Serial Killers

 

A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers
by Harold Schechter
The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers is a lighthearted but reasonably tasteful collection of information about serial killers, by a respected historian of crime (Harold Schechter) and the author of Human Monsters (David Everitt). It includes individual entries devoted to the most famous killers from all over the world, and amusing sections devoted to such topics as black widows, bluebeards, killer couples, Lustmord, Nazi buffs, power tools, pyromania, and trophies. There are also useful tips for further ventures into art, movies, books, zines, music, and tourist attractions devoted to serial killers. The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers is cross-indexed, with numerous black-and-white illustrations. -- Fiona Webster - Amazon.com
Paperback from Pocket Books

Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer
by Harold Schechter
Paperback from Pocket Books

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by Erik Larson 
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. --John Moe - Amazon.com
Hardcover: 464 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.50 x 9.50 x 6.50
Publisher: Crown Pub; 1st edition (February 11, ) 
ISBN: 0609608444 
 

The Jeffrey Dahmer Story : An American Nightmare (St. Martin's True Crime Library) by Donald A. Davis Book Description They smelled the foul odors. They heard the power saw buzzing in the dead of night but neighbors never imagined the horrors happening right next door. The hot sultry night of July 22, 1991 was one the tenants of the Oxford Apartments would never forget. A panic stcricken young man--a pair of handcuffs still dangling from his wrists--ran out of Apartment 213 and told police an incredible tale of terror. Shaking with fear, he led officers back to his captor's lair, where they made the gruesome discovery. Inside were the body parts of at least fifteen men--including torsos stuffed into a barrel, severed heads in a refrigerator, and skulls boiled clean and stashed in a filing cabinet. Tacked to the freezer were Poloroid photographs of mutilated corpses. When investigators arrested 31-year-old Jeffrey Dahmer, they realized they had stumbled onto a "real-life Hannibal Lecter"--a sadistic murderer who told them he had saved a human heart "to eat later". What could turn a handsome, former tennis player, the son of middle-class parents, into a perverse serial killer whose unthinkable acts shocked the nation? The Jeffrey Dahmer Story takes you into Jeffrey Dahmer's twisted world of bizarre sexual encounters, mutilation and cannibalism--in one of history's most appalling true crime cases. With 8 pages of chilling photographs. Paperback from St. Martin's Paperbacks 1991

Of Men and Monsters: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Construction of the Serial Killer by Richard Tithecott Paperback from University of Wisconsin Press

Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine by M. William Phelps Book Description: SERIAL KILLER ON WARD C: In Northampton, Massachusetts, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Kristen Gilbert was known as a hardworking, dedicated nurse--so why were her patients dying? So many emergencies and sudden deaths occurred while Kristen made her rounds on Ward C that her colleagues jokingly called her the "Angel of Death." Yet most people didn't suspect the horrifying truth behind the nickname: that Gilbert's polished facade concealed a scheming, manipulative liar and narcissistic sociopath. She sabotaged patients to strike back at staffers she didn't like. She engaged in an obsessive adulterous affair with hospital security guard James Perrault. When her husband objected, she tried to kill him with a lethal injection. But nobody turned her in.  LETHAL CURE: From August 1995 through February 1996, Gilbert dealt out wholesale death. Her victims were helpless patients who trusted her as a caregiver, only to learn too late that she was a killer, her weapon a drug capable of causing fatal heart attacks. But she got away with murder until three of her fellow nurses could no longer ignore the proliferation of deadly "coincidences" on Gilbert's watch. Investigators believe Kristen Gilbert may have been responsible for as many as 40 deaths. As the law closed in, she struck back, faking suicide attempts, harassing witnesses, stalking her ex-boyfriend, and terrorizing the hospital with bomb threats. In March 2001, after being found guilty of four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, Angel of Death Kristen Gilbert was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mass Market Paperback from Pinnacle Books

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed
by Patricia Cornwell
Listed under Jack the Ripper
 

The Psychology of Serial Killer Investigations: The Grisly Business Unit by Robert D. Keppel, William J. Birnes Hardcover from Academic Press

Through the Window: The Terrifying True Story of Cross-Country Killer Tommy Lynn Sells by Diane Fanning Book Description: Ten-Year-Old Krystal Surles Watched In Horror As Her Best Friend Was Murdered At The Hands Of An Intruder. Then with cold-blooded precision he brought a twelve-inch boning knife to Krystal's throat. With a single, violent slash, he severed her windpipe and left her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and would lead authorities to the arrest of 35-year-old Tommy Lynn Sells, a former truck driver, carnival worker, and cross-country drifter...  He Aspired To Become "The Worst Serial Killer Of All Time."  With no apparent motive and no common pattern to his inconceivable bloodshed, the elusive Sells had carved his way across the country for two decades slaughtering women, men, transients, entire families, teenagers, and even infants with ghoulish abandon.  Through The Window is more than an investigation into a crime spree that stunned a nation. It's an utterly terrifying plunge into the unfathomable dark mind of a serial killer, and the heart-wrenching story of the brave child who finally brought him to justice. Mass Market Paperback from St. Martin's Press

The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers
by Michael Newton
Book Description: From Jack the Ripper to the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers gives readers an exhaustive overview of what is undoubtedly the most macabre and fascinating branch of crime and modern criminology. The book details individual cases of serial murder, law enforcement agents and their techniques, the factors that contribute to the development of a serial killer, and how society chooses to deal with and punish these vicious criminals. In-depth coverage is provided on the realities of serial murder versus popular myths depicted in film and television, key figures on both sides of the law, pivotal cases and events, and criminal activities that have shaped law enforcement responses. 
Paperback from Facts on File, Inc.

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer
by Jack Olsen
Book Description: In February 1990, Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovke and Laverne Pavlinac for the vicious rape and murder of 23-year-old Taunja Bennet. Pavlinac had come forth and confessed, implicating her boyfriend and producing physical evidence that linked them to the crime. Authorities closed the case. There was just one problem. They had the wrong people...
Mass Market Paperback from St. Martin's Minotaur

I Have Lived In The Monster : Inside the minds of the world's most notorious serial killers
by Robert K. Ressler, Tom Shachtman
Mass Market Paperback from St. Martin's Press

Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers
by Pat Brown
Hardcover from New Millenium Pr

Murder Most Rare: The Female Serial Killer
by Michael D. Kelleher, C. L. Kelleher
Mass Market Paperback from Dell Publishing

The Search for the Green River Killer
by Carlton Smith, Tomas Guillen
Mass Market Paperback from Onyx Books
1991

Signature Killers
by Robert D. Keppel, William J. Birnes
Mass Market Paperback from Pocket Books

Sins of the Brother. The definitive story of Ivan Milat and the backpacker murders
by Mark; Kennedy, Les Whittaker
Paperback from Pan

Milat: The full horror of the backpacker murders
by Roger Maynard
Paperback from a joint publication of M. Gee Publishing and Price Publishing