Scott Rhee's Reviews > A Rose For Her Grave & Other True Cases (1)

I never thought I'd be a true crime addict, but I've lately discovered some great true crime books and authors, and I wish I hadn't, because I can't seem to stop reading them.

Ann Rule is one of those authors. The Grande Dame of the true crime genre, Rule has written dozens of best-selling and award-winning books, including one of the definitive works on serial killer Ted Bundy, "The Stranger Beside Me". Many of her books have become movies.

In 1993, Rule published the first volume in her Crime Files series, "A Rose For Her Grave And Other True Cases". It is a compilation of nonfiction stories about real-life murder.

"Riveting" does not begin to describe her writing. Rule writes in a very straightforward manner. One could say that it is almost dry, kind of what one would expect from a thoroughly-detailed police report. (She was a police officer early in her career, which helps to explain that.) And yet she manages to capture the humanity and the deep psychological underpinnings of some of the most vile crimes one human can commit against another.

This book would be un-put-downable except for the fact that it deals with some extremely awful real-life cases. I had to set the book aside several times for mental and spiritual breathers.

Rule published about a baker's dozen more in this series, and I want to read them all.