Matt McAvoy Book Review

I was once a big fan of true crime, which of course went with the vocation, but as I get a little older, not so much, as life becomes a little more serious and less fascinating generally.  That said, though, I really looked forward to reading Romeo Vitelli’s True Crime Stories You Won’t Believe for a change, and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed.  Romeo is a very good non-fiction writer, and he has done a tremendous job of curating true crime stories over the last two centuries or so.  He has a very engaging prose, and is professional and personable as an author.  The stories themselves are mainly murders, of course, some well known, others not so, and overall perhaps a little America-centric, although there are a few tales from around the world, and because of the research Romeo has put into learning about them, are arguably amongst the more engrossing.  The title would suggest that all are unbelievable, and while this isn’t necessarily the case they are all definitely engaging enough to grip your interest.  Ranging from miscarriages of justice, to very atypical victims and killers, through organized crime to the outright bizarre, there is also clearly a lot of mental illness apparent in the case studies, in the days before the law recognized them as such.  Some are absolutely fascinating, such as the opener about a Japanese murderess who undoubtedly influenced countless contemporary horror movies, and Leonarda Cianciulla, “The Woman Who Made Soap”, not to mention “The Celebrity Cannibal”, which is just downright incredible.  It is true to say that Romeo’s collection is a wonderful read.

One thing which perhaps I felt fell a short, and would have personally liked to see more of, is the criminological and psychological evaluation of each tale, and I only say this given Romeo’s profession; I just feel he was credible enough a commentator and well placed to attempt to offer more insight into the crimes and the perpetrators themselves.  As it is, he really just reproduces the stories and collates them from his various sources (though obviously not verbatim).  This small, subjective gripe aside, I don’t doubt that this is as engrossing and entertaining a collection of true crime cases as you are ever likely to read.  If you are a fan of true crime, and particularly less well publicized and unusual murders, I highly recommend giving this book a read.  I would be very interested to see what Romeo writes next.