Another Rare Example of Overlapping Final Chapters Not since UK murder victim James Maybrick (poisoned by his Alabama belle Florence, whose trial made the presses thunder worldwide) was revealed to be a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders have two infamous murder inquiries gotten so strangely entangled as they did this week. It's been revealed that John Ramsey and Beth 
Holloway Twitty are dating. Bravo, I say, carry on. Maybe they can help one another solve mysteries of a different sort.
That's why I prefer historic true crime; all the chapters have already been written, all the explosive later developments are there for me to discover at my convenience. Well, usually. There may be new chapters yet in the final Houdini mystery. Hell, there may even be some answers one day to the mysterious killings of the Robison family, one of Michigan's worst unsolved murder cases. The decades march on, and you never know what bizarre twists lay in store.
Art: From Hardboiled Heaven's collection of covers
Crime Diners Some Australian true crime writers have borrowed a page from the mystery set and written a book of historic true crime stories that includes -- are you ready for this? -- recipes. For regular food, we are assured. The book is called Done Like a Dinner.
That is, I do believe, a first for the genre. The last, if I had my say. It's hard to imagine, without reading the book, a more unappetizing juxtaposition. And this from a true crime junkie who can even eat lunch while watching my favorite BBC America show, How Clean is Your House?. I'd love to know the recipes they've included -- no, I can better imagine them. Chop suey, maybe?
True Crime At the Cinema: I Love You Philip Morris True crime author Steve McVicker's 2003 biography of a hoosegow Houdini, Steven Russell, I Love You Philip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love and Prison Breaks (Amazon) will be made into a feature film starring Jim Carrey. The project is billed as "Catch Me if You Can meets Brokeback Mountain."
Carolina Murders Forensic photographer Rita Shuler documented well-known crimes from South Carolina's recent past in her first book, Carolina Crimes (Amazon). Her second book will be Murder in the Midlands: Larry Gene Bell and the 28 Days of Terror that Shook South Carolina (Amazon). Before it's even released, the book has made it onto Amazon's most popular pre-orders page. Note how our favorite genre dominates that list at any given moment!
A local paper recently ran a profile of the author, and another publication recently ran an interview with the author about the serial killer at the center of her second book.
Amazon Crime Forum So Amazon sent me a curious link to the Amazon.com historic crime Discussion Forum. There, Amazon suggests I answer a question (note the spelling): "What is your favourite quotation about "historic crime"?" Amazon.com also tells me about the "related tags" for "historic crime" - cocaine; Israel; Israeli mafia; mob; mophia; New York. Only a computer program could write something so silly.
Finally...
in re: "Crime Diners" - Here are a few more true crime-related cookbooks.
-CAT AND MOUSE: MIND GAMES WITH A SERIAL KILLER by Brian Lane about Riverside, CA prostitute killer William Suff. Lane includes Suff's recipe book, "Bill's Vittles and Fixin's."
-COOKING WITH A SERIAL KILLER: RECIPES FROM DOROTHEA PUENTE by Shane Bugbee is pretty self-explanatory.
-LAST SUPPERS: FAMOUS FINAL MEALS FROM DEATH ROW by Ty Treadwell and Michelle Vernon which contains lists of last meals requested by death row prisoners as well as some recipes.
-MEALS TO DIE FOR by Brian Price, a former Texas death row chef, who shares his final meal recipes. Here is a CBS news article on Price: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/18/print/main601033.shtml
Bon appetit!
Posted by: Corey Mitchell | June 09, 2007 at 02:37 PM
Florence Maybrick was innocent!
Posted by: Fiz | June 14, 2007 at 12:46 PM