I read fairly quickly, but every once in while a book comes along that demands I take my time. Murderland is that kind of book. This is a book that is not easily defined. It is true crime, but it is also a look at the environmental history of the US and more specifically Washington state. There is also a bridge. A bridge that is responsible hundreds of deaths. And last but not least, it is a memoir of Pulitzer Prize winning author, Caroline Fraser and her life growing up in Tacoma. A youth dominated by an extraordinary amount of death- from the toxins that poisoned her city, to a bridge that was synonymous with death, to living in a place with the highest murder rate in the country….and the serial killers. It was their golden age, so to speak, headlined by the man who became it’s poster boy, Ted Buddy.

I will say this book started off slowly, as Fraser gives an in depth background into the environmental history of our nation. A time when there were few laws and the ones that were in place were often ignored. A time when arsenic and lead littered the playgrounds of Washington state. The point of sharing all of this is to provide context for Fraser’s theory that these toxins may have affected the brains of some of our nations’s most notorious killers. Lead has been proven to cause an increase in violent behavior.

This book fascinated me as Fraser weaved her narrative of serial killers and pollution and how they may have been intertwined. During the 70s and 80s, the number of these predators lurking in our nation was at an all time high. Today’s number is paltrey in comparison. Fraser’s writing style is spare. Written as statement of facts and staccato in nature, it makes its point and chronicles the murders in a way that assures the reader that are being fully informed. Bundy’s crimes are horrific enough without added embellishments. A monster born or made? Or perhaps a bit of both. I highly recommend this book for those that love true crime and yearn for a new approach to the genre. Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Random House for this arc.

The City of Tacoma's Tourist Board is not going to recommend Murderland by Caroline Fraser, but I sure as hell am. I hesitate to put too much of the book's contents into this review. None of it is really spoiler territory, but I didn't know how the book would fully unfold when I started it, and I'm glad I didn't. So let me give two reviews. A short one for those who are already intrigued, and then a longer one for those on the fence.

For the intrigued, Fraser's book looks at the intersection between murder, industry, memoir, and history. There are a lot of serial killers in this book, but if you go into this looking for a normal true crime narrative, then you will be hopelessly lost and confused. It is much more than that, and is written with nontraditional flow and exceptional skill. Fraser's Pulitzer win for her previous book was clearly not a fluke. I was trying to think of a good metaphor, but Fraser beat me to it in the introduction. This book is like the crazy board you see on TV with a multitude of pictures and notes with string all over the place. However, Fraser isn't crazy. Everything has a purpose even when it seems like it doesn't. I'm talking about bridges, but you won't know what I mean by that until you start reading. If you are ready to do that, stop reading this review and go read the book. Enjoy!

Still not sure? Well, let's dive in then. True crime aficionados will notice very quickly that Fraser is making the connection between serial killers and the lead-crime hypothesis. For the uninitiated, there is a prevailing theory that excessive levels of lead in the environment, tied to both leaded gasoline and uncontrolled smelting, led to increased violent crime across the board. There are many examples, but the apex predator of this story and who fits the theory perfectly is Ted Bundy.

Fraser doesn't just dive into the theory and start ranting about industry. (For the record, that approach would have bored me.) Instead, she slowly peels back the (lead) onion by recounting numerous serial killers from their origins to their despicable crimes. Mostly, this focuses on the Pacific Northwest where Fraser herself grew up. Her own life took her within yards of many of these killers throughout her childhood. Generally, I hate when authors insert themselves unnecessarily. Here it works because Fraser's life is troubled, but it grounds the reader. Not everyone is a serial killer, but it doesn't mean non-killers are having an easy time. (I mean, I assume Fraser is not a serial killer, but that would be one hell of a reveal!)

I should warn readers that the book is not "fun." Returning to my comment about it not being traditional true crime, Fraser does not spend much time with the victims or even the killers. Each story is short and clipped. It may just be my reading of it, but I think Fraser wrote it this way to mimic the slow poisoning of people in the shadow of a smelter. No single story goes on long enough to shock you into putting the book down. Instead, the horror accumulates until you are left sad and, more importantly, angry. Again, just a guess, but the final page of the book certainly suggests Fraser was going for outrage. She succeeded.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and The Penguin Press.)

I devoured this book. An instant read for any true crime fan. It covers the well-tread ground that we all know (*cough* ted bundy *cough*) but also explores a lot of lesser known ground as well.

I'm not sure why serial killers fascinate my readers, but they do, so I buy a lot of true crime. This one fascinated me because of the environmental toll of the lead exposures that may have produced an entire generation of serial killers. A sobering read, especially in a time when the US government seems poised to deregulate everything.

A book about serial killers in the Pacific Northwest? Count me as intrigued. If I wasn't working, sleeping, or eating then I was reading and rereading this book or sections of this book. That's how good it is.

