Interesting how mystery fiction fans are so often critical of true crime books. Some say they're sickened by the gore. Others are put off by the twisted criminals in the stories. More than a few just think the true crime genre is, well, tacky.

I read true crime all the time, and I don't buy these excuses. Those who protest the most could well be carrying titles by Lee Child (gore, anyone?), Minette Walters (talk about twisted) or Janet Evanovich (for lovers of literary classics, Stephanie Plum defines tacky.) Yeah, Lee Child, Minette Walters and Janet Evanovich are among the authors I devour. So are Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Kat Martin, who write diverting romances.

Several friends and colleagues over the years have shared my interest in true crime, so "my" libraries usually have a good supply of Jack Olsen or Harold Schechter. We devotees tried to figure out our interest in the sick characters in these books and finally realized that we were all products of disfunctional families and we liked reading about people who were a lot worse. There but for the grace of God, etc. Our favorite true crime author has been Ann Rule, and I was first delighted to learn that she would be a guest at the Anchorage Bouchercon this fall and then dismayed to read that she has withdrawn.

I am also a big fan of audiobooks, which allow me to "read" while I'm cooking, cleaning, Dancing_2 weeding, heading for the campground in Maine, or commuting to my job (13 miles, 45 minutes many days). Last week's book on CD was Brian Hicks' When the Dancing Stopped: the Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster and its Deadly Wake. On September 7, 1934, the luxurious cruise ship burned off the New Jersey coast in a hurricane, while the captain lay suspiciously dead in his cabin. Was it natural, or murder? It's a great plot, written with skill and an engaging style (and narrated in audio by the somewhat dramatic but never over-the-top Dick Hill). The story is every bit as captivating as the most popular fiction and I expect to recommend it to many readers looking for a good book, whether reading with their eyes or their ears.

This will not be the first true crime book that I've slipped to unsuspecting patrons asking for ideas. I insist that my eclectic taste in literature is due to an expectation that reference librarians are able to recommend good books in any genre. I can hold my own in discussions of mysteries, medical tales, audiobooks of all genres, biographies, history, kids' novels, diet books, home repairs, gardening, and almost everything but literary and science fiction. (There are only so many hours in the day, after all.)

One true crime book that hit the big time was Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: Devil_in_the_white_city_2 Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. The fair was the Chicago World's Exposition in 1893, and the book delves into the background of the event, with politics, personality clashes, and general high jinks that almost kept it from happening. Interwoven is the story of a serial killer who used the fair's anonymity to murder almost with impunity. The unabridged audio, narrated by Scott Brick, has been another popular recommendation. Read Harold Schechter's Depraved for a more traditional take on the killer's story.

I often have several books open at the same time: one for bedtime, one for lunch at work, and at least one in the car. The latter get confusing, because I usually share the 2-hour-plus drive to Maine with my husband, and often he gets as involved in the book as I do. Then I have to set the rest of the book aside to hear the following weekend or whenver we're both in the car. My older daughter and I used to spend many hours a week in the car driving to her dialysis and other medical appointments; we, too, would have a book we set aside to share (we especially loved Richard Peck's middle reader novels, although neither of us will ever see 12--or 29-- again). (Her kidney transplant saves us from that now. "Transplant organs, don't bury them.") Therefore I sometimes have two or three different audiobooks pending; it works fine as long as each has a different narrator.

One of the books we both enjoyed was Frank Abagnale's Catch Me If You Can: The AmazingTrue Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Catch_me_2 Profit!, which we stumbled upon a year or two before the Leonardo DiCaprio movie came out. The true tale of a teenager who conned banks, airlines, and a whole lot of people was a grabber. There isn't any gore in it, and it's pretty funny in spots (especially if you're not the one being conned), and, as good books do, it left us wanting more. Abagnale's story has as many dramatic twists as any thriller and we can also recommend the audiobook, narrated by Barrett Whitener, who has the perfect gee-whiz-boy-next-door voice for it.

Jon Krakauer (of Into Thin Air, the Everest disaster story and a regular in Outside Banner_of_heaven_2 magazine) has written a book that almost defies categories and makes us reference librarians glad we're not catalogers. Krakauer uses the history (Dewey 979.2) of the Mormon religion (Dewey 289.3) as the background for a bloody crime (364.152) that is senseless to all except the fanatical. With the subtheme of polygamy, Krakauer's book (also narrated by Scott Brick in audio) is a stellar companion to Betty Webb's stunning and effective Desert Wives, a novel that helped change the law.

These recommendations are just a few of the excellent books in the true crime genre. Go ahead. Try them. They are just as readable as the best fiction. If you must, make a brown paper wrapper to hide them until your timidity passes. Then carry them with pride. Read them with relish. It's okay. And that's the truth.

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