Murderabilia A history of crime in 100 objects

It is the rare reference book that is compulsively readable, but Murderabilia is one. As the introduction explains, interest in violent death and the collecting of memorabilia surrounding the scenes of such deaths date back hundreds of years. The 100 entries date from the murder of Naomi Wise in 1808 (commemorated in a "murdered-girl ballad") to the Slender Man stabbing of 2014, the product of a too-deep adolescent identification with an internet meme. Each entry is illustrated with black-and-white photos or reproductions of artifacts. Giving background information on perpetrators, the historical milieu in which they operated, and, to the extent possible, their mental outlooks and physical conditions, these two-to-four-page-long articles provide fertile ground for true crime fans or students researching specific cases or types of crimes. With a reference to a website that gives a detailed bibliography, photo credits, and a comprehensive index, Murderabilia covers crimes ranging from those of passion to school shootings to bombings. A sound addition to true crime collections and collections in colleges, especially those with concentrations in criminology or criminal justice.

True crime writer Schechter (Butcher's Work) spotlights objects linked to acts of violence in this eccentric volume. According to Schechter, the practice of holding on to such keepsakes dates back to at least 1827, when an English hangman cut up a noose from a notorious killer and sold one-inch sections of it for a guinea each. Here, the author pillages evidence lockers, universities, museums, and private collections for morbid mementos, using them as launching points into a bevy of bloody real-life tales. He discusses artworks by serial killers John Wayne Gacy and Danny Rolling, and examines the mummified head of Germany's Peter Kürten, who in the 1930s killed at least nine people and drank their blood. After his execution, Kürten's head was split open so researchers could dissect his brain; the empty head wound up in a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Wisconsin. Schechter's prose has the punch of a campfire ghost story ("He arrived around midnight when the women were asleep"), and the objects run a satisfying gamut from intriguing curios to the stuff of nightmares. It adds up to a strange and fascinating tour of the macabre. Photos. Agent: David Patterson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Sept.)