Talking with Serial Killers: A chilling study of the world's most evil people

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Fără rușine și pic de teamă, aceștia au comunicat cu noi prin corespondență, iar după obținerea unui interviu cu fiecare, am început vizitele unde destăinuirea a decurs în același fel.

A fascinating read about 9 prolific serial killers, many of whom I had not heard of from other documentaries I'm not sure what he is trying to compensate for, but the whole book seems to be an attempt to convince the reader how much he despises women who kill (and by the end, I suspect how much he just hates women, with his pleas to men to be careful and his constant question about whether the "female of the species is more deadly than the male" - don't remember that depth of analysis from my criminology modules of my degree...). However, he wants to be clear that he really hates the ugly ones...Finally, and the reason I ultimately gave this book only one star, is that the misogyny throughout the book is pretty damn ridiculous, especially given the fact that, at the start of the book, Berry-Dee actually calls out the misogynistic way some men have written about women in the past. also, he seems to be really proud of himself and his interviewing technique because the killers told him stuff that led to the closures of several open homicide cases. ok, that sounds really nice, so why wasn't there one interview in this book?! it was just the description of the killers' lives and murders and their conviction with a couple of quotes thrown into the mix. Bestselling writer and criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee turns his attention to a new kind of victim: the wives or partners of serial murderers who remained unaware of exactly who they had fallen for until after their other half's arrest or, in some cases, conviction, for multiple murders. As Berry-Dee's first publication, I have to joke that it's nice not to have the author refer to his numerous other publications as his more recent books so often do! But there's no doubt why he has become such a popular author, as he has a fascinating job as an investigative criminologist and what better insight into a serial killer's life than from one of the few people who gets to ask them questions. At least 20 of the female murderers mentioned in the book weren’t serial killers at all as they had only killed once or twice – compared to the at least three murders including cool down periods in-between needed to be officially classified as a serial killer. And personally, that wouldn’t really be a problem, had Berry-Dee not repeatedly forced the correct definition down our throats. Why even pretend that the book is specifically about female serial killers then? Why not just write one about female murderers in general?

THE CONTENT: according to this book, a serial killer is one who kills three or more times with time between each "event". Some of the women talked about in this book don't even meet this definition. Some were just ONE OFF MURDERERS. I think the author included them because he thinks they would've gone on to become serial killers had they not been caught, but THAT ISN'T REALLY THE POINT OF THIS BOOK. IT ISN'T CALLED "TALKING TO ONE OFF FEMALE MURDERERS". I thought I would really enjoy this book as I love watching documentaries like this on TV, but it turns out I struggled to keep focus on this book and was easily distracted. Talking With Serial Killers by Christopher Berry Dee is a collection of conversations between the investigative criminologist and some of the worlds most disturbed individuals. This book looks at the crimes of these people and gives an account of their perception of what they did and in some cases gives answers to what drove them to commit such heinous crimes. This is my first non-fiction, documentary read for years and I have to admit the book is such an 'enlightenment' albeit its dwellings into the darkest minds and their 'modus operandi' which are really disturbing. Berry-Dee refers to the subject matters of his book with a range of charming descriptions including "overweight lump", "once attractive", "disgusting and fat" etc. etc. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting he be *nice* about murderers, but I'm not entirely sure why he's so caught up on their looks when there are a plethora of other aspects for which he could be criticising them (for example the murders they committed perhaps...).This book is a really good read in terms of subject matter and reading words spoken by the serial killer themselves. There is a great deal revealed by the killers than TV shows have revealed. It's not only the killers who receive this treatment, however. Female witnesses are "plump" or "graying" and the wives of jury members are "plain". Quite what a jury member's wife has to do with the murderers who are the supposed topic of this book I'm not too sure... but then again I'm also not sure not how Berry-Dee knows they were plain given that this particular trial happened in the '60s, but there we have it. This book contains conversations between a criminologist, and some of the worlds most evil and disturbed individuals. When I say evil, I definitely don't say it lightly. The information I have read in this book was unsettling to say the least, and terribly difficult to digest at times. This is going to be a very long review, if you don't want to read it all, the summary of my thoughts are; An appalling look at women who kill, a very misleading title with an egotistical and misogynistic author. Do not read.

This book like his others also has plenty of grammar and spelling mistakes. I'm sure no one reads these before they are published. Oh and don't get swayed by the image of Mira Hindley on the front cover, apart from a brief mention here and there, her and Rose West get no in depth discussion.I had a lot of issues with this book, but not because of the reasons you would think (i.e.: reading about serial killers is disturbing and horrific, although yes, it kind of is that too).