Synopsis:

In this gruesome true crime anthology you will read about twelve true crime stories that baffled investigators and continue to draw interest among the public due to their shocking details. From tragic cases of spousal murder to tragic cases of child murder, this true crime book will surely keep your attention.

Three cases of spousal homicide are among the many murder stories in this volume that will keep you captivated. Read about how two wives, Larissa Schuster and Susan Wright, decided to kill their husbands for greed and about how a husband and father, John Sharpe, decided he did not want to be married anymore, so he killed his wife and daughter. For different reasons, these killers thought that they would get away with their crimes, but the ensuing criminal investigations revealed their evil plans for the world to see.

This volume also features a number of child abduction cases that unfortunately ended in tragedy. Follow the course of these true murder cases and learn how the investigators worked tirelessly to put these monsters behind bars. You will also be introduced to cases that can only be described as strange or weird, such as the case of Donald Webb, who was a master of multiple identities and Vlado Taneski, a journalist who created his own scoops through murder. This may be a true crime book, but you are guaranteed to be at the edge of your seat and will probably think at times that you are actually reading a true crime novel.

Listening to true crime podcasts and reading books about serial killers is a guilty pleasure of mine – I’m constantly looking for new sources so I was quick to pick this audiobook up.

My main interest in true crime is the psychology of violent criminals and also the police/legal procedure that gets them convicted. With that in mind, this book didn’t quite hit the spot.

Rosewood covers several cases in this short book, with no particular emphasis on either psychology or the legal procedures behind the cases – it’s more of a concise collection of the media reports surrounding the cases, to give you a quick fix of true crime goodness. It’s written and organised to shock you with the accounts of horrific crimes and the violence people can inflict on each other, but didn’t go that extra step with analysing the behaviours of the perpetrators which is what I find most fascinating in this genre.

Kollins is the perfect narrator for this title, with the kind of voice that I’ve come to expect to be paired with true crime – he states the facts without any sensationalising it with too much emotion but is animated enough to make it palatable.

“This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.”