Fortified Serials

 

If you're a fan of forensic and psychological dramas à la Dexter and Criminal Minds, you might be interested in a couple of nonfiction books released this fall. Both deal with serial killers, one tied to the birth of forensic science and the other a contemporary story of redemption.

The Killer of Little Shepherds is from the pen of Douglas Starr, co-director of the Center for Science and Medical Journalism and a professor of journalism at Boston University. Starr's book neatly dovetails the story of French serial killer Joseph Vacher and the achievements of groundbreaking criminologist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne. Vacher is thought to have raped, killed, and mutilated at least 25 people between 1894 and 1897, while Lacassagne helped pioneer crime scene analysis, body decomposition and early profiling and testified during Vacher's trial. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review and Kirkus called it a "well-documented mix of forensic science, narrative nonfiction, and criminal psychology." That fits the book nicely, following as it does the determination of one man trying to bring criminal justice into the modern age, even as autopsies were still taking place on the kitchen table of a victim's home.

 

The second true-crime book, In with the Devil, tells the story of Jimmy Keene, who grew up outside Chicago as the son of a former police officer and went from promising high-school football player to convicted drug dealer. One year into his 10-year sentence, he was approached by the same prosecutor who had handled his case, with an interesting proposition in hand: go inside one of the most dangerous prisons in the U.S., befriend murderer Larry Hall, whom the prosecutor had also sent to prison, and get Hall to confess to the murder of two young women and tell where the body of one missing victim was buried. If he succeeded, Keene would get an unconditional release, but if he failed, he'd have to complete his term. If found out, he could be killed. Keene's story is co-written by investigative reporter Hillel Levin and is being developed into a movie with Martin Scorsese as director.