Customer Reviews

The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crime: The Biggest and Best Collection of Unsolved Murder and Mystery Cases

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it's true that since the essays are by many different authors there is a great range in the quality of writing and the validity of the content. However, this is a Mammoth book and enough of the articles are excellent that I realy don't have any qualms recommending this book. Some of the sections are dry and some of the writers seem to have adopted the title of "Armchair Detective" but alot of it is just plain interesting and a good chunk of it is obscure.

Highlights:

The Obsession With the Black Dahlia (The Black Dahlia Murder)

A Coincidence of Corpses (The Brighton Trunk Murders)

Jack the Ripper (The Whitechapel Murders)

Florence Maybrick (The Death of James Maybrick)

however if you're looking for something a bit more constistantly awesome I recommend The Cases That Haunt Us it's by and FBI profiler, so you know he's a bit better than an armchair detective.

The Mammoth Book of Unsolved Crimes, Roger Wilkes

Roger Wilkes discusses the reasons why murder mysteries are popular. Are they a search for the guilty, like a hunt for sin; or as "escape literature"; or for vicarious entertainment? There were few insoluble cases before the 19th century. Accusation mostly lead to conviction (p.xii). Murder as popular literature goes back to Elizabethan times. ["Macbeth", "Hamlet", and "Julius Caesar" are murder mysteries.] Most of Charles Dickens' novels featured "murder, robbery, rape, incest, arson or some assorted villainy". The thirty-six cases here were selected for being unsolved, or the accused acquitted. They are not in chronological order. Wilkes claims that unsolved murders are "rare" with a clear-up rate of 92% (p.xix). But that means one out of a dozen murders goes unsolved!

"Evidence by Entrapment" notes that "profiling" is not a science, it relies on experience and intuition. Use of a profile as evidence has led to overturned convictions. The show on TV that use it are just propaganda to fool the viewers.

"The Fall River Axe Murders" creates a vivid picture of the heat wave of August 4, 1892 at the Borden house. [What an imagination!] Lizzie Borden was correctly found `not guilty'. The murder of Julia Wallace in 1931 Liverpool is similar. Years later a book solved the murder using overlooked evidence.

"The Case of the Movie Murder" tells of the unsolved murder of film director William Desmond Taylor. The bullet holes said the left arm was raised. His jewelry and money were present. A stranger was in the area about the time of the murder. [Robert Giroux's book seems to be the best solution.]

"The Obsession with the Black Dahlia" is about a brutal murder in Los Angeles. No evidence was ever found to point to a suspect.

"A Sort of Genius" describes the Hall-Mills murders. Mrs. Hall, her brother, and cousins were found not guilty. [Who had motive, means, and opportunity?]

"Death of a Millionaire" tells about the murder of Sir Harry Oakes, one of the richest men in the British Empire from his discovery of a gold mine. Some claim organized crime was involved along with the Duke of Windsor.

"The Zodiac Killer" is about a serial killer in the San Francisco area. He communicated with the police using coded messages. A psychiatrist analyzed his actions (p.482). Then the murders and the letters stopped coming. In a hospital or dead?

"`Colonel Hogan's' Unsolved Murder" is about Bob Crane, who had a popular TV show in the 1960s. Did his fans know about his porno photography? Was the murderer a jealous husband? Were his shows cancelled because of his personal life (p.198)? Was a powerful person involved (p.204)?

"The Short Sweet Martyrdom of Jake Lingle" is about the murder of this Chicago `Tribune' crime reporter in June 1930 on a busy street in daylight. There had been eleven gangster murders in ten days (p.14). Was he a liaison between gangsters and city hall (p.20)? Who gave him money (p.21)? Was he a bagman who collected bribes for officials (p.23)?

"The Dumb Blonde Who Knew Too Much" is about Marilyn Monroe, the "love goddess" of her day (p.376). [Much of these pages seem imagined.] Does that red diary exist (p.383)? Her home was bugged (p.385). What really happened in the last hours of her life? If recordings have disappeared can they prove anything?

"Arnold Rothstein's Final Payoff" is about the murder of the man who fixed the 1919 World Series (but couldn't prove it). The judge rules "insufficient evidence" against the accused killer.

"The Mysterious Death of Starr Faithfull" is an attempt to solve this strange death. Do newspapers make up stories to sell newspapers (p.589)? Was Starr abused as a child (p.590)? Her last letter suggested suicide.

There are twenty-four other cases in this 617-page book. One of these, Sacco and Vanzetti, is not an unsolved murder (unless you think they were framed for that robbery-murder). They had no money from the robbery, no prior criminal records, and no proof beyond circumstantial evidence. Eyewitness evidence is not foolproof.

The title of this book is so pretentious: "The Biggest and Best Collection of Unsolved Murder and Mystery Cases". Really !? Really !? No Really !? So this book showcase 35 cases; well I guess the author of this book is not aware that "The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes" showcase hundreds of cases and that "The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes" feature more than 300 cases. The book is well written and showcase some interesting cases but if like me you are a True Crime buff then you won't learn anything new.

Very pretentious title for a very disappointing book.