Homicide: 100 Years of Murder in America [Paperback]

Gini Graham Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1999

A collection of American homicide cases dating from 1900 to the present day. The text incorporates interviews with suspects, witnesses and investigators and provides photographs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Lowell House (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0737300493
• ISBN-13: 978-0737300499
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,335,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lack of Facts Sinks Book, December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Homicide : 100 Years of Murder in America (Hardcover)

Given the suthor's impressive academic credientials I was appalled at how badly done this book is done. Time and time again the author gets crucial facts wrong even in cases where the original sources cited get it right. In addition to the errors listed in the previous review the author identifies 17 year old Starkweather victim Robert Jensen as 16 year old victim Carol King's father, identifies the two youngest victims of the Clutter massacre the inspired In Cold Blood as being two girls when in fact it was a girl and a boy and myriad similar errors that completely undercuts the authors credibility and renders this work untterly unreliable and worthless as a reference resource. If the reader is interested in a book that really delivers what this one purports to attempt then I would highly reccomend Colin Wilson's briiliant and accurate "Criminal History of Mankind."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More Inaccuracies, January 9, 2000

By 

jednick (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homicide: 100 Years of Murder in America (Paperback)

In addition to what has already been reported, there are other problems. "Edward" Kemper, the serial killer, is actually Edmund Emil Kemper III. This was the first time that I've read that the woman who committed suicide after being raped by KKK leader Stephenson was a KKK employee; all other books indicate that she was a state employee. Similarly, the lane on which the Hall-Mills murders took place has always been referred to as DeRussey's Lane; I've never seen it called "Phillips Lane". If the author's statement- that the editors added this material without her knowledge- is true, then she needs new editors. In the meantime, this book should be read with caution by anyone not already familiar with the cases.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept, Poor Presentation, March 5, 2001

By 

Pajamazon (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Homicide: 100 Years of Murder in America (Paperback)

For having a Ph.D., Dr. Scott sure has written a sloppy book. Perhaps she needed a better editor. This book, a surface study of murder from the 1900s through the present day, highlights in each decade a number of cases reflective of the era. It's an interesting premise and one that initially drew me in. Unfortunately, this book is riddled with inaccuracies, misspellings, and factual errors. People unfamiliar with the cases will be misinformed. To name just three examples: Scott states that Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate killed "Robert Jensen and his daughter." Robert Jensen and his girlfriend Carol King, both teenagers, were among the deadly duo's victims. Also written is that after John E. List murdered his wife, daughter, and two sons he "drove to his mother's home in another part of town and killed her, too." The author should have read the reference materials listed at the end of each chapter a bit more carefully. John List's mother, Alma, lived in the Westfield, NJ mansion's third-floor apartment. After List shot his wife Helen, he climbed up to his mother's apartment and shot her as well. Lastly, Perry Smith and Richard Hickok, made famous in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" are listed as having murdered "Clutter, his wife, and two daughters with virtually point-blank shotgun blasts." The point-blank might be right, but the Clutters were murdered along with their daughter, Nancy, and their son, Kenyon.

Save your time and money; don't bother with this book!