So often, true crime documentaries focus on cases where the truth is unknown. New evidence either puts into question the conviction or reopens an investigation, and often times, the ambiguous ending can be frustrating. Netflix’s new true crime documentary, I Am a Killer, takes a different approach to true crime, interviewing… Read more

“I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.” That’s the opening line of Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places (a favorite read of mine), and I think about it often when considering the next gritty and unpleasant story I want to write. I’m guided by that meanness, fascinated by the… Read more

Criminal Element’s September 2018 Cozy Bookshelf Shopping List! Week of September 1 through September 7 Title Author Series Date The Cats Came Back Sofie Kelly Magical Cats Mystery #10 9/4 Wuthering Kites Clover Tate Kite Shop Mystery #3 9/4 Mrs. Jeffries and the Three Wise Women Emily Brightwell Victorian Mystery… Read more

Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear is a gripping debut procedural where a young London policewoman must probe dark secrets buried deep in her own family’s past to solve a murder and a long-ago disappearance. I have a love/hate relationship with debut novels. On one hand, there’s the chance I’ll discover… Read more