "As I got older," she writes, "my appetite for murder stories seemed to depend on how much turbulence was in my own life. The more...lost or angry I felt, the more I craved crime." This is a book sure to please fans of mystery and true crime. An insightful invitation to consider the contexts and causes of a gritty cultural obsession.
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July 1, 2019
Notorious murder cases linger in the American imagination. Journalist and debut author Monroe argues that women, especially, are responsible for the growing fascination with true crime both as media consumers and as indirect participants. An introductory chapter outlines the rationale for the ten-year study. Based on interviews and other primary sources, chapters detail examples of the roles that women play in violent crime: detective, victim, defender, and killer. The life of Frances Glessner Lee, described as the "mother of forensics," exemplifies the detective role. Sharon Tate's 1969 murder forms the basis for the victim role. Women as defenders are illustrated by a death-row reversal case. The book concludes with the tragic story of a failed murder spree in the style of Columbine. Each case is described in historical context with a focus on the dramatic involvement of key figures. Astonishing details are reported in the Tate case. VERDICT This provocative work is best suited to readers with a strong interest in true crime and its historical roots. Though lacking the rigor and documentation of an academic work, it manages to create an original and bold contribution to the genre.--Antoinette Brinkman, formerly with Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 15, 2019
Monroe’s first book, blending personal narrative with sociological analysis, offers an engrossing look at a counterintuitive yet well-established phenomenon: many women’s fascination with true crime. Monroe (who counts herself among the crime obsessed) focuses on four women whose true crime obsessions have significantly altered the course of their lives. Frances Glessner Lee created the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death crime scene dioramas. Alisa Statman became deeply enmeshed in the lore of the Manson murders while living in the house where Sharon Tate was slain. Lori Davis, a landscape architect, fell in love with—and set out to prove the innocence of—a convicted murderer, and Lindsay Souvannarath was a young woman with a dangerous fixation on the Columbine shooters. Writing in incisive, lyrical prose, Monroe takes a deep dive into possible reasons why women are drawn to tales of violence: do they seek murder stories in order to fine-tune their own survival instincts, lest they become the next victims? Or, as Monroe bravely and refreshingly acknowledges, maybe women respond to tales of human darkness because it mirrors their own (“perhaps we liked creepy stories because something creepy was in us”). Readers who have pondered their own interest in true crime stories will welcome Monroe’s incisive approach to the topic. Agent: P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit.
June 1, 2019
Monroe's collection of four longform essays sits at the intersection of true crime, journalism, and memoir. She bases each piece on one of four crime archetypes?detective, victim, lawyer, and killer?and intertwines her own narrative and ruminations about when an interest becomes unhealthy, disrespectful, or even dangerous. Frances Glessner Lee made detailed miniatures, an acceptable hobby for a 60-something woman in the 1940s?but hers were crime scenes made to educate officers and combat bias. Alisa Statman became enmeshed with the Tate family after moving into the back cottage of the house where some of the Manson Murders occurred. Lorri Davis was so consumed with the innocence of one of the West Memphis Three that she started a correspondence, which ultimately lead to marriage. And Lindsay Souvannarath identified with the Columbine shooters to the point of planning her own mass shooting. Monroe's writing is superb and each woman's story is fascinating even if, as a whole, the book lacks a cohesive narrative thread. Regardless, true crime aficionados will appreciate this spin on the genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)