Customer Reviews

50 Wisconsin Crimes of the Century

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I bought this book about a year ago and devoured it. If you live in or have connections to Wisconsin, this is a great read. It gives details on some of the cases you may have read about briefly in the newspaper, but never found out the outcome of the trial. I wish Marv would write more!

The last time I visited relatives in Wisconsin, we drove by "Ed Gein's cemetary" on the way to getting pizza. My uncle told stories of the crime which may stretch the truth a bit, but ultimately were fascinating. Marv Balousek does a very good job summarizing Gein and many more fascinating crimes committed in Wisconsin. Aside from some clarity and editorial errors, this is very well written and ultimately hard to put down. Recommended for all true crime buffs even for those with no ties to Wisconsin.

This book briefly profiles 50 Wisconsin crimes (mostly murders) over the last century. Recent famous murder cases are included, like the Dahmer murders, the Monfils paper vat murder, and the Lawrencia Bembenek case in Milwaukee. There are also several cases dating back to the early part of the century, such as the Annie Lemberger murder in Madison.

If you live in Wisconsin and have a morbid curiousity about crime, this book is fascinating. The book tends to have a "gossipy" tone, the editing is uneven, and some of the photographs are not of good quality. Despite all that, each crime profile is gripping. The author provides lots of details about each case, and has done an excellent job in selecting which crimes to include. Many of the crimes he profiles led to modifications in the criminal justice or emergency systems; for example, as a result of the Monfils paper vat murder, procedures for releasing recordings of 911 calls have been changed.

This is not an intellectual book. It will not appeal to anyone's higher nature. And I couldn't put it down.

Wisconsin -- home to Badgers, cows, cheeseheads, ...and some of the most jaw-droppingly bizarre murderers the world has seen. Balousek captures this in a journalistic style free (except for the subject matter) from gratuitous sensationalism. A fascinating read.