Clews Interviews True Crime Author Glenn Puit

Glenn Puit published his first true crime book, Witch: The True Story of Las Vegas's Most Notorious Female Killer, this year. Puit delved into the research and carefully presented the complicated material. The result is a study of how one woman got to be so very, weirdly wicked. The book tells the story of Brookey Lee West, who murdered her mother, probably murdered her husband, and might have murdered her brother.

After Brookey killed her mother, she then put her body in a garbage can and put the can in a rented storage locker. (Not an organized offender.) West was a practicing witch (once spotted by a freaked-out neighbor walking down the street dressed in medieval costume) but this is the least of her bizarre habits. (I devoured the story in less than a day.)

Photo: The matricidal on trial: Brookey, from The Review-Journal

Glenn Puit is a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. I recently came across Glenn's email address and asked him some questions about the genre today, his path to publication, his favorite reads, and his experience writing the book. He was kind enough to share some thoughts. Here's the Q and A.

I am interested in your experiences getting published and your thoughts on the genre. What attracted you to -- of all things -- writing true crime?

Frankly, I have mixed feelings on the genre. I love true crime -- I'm an avid reader of it -- but I also believe the genre has been trivialized because many of the books I pick up from the true crime shelf are unreadable due to bad writing. Or, they are so sensationalized that the book is not realistic. That's why I think Witch was so well received. It was readable. I set out from the very beginning to make sure you could follow what was going on in Witch even though there were a complex series of events involved, and I believe I accomplished that.

I think this is where my journalism background helps. My job at the Review-Journal is to cover courts and criminal justice, and on a daily basis I sort through complex legal issues while crafting stories for the newspaper, so the transition from newspaper writing to true crime writing was not difficult for me at all. Also, when you start talking about writing a story about a complex series of crimes, I know of no other way to do it other than the traditional journalism style without risking confusing the reader.

What attracted me to true crime was the same thing that I think attracts most readers, and that is the fascination with such criminal behavior. In our everyday mundane lives, working, taking care of kids, paying the bills, we have a hard time fathoming human behavior that is unlike ours, and I think that is the draw when you talk about why people like true crime. It is an escape from the boring, everyday realities we face as responsible adults.

How did you transition from newspaper reporter to true crime writer? And do you anticipate making a career of it, quitting the day job?

I would love to make a career out of writing books and quit my day job, but the reality is, this is not possible. The money just isn't there. If I was retired, didn't have kids in the house and my mortgage and truck was paid off, then okay. But right now, taking a shot at a full-time book writing gig is too risky considering I'm married and have two kids with a third on the way, and they all depend on me.

I say this even though I got paid very well by Berkley for Witch, and I'm very appreciative of it. But when you calculate the two years of research and another year of writing it took to produce the book, the financial compensation does not equate well with the amount of work involved. Over time, if I produce more and more successful books, this may change, but right now, I view writing true crime as a nice little side job. This has been the biggest disappointment for me -- when I went into Witch, I always believed that if the book was good enough and the promotion was good enough -- which they were -- then the big money would come. That is not the case in true crime. Basically, your advance will be your financial compensation unless you get the book on Oprah.

Regarding getting published, you have to have a literary agent. My agent is Jim Cypher, and he is a true pro. You can't get published nationally without an agent because the publishing houses refuse to look at your book proposal without one. These days, I also wouldn't recommend pursuing a true crime career without an agent. It is a risky business because the publishing houses know the legal ins and outs, and you don't. The people at Berkley were really great to me, but I've had experiences with smaller publishing houses that left me thankful that I have an agent.

Have you always read true crime? Do you have any favorite authors? Favorite titles?

My favorite author is Gregg Olsen. I really enjoyed his Confessions of an American Black Widow. With that being said, though, the greatest true crime book ever written is The Only Living Witness by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth. The book completely chronicles the crimes of Ted Bundy. When I was 22, I drank a few beers and read that book in one night and it scared the hell out of me.

On your book Witch specifically, the convicted murderer at the heart of the story was really something. What was it like to interview her? And now that the book is out, how did she respond to it? How far behind bars is she, exactly? Needless to say she was one strange ranger and I wonder if that makes you nervous.... your book was not flattering obviously.

Witch, to me, is a great book. It is one of those rare true crime books that doesn't just document the crime -- it probes deeper to answer the questions of why. In the case of Brookey Lee West, she killed her mother, is suspected of killing her husband and her brother is missing. I was able to sort through the crazy, disturbing childhood that Brookey endured, and I think that answered a lot of questions as to how someone could kill their own mother and stuff them in a garbage can. I think the book ended up being a classic case study in domestic homicide.

Brookey is an extremely unique individual, and I found her during my interviews to be both scary and likeable at the same time. She was scary because in one of my many interviews with her, she clearly was mentally unstable. Not the type of person I'd want to be close to. But in other interviews, she was very coherent, kind, intelligent and even entertaining. Brookey actually loved the book, and I don't necessarily agree with the idea that the book portrayed her in an extremely negative light. Instead, I believe the facts are what they are.

Unfortunately, many true crime books immediately demonize their subjects, and this is often not a realistic presentation of what the situation really is. Having covered violent crime for more than a decade, I've learned that most criminals aren't bad people 100 percent of the time. Usually, they can be kind and even likeable, but this of course does not take away from the evil acts that they do.

Comments

[Mark Hoskin]

I admit I'm not a big reader of books,...and I'm a teacher so I feel a bit guilty about that....I read several newspapers a day, but just don't make time for many books. I did read Witch though and loved it. I just finished Glenn's second book, Fire in the Desert.....check them both out.

[jane strauss]

i have just finished reading glenn puit's book "witch". as i am a true crime afficionado and a very eclectic reader, for instance i can go from dostoyevsky to crime books and anything but science fiction, i found his book to be of so much interest to me that i could barely put it down to concentrate on work or daily living commitments. thanks so much for having written such a great true crime book. another reason for writing is when i finish a book i read about the author and of all things, i found that he lived and worked in my small city for a number of years. this blew my mind. my city is florence, sc and i have been here for 35 years and i have never come across an author such as he is that lived here in all my time here. this is a true coincidence and i just had to write to let everyone know that someone as talented as him could live in a small southern city or basically anywhere and keep the talent that they have. thanks very much.
jane strauss
florence, sc

[Alex Steed]

"and might have murdered her brother"

You mean the brother that authorities found in a mental institution in 2004?

Or which brother are you referring to?

[Alan McGaughey]

I am finishing the book up today or tomorrow. I have a very busy schedule being a High School Teacher of severely emotionally disturbed 9th - 12th graders, a sports coach and martial arts instructor. Well, I too have had a hard time putting this book down. I just keep saying, "one more chapter, one more chapter." I really appreciate the depth and detail Glenn goes into with this book. I feel I know, and pretty much understand the characters. This is one of the most fascinating reads I've had in a very long time. Glenn is a pro all the way. I don't feel the book demeaned anyone. As Glenn stated, "the facts are what they are," and the help tell an extremely strange story. Thank you sooooo much!