Reviews with content warning for Rape - In Cold Blood

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the seventeenth book I've read on this list. Unlike most books on this poster, I enjoyed it, and it was an interesting read.

This book is a non-fiction book, on November 15th 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. There was blood all over the walls, the telephone lines were cut, and only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies and a lot of questions. This book is the detailed reconstruction of the events and the consequences of that fateful night. This is a chilling, gripping mix of journalistic skill and imaginative power.

This book didn’t feel like a non-fiction book, it was so enjoyable, it felt like some gothic and western mystery and was really hooked and intrigued. It was only when I google it that I realise it was a non-fiction book. I know I shouldn’t enjoy the storyline considering it’s a murder. But the way the writer described this town, this perfect family, the way they got the confession and the actions afterwards. This book didn’t feel like a classic at all.

I felt no pity for the villains and was slightly annoyed they got most of the book because the crime was the first chapter, the mystery was the second chapter, the trial was the third chapter, and the last chapter was the consequences. I just wanted to punch them both in the face especially when they were being interrogated and asked how much money they got, and the answer was “forty maybe fifty dollars” like are you kidding me!

The books chapters were obviously an issue but once I got into the book, I managed to get over the fact that one chapter was over one hundred pages long!

I’m so glad I enjoyed this book considering how much I've been struggling with the one hundred books poster, and I cannot wait for the next book on the poster.

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ariena's review against another edition

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dark informative slow-paced

4.0

Sehr interessant. Ich habe mir vor dem Lesen etwas anderes unter dem Buch vorgestellt, aber es hat mich trotzdem nicht enttäuscht. Man hat sowohl mit den Opfern als auch mit den Tätern eine Beziehung aufgebaut, was sehr komisch war, gleichzeitig hat es die Geschichte aber auch noch interessanter gemacht.

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