# Serial Murderer books recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311 "2012-09-20T19:53:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/1 "2012-09-20T19:53:19Z")
Every year I get books for most of my friends. One of them likes serial murderer books, like Red Dragon and such. I usually like to get a book that I’ve read and have enjoyed, but I no longer read this genre - so I’m turning to the good folks here for recommendations. All recommendations are welcome, but he reads the genre a lot, so preferably newer ones. Thanks in advance. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/2 "2012-09-20T19:55:11Z")
I like the Dexter series. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/3 "2012-09-20T20:05:55Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I like the Dexter series. Yeah, I gave him those until Dexter’s dark rider became an ancient aztec god or some such nonsenseI hear it got better after that bad one, but I couldn’t go back to them. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/4 "2012-09-20T20:11:08Z")
May not be quite what you are looking for, but I really enjoyed the _Keller_ series by Laurence Block (series starts with “Hit Man”). Very darkly comic series about a likeable, lonely guy who just happens to work as a killer for hire. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/5 "2012-09-21T02:34:20Z")
I’ve just started[I Am Not A Serial Killer,](http://www.amazon.com/Am-Not-Serial-Killer/dp/0765322471)by Dan Wells. It’s the beginning of a series for 15 year old sociopath John Wayne Cleaver. I listen to the podcast [Writing Excuses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_Excuses), so I already know more about the plot than I should. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/6 "2012-09-21T02:46:25Z")
[By Reason of Insanity](http://www.amazon.com/By-Reason-Insanity-Tr-Reissue/dp/0786704632) by Shane Stevens. One of the best of the genre, IMO. For non-fiction, [Zodiac](http://www.amazon.com/Zodiac-Robert-Graysmith/dp/0425098087) is terrifying. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/7 "2012-09-21T05:02:31Z")
Val McDermid writes a good series that includes a couple of books about serial killers. They were the basis of the BBC show _Wire in the Blood_, which is the name of one of the books in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/8 "2012-09-21T12:13:05Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Yeah, I gave him those until Dexter’s dark rider became an ancient aztec god or some such nonsenseI hear it got better after that bad one, but I couldn’t go back to them. I think I may be the only person who didn’t go into foaming rages over that. I thought it was a kind of interesting take on the subject. Certainly didn’t put me off future entries in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/9 "2012-09-21T12:24:59Z")
Have you tried the True Crime shelf? **Whoever Hunts Monsters** and anything by Ann Rule. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/10 "2012-09-21T12:55:34Z")
How about “The Devil in the White City.?” A fictionalized account of the true story on HH Holmes, America’s first serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/11 "2012-09-21T13:26:27Z")
Harold Schechter’s true serial killer books- Deviant (Ed Gein), Deranged (Albert Fish), Depraved (H. H. Holmes), and his A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers are the ones I’ve read. Also, his novel Nevermore, which I am sure the John Cusack Poe movie The Raven was ripped off from- Poe & Davy Crockett band together to catch a killer who murders imitate Poe’s stories. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/12 "2012-09-21T15:02:24Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Val McDermid writes a good series that includes a couple of books about serial killers. They were the basis of the BBC show _Wire in the Blood_, which is the name of one of the books in the series. One of the latest in this series, [The Retribution](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-retribution-val-mcdermid/1103854238?ean=9780802194671), is the Free Friday selection at Nook today. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/13 "2012-09-21T18:12:31Z")
> [@Implicit](#): > > One of the latest in this series, [The Retribution](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-retribution-val-mcdermid/1103854238?ean=9780802194671), is the Free Friday selection at Nook today. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/14 "2012-09-22T04:54:27Z")
I’m not sure how broad your definition of serial killer is, but if it includes assassins, then I recommend the John Rain series by Eisler. Very entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/15 "2012-09-22T13:19:10Z")
In the classics line, there’s _The Tiger in the Smoke_ by Margery Allingham… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/16 "2012-09-22T13:36:26Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > How about “The Devil in the White City.?” A fictionalized account of the true story on HH Holmes, America’s first serial killer. Not fictionalized, though. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/17 "2012-09-22T14:20:02Z")
I am definitely looking for fiction. Also think more psychological thriller rather than assassin. I will rule out [I am not a serial killer](http://www.amazon.com/Am-Not-Serial-Killer/dp/0765322471) pretty much for the same reason as I stopped liking Dexter. In the end, there were supernatural overtones that spoiled it for me and I know my friend will not enjoy In the past I bought my friend and he enjoyed _Silence Of The Lambs_, \*The Red Dragon, \*all of the Cody Mcfadyen books and the first two Dexters. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/18 "2012-09-22T14:45:36Z")
As I recall, the John Sanford “Prey” books are along the lines of serial killer novels. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/19 "2012-09-22T15:31:47Z")
\*Cat of Many Tails \*by Ellery Queen. One of the first mystery novels about a serial killer and still one of the best. The conversation Ellery has with the psychiatrist at the end is extraordinary. Lincoln and Child’s trilogy: _Brimstone, Dance With the Dead_, and _The Book of the Dead_. Special Agent Aloysius F.X. Pendergast hasn’t disappointed me so far. \*The Talented Mr. Ripley \*by Patricia Highsmith is one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. It isn’t exactly about a serial killer, but I believe she wrote several sequels that feature Mr. Ripley. \*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo \*by Stieg Larsson is pretty good. _The Doll’s House_, a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman with various artists including Michael Zulli and Mike Dringenberg, has a chapter called “The Collectors.” It’s pretty chilling and the rest of the novel, especially “Men of Good Fortune,” is excellent, too. \*Devices and Desires \*by P.D. James involves a serial killer. I think it’s one of her best. For true crime, I recommend \*Helter Skelter \*by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry and \*The Family: The Story of Charles Manson’s Dune Buggy Attack Battalion \*by Ed Sanders. They’re both about the Manson Family and Sanders’ book scared the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311/20 "2012-09-22T15:43:41Z")
Happy Like Murderers by Gordon Burns is an extraordinary book detailing the crimes of Fred and Rose West. The writing is amazing, but it isn’t fiction if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s still one of the most brilliantly written books I’ve read. MiM [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/serial-murderer-books-recommendations/635311.md?page=2)