I recently finished two nonfiction books by John Douglas, a
former FBI profiler. It’s rumored that Jodie Foster’s character’s boss in Silence of the Lambs is based on him. His
book Mind Hunter details his history
in FBI’s profiling unit.
While the subject matter is often morbid and sad, I
admit that every few pages a real-life incident sparks a fictional idea in my
mind. It’s not just the realistic killers, but the often innovative ways that
they are finally brought to justice. For example, one of Douglas’ colleagues had
trouble cracking a triple homicide of a mother and two daughters who were on
vacation in Florida. The only promising piece of evidence was a note they found
in the victims’ car with directions to the location where their car was found.
But the note revealed little else.
The FBI agent blew up the note on billboards, with
advertising space that was donated by local businesses, and asked people to
call the FBI if they recognized the hand writing. Three people did, and they
were able to catch the killer.
Before I read MindHunter, I got caught up in The Casesthat Haunt Us, which analyzes prior cases, such as Jack the Ripper, with
modern profiling techniques. For
example, while Jack the Ripper is often “romanticized,” (think suave
sociopath), it is likely he was so insane at the point that he committee the
murders he would have had difficulty carrying on normal conversations.
I think we’d all agree it’s more “fun” to read fictional
mysteries. The evil killers don’t live in our world. The victims didn’t die,
because they never lived. But reading true crime, while often disturbing, can also
help you craft more authentic stories with more depth.
What about you? Do you
have any true crime books you’d recommend? Do you find reading true crime helps
you write fictional stories?
3 comments:
Oh, I love the John Douglas books. Fascinating reading, and I used them while researching my Mindhunters series. My uncle was part of the forensic team that tested the scraping patterns of hundreds of screwdrivers to find the one that was used to break into an apartment to help catch the Gainsville Ripper by matching it to a screwdriver he possessed.
I think criminals appear smart at first. And they think they’re smarted than everyone else. They aren’t. Brilliant dedicated people, like Anne’s uncle will find them. That’s why I like reading these kinds of stories, real and fictional, because of the good guys. One reason the Harry Bosch series appeals to me.
Truman Capote's In Cold Blood leaps to mind. His fascination with the case and, ultimately, with one of the killers, is also a story in and of itself. Actually, the true stories have sparked ideas for my own mysteries. Remember the mother who drowned her two little boys by leaving them strapped in her car and driving it into a lake? (Don't want to leave here to research her name); she was found out through the use of a polygraph test. That triggered the lie detector scene I used in The Monet Murders. And in the last book of the series, The Design Is Murder, handwriting analysis is the tool that my sleuth uses in her search for the killer. I guess it comes down to whatever genre we write in, there is an autobiographical thread running through it.
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