Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC copy.

Murder Book is a strange little book that examines the author's obsession with true crime. It also looks at why true crime fans tend to be mostly women.

As a woman who is NOT really a true crime fan, I was a little weirded out by the idea. Many of the murders mentioned in the book were gruesome and terrible, but people seem to dissociate the events from the victims as if they died to entertain others. The events are not looked at as tragedies, but rather as entertainment to be consumed. That's not really the author's fault, but moving on..

I did not mind the art, but I wish they used clearer writing instead of what was probably the author's handwriting. If you're a true crime fan, you might like this one and find it relatable.. If you're not a true crime fan, then it's not a bad read. It got me closer to understanding why people find it appealing.

Murder Book, a story about the life of Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell and how she (probably) became a murderino.

It's the author's personal life story (incl. her awesome mom) mixed with some pretty interesting crime cases all about murder told in a fun, light-hearted way. As a woman who loves true crime (in books, on tv, in movies, podcasts and pretty much anywhere at any time), this was weirdly relatable and I'm here for it. This was such a fun read!

I really did enjoy this book. It was fun, funny and interesting. Even while being a bite more about specifically Campbell's reasons for being drawn into the genre of True Crime.
But it does show a nice history of how True Crime isn't a new phenomenon.

I don't see this book aging well though, when reading this it feels similar to scrolling through TikTok just in the language that is used.

Hilary Campbell's Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a Truce Crime Obsession lives up to its name. It tells the story of Campbell's lifelong interest in the genre of True Crime, while also detailing the history of the true crime genre with some in-depth re-tellings of very well known stories of infamous killers such as the Zodiac Killer, Ted Bundy and the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. This book is a blend of biography, popular culture studies and comedy.

Campbell presents much of the work through monologues or as conversations, sometimes as the professor of murder shit 101 with a class composed of just her mother, who also is a frequent conversation partner. Other times conversations with strangers at a restaurant bar (or the staff) or fellow passengers on an airplane, or just conversations with family.

Where this book really excels is when the focus is on "why are people interested in this genre?", or pointing out the short comings of the genre or media coverage of cases, particularly in the light of depictions of females or the almost complete avoidance of people of color.

Unfortunately, the reader is continually brought back to Campbell's personal life and how this might all be her mother's fault. As Campbell has also worked as a comedian, there is the frequent need to add levity where it might not always be best utilized or appropriate. The artwork makes frequent changes in page layout and arrangement, some pages light in textual content with others almost wholly made up text.

Campbell is certainty knowledge and worked hard to draw all of these images, but I find I think of it more so as a work of therapy for the author, as a reader I found myself skimming more and more in the latter 3rd of the book wondering where it would conclude.

If you like true crime you might want to give this a try and connect with a kindred soul.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

1/5 - Really wasn't for me.

There are two reasons I did not like this book.

First of all, I would describe myself as someone who is very interested in true crime. I listed to all the podcasts, read all the books, and watch all the documentaries. I am fascinated by various justice systems around the world and by ways in which our justice systems can either fail or succeed within society. I am also very curious about how humans function in society - essentially we enter into a contract to avoid doing harm to one another, and crime is a deviation from this contract. I like to understand why it occurs.

What I absolutely do NOT enjoy within true crime communities is when our discussions of victims strip away their identity and/or fetishize the crime. There were jokes in this book that were just... SO uncomfortable for me. Key among these were probably all the mentions of getting to the "juicy stuff" in a crime, or "your brain on crime" being " a little horny." I'm sorry, but what? I know these are meant to be jokes and I'm all for using laughter to cope with pain. In fact, I would say that several of my favorite true crime podcasts could safely be labeled as comedy as well as true crime. But this book crossed a massive line for me.

The other reason I did not like this book was because it really wasn't even about true crime... I thought it would be an examination of why we as a society are interested in true crime, with highlights of prominent cases. But in reality this was just a repetitive saga of how the protagonist is obsessed with true crime because her mother is obsessed with true crime and her grandmother is obsessed with true crime. No matter what case was briefly covered, it always went back to this exact same plot.

Bottom line is, maybe this kind of humor helps some people cope with the horror and depravity of crime but this book really was not for me.

I received an arc of this book from netgalley in return for an honest review. Okay... I loved this book way more than I was expecting too. Most graphic novels I find to be quite shallow and whilst they're interesting they tend to lack depth. That definitely can't be said for this comic. The author manages to entertain the reader with amusing anecdotes about life as a true crime fan, whilst simultaneously managing to teach the reader so much about the history of true crime and the role it plays in gaining justice for the victims. If you've ever been interested in true crime or better want to understand the mind of someone you know who is, I'd highly recommend reading 'The Murder Book'.

I enjoyed the gist of this, particularly the start and the end, alongside the insightful thought process throughout, but that was it. As a fellow true crime lover, I really struggled with the re-tellings of some of true crimes most notorious cases, because as a book advertised to true crime lovers, they seem a bit defunct. I can imagine if you didn't know many of the stories or the ins and outs of the cases then it would be much more enjoyable. Having said this, I love how this book recognised how weird it is to enjoy true crime. I love love loved the conclusion about what's important in the true crime world, focusing on what stories get notoriety and why, highlighting how women are more interested in true crime as a form of protection through knowledge, but also how black stories get such a different gaze in reporting as a whole. This graphic novel really draws attention to the historically sexist and racist reporting that many cases had and I did truly love that, I just felt that the middle was a bit like re-reading stuff you already know (like when you repeatedly study the same things in history at school). So, if you're new to true crime, absolutely give it a read, and if you're not and are a morbid fan like many of us, then it's still worth a read, even purely for the humour and insights.

