2008-07-12 Another interesting volume of stories from the Queen of TC

Ann Rule's latest voulme focuses on crimes involving wives, both as victims and killers. There are 7 stories in this book and, as is usual with Ann Rule's Crime Files, the first is a book-length story of approx 150 pages.

The Crime Files are ideal for those readers who enjoy reading True Crime but do not have the patience to read a single book-length story: if one story does not engage you, you can move on to the next!

I feel Rule goes above and beyond that of most other true crime authors when it comes to personality analysis, questioning and obtaining first-hand interviews with the family, police and lawyers involved. Her stories are three dimensional and almost always leave you with a real sense of who the people are that are involved. She is one of the few TC authors I have read who ensures you have a very real sense of who the victims were and what they meant to those who loved them. I guess you clould say she writes with respect, with thorough investigation and like a human-being - not like a sensationalist, lazy hack.

There are several of Rule's books that I class as 5*. I have classed this as a 3* because I just disn't find it as engaging as some of her other efforts. This is no insult though as I have come to expect a lot of Rule!

Recommended.