Release date: November 9th, 2021!!

I did not like this. I didn't even ~get~ this to be completely honest. It's a memoir depicting the creator's own personal experience with becoming obsessed with true crime. But it's also an account of specific serial killers and crimes and it describes what it's like being obsessed with true crime in general and it goes on random unnecessary tangents and it's all over the place. Ugh.

The art style and page layout instantly threw me off and made the story extremely agonizing to get through. I consider myself pretty capable to get through all kinds of different page layouts (avid graphic novel reader, have taken college classes on the topic of panel design, etc.) and this was too much. The panels were all over the place, the writing/font was really hard to read, and the drawings were random and sometimes weren't even cohesive. I just didn't enjoy it at all.

The next, and main, issue is the topic overall. I wouldn't consider myself a "true crime junkie", but I do listen to some podcasts, have watched a few movies, and sometimes watch videos on YouTube talking about it. But I've found myself leaning further and further away from it because it's become so saturated and seems more like a fandom than anything else. Which is EXACTLY what this book did. It seemed more like an ode to being a true crime junkie and viewing it more as some strange fandom than discussing true crime in general and placing the appropriate sympathy with the victims. I understand wanting to know more about true crime (as I said, I sometimes indulge myself if curious enough), but the way she talks about being OBSESSED with murder is very out of pocket and gross. This book just made me feel SUPER icky and I didn't like that at all. I definitely do not recommend this, even if you are obsessed with true crime. It's not only not a very good graphic novel, but it turns real-life murders into some gross fantasy. Ew ew ew ew.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my very own, as always.

Though parts of this graphic memoir do as it promises (look at why people get so hooked on true crime), much of it actually delves into true crime stories and feels a bit exploitative like the genre as a whole. There are moments where the author acknowledges and scratches the surface of the huge problems with true crime obsession (systemic racism meaning the media and society focus on white victims, etc) but it is far too simplistic of a look at these topics (and only explicitly discussed near the very end). Basically, this book feels like the author’s self-talk to convince herself why it’s okay to be obsessed with true crime but doesn’t really meet the mark.

Super-fun graphic novel memoir of that author’s lifelong true crime obsession. I am a smidge surprised that given the huge focus that she gives on several notorious crimes and staples of the genre, she doesn’t spend a little bit more time on the true crime mania.

Not my cup of tea. There are some interesting parts: the exploration of true crime, both the history of the genre and theories of why people, particularly women, are so fascinated by it (though I feel like book could've dug deeper on the *why*). I don't think the autobiographical parts do much for the story — the author comes across as less introspective and more narcissistic, even self-congratulatory about her love for true crime. The humor didn't really work here, some jokes felt disrespectful to the victims while others were simply unfunny.

Wow! WoW! WoW! This is the book that I didn't know I needed in my life!

As a true crime fanatic I can totally relate with the author and her eternal question "is there something wrong with me? is it normal to be so much into True Crime?"

I can't wait for this book to be out so I can buy the physical copy and read it all again!!! if you have listened to all the true crime podcasts out there, or keep checking Netflix for new crime documentaries, or if you can't stop thinking "did she really fall down the stairs?" then... you need this book!

#truecrimejunkies

I really enjoyed this genre mash up of the memoir of a murderino and the true crime stories she's addicted to. I even came across some stories I've not heard of before! A must for any fan of true crime!

Writer, comedian, cartoonist and a distant relative of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell has a hilarious take on life. And death. Murder Book: a graphic memoir of a true crime obsession provides a concise history of True Crime reporting in the US - from true crime books to podcasts - and also examines why the women down the generations in her family have been obsessed with the morbid. And if, somehow, you aren’t yet addicted to true crime yourself, Murder Book might just end up being your gateway drug to the cold blooded world of true crime.

A graphic memoir that pretends to take into account the victims involved in True Crime, but ends up being just as, or even more, exploitative than a lot of True Crime is. And all of it told in quite poor art.

Beyond problematic.

Growing up as a women in the true crime era, I am able to relate to Hilary on a level that some, if not most, can’t. The way she writes this, along with the illustrations, is done so well. I’ve heard of some of these serial killers but it was good to be informed about a few others!

Amazingly comprehensive study and analysis of the allure of the true crime genre through books, tv, movies and podcasts highlighting many famous cases in grsphic novel format. Always entertaining but impressively well thought out, relating of the lure of the genre by making it personal from her mother to herself and her friends. The retelling of the Ted Bundy story had nuggets of info that were new to me and the format was surprisingly able to be info dense without seeming to be so.

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! It takes my feelings and artistically lays them out in black and white. Not that I ever thought I was the only lover of true crime, but it is so wonderful to receive validation from someone who feels exactly like I do.

I thought that is was an interesting read and the art was entertaining, but some parts of the story telling felt slow to me and like too much extra information. I did think that the info about the actually true crime and the evolution was interesting to read.

I downloaded this book on a whim from the Read Now section of Netgalley.

I’m not even a massive fan of True Crime but I was intrigued. Plus is a graphic memoir; that caught my attention.

I read it all in one day and it inspired me to download several TC audiobooks! I really enjoyed the way the author discussed some cases that really made an impression on her. And the ongoing search for why she loved true crime so much was very interesting.

If you are a fan of true crime, this book is a must! If you’re not, this book might inspire you to give it a try. Murder Book is short, funny, informative, thought-provoking, and entertaining. Plus presented as a graphic memoir really sets it apart.