As a huge true crime fan, I was expecting this book to pull me in and immerse me in the disturbing yet fascinating world of serial killers. Unfortunately, that wasn't what I found within the pages. The tone of the book wasn't engaging and I found it quite boring and hard to get through. It's full of a lot of information, but the delivery didn't work for me. I knew going into it that much of the information wouldn't be new to me. However, the first few chapters were full of geological facts I hadn't known about - and I still found myself struggling to continue reading it.

For that reason, I DNF this book, despite it being based on a topic I typically quite enjoy. I'm not sure what it was about the delivery, but I felt like it was required reading for a class that didn't interest me. I'm honestly quite disappointed as I'd been looking forward to reading this. I may pick it back up and try again, but I feel there are better options available if you're interested in reading about this topic.

2 Stars

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group The Penguin Press for an ARC of this book.

This was unputdownable. Except life made me put it down, but when I wasn’t reading I was thinking about it constantly. It took me a bit to finish because, like any good nonfiction, I kept stopping to google people, places, events, structures, companies, and elements. Part true crime, part memoir, part eco-thriller. This was simply fascinating, enraging, and incomprehensible. I want to know more - that’s my only complaint. I wanted to keep reading more. I have so many questions. Can Rader be tested for lead? Are there more studies being done?! This was so incredible that I can’t review it well because all I can say are adjectives. Serial killers (Bundy!) have always fascinated me and the added intricate layering and interweaving of scenery, corruption and environmental aspects made it all even more fascinating. I cannot thank NetGalley and the Penguin Group more for allowing me to read this early. It’s a MUST read! Pre-order it now or look for it in stores 6/10/25.

Murderland is a horrible book; a well-researched, very thorough, enlightening book of the horrible choices made by corporations where profit overrode safety to a point of devastating thousands of lives over hundreds of years, and links the purposeful pollution of an area to the proliferation of serial killers who grew up in the damaged area of the Pacific Northwest. One cannot argue that Gary Ridgeway, Ted Buddy and other infamous killers all shared childhoods in the same general area and time. Author Caroline Fraser also grew up in that space and time, and has done extensive research on what in the environment could have attributed to the horror and compulsion that created these monsters that hid in plain sight. There is certainly great defect in a human who hunts other humans for the sport of inflicted pain and killing for pleasure, but all serial killers plan; they stake out their victims, they plan their escape, they dispose of bodies. These are all actions of choice and premeditation. Not everyone exposed to the same toxic environment, emotional or environmental, becomes a killer. Muderland was an incredible read, and should be understood as a cautionary tale, of how serial killers operate, no matter how they develop..

2/5

The first chapter is extremely confusing due to a large number of names, places, and events, but it all starts to make sense as the readers near the middle of the second chapter. The main theme of this book is insanely interesting and something I have not encountered before, shining a new light on serial killers like Ted Bundy, Dennis Rader, and Gary Ridgway. However, this book does not compare to other works that focus on a single serial killer and therefore offer more information about the specific topic. This book is also a mixture of memories and journalism, and I was definitely more interested in the journalistic part of the book, less so in the memoir part. In addition, the writing style is particular and often sarcastic, which does not feel appropriate considering the serious topic. The author uses a great amount of adjectives and simple sentences, which I am not a fan of. Overall, this book offers an interesting insight on the golden age of serial killers, but it could’ve been much shorter and I am not sure I would read this book again. I am surprised this author won the Pulitzer Prize.

I received an e-ARC of MURDERLAND by Caroline Fraser through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and have a safe and rebellious 2025!

A collection of sentences I highlighted before giving up a hundred pages into this book because life is simply too short:

"Just for a moment, if you will, let us float across the country in that effervescent bubble of champagne elation and planetary subjugation and heedless sexual entitlement, to look down from our cloud somewhere above Philadelphia and witness the conception of a noteworthy child." (p. 33)

"Let us assume the form of sad angels hovering in the chilly air of the Lund ward, looking down upon the consequences of Louise's tryst, following the long, trying hours of parturition on November 24, 1946." (p. 34)

"Sometimes bad things are engineered by engineers." (p. 57)

"During this era, she rides the waves, our bridge, the innocent if deadly star of every summer's Seafair festival when the Blue Angels, the flying aerobatic squadron of the U.S. Navy, skim overhead and hydroplanes race across the surface sounding like demented mosquitoes." (p. 62)

"The American Smelting and Refining Company is like the little old lady who lives in a shoe and has so many smelters she doesn't know what to do." (p. 69)

I've been meaning to read Prairie Fires for ages, and now I think I need to bump it up my TBR because the prose in that book can't POSSIBLY be as bad as it is in this one, right? It won a Pulitzer!

An Electronic copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a review.

Introduction

"Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers" by Caroline Fraser delves into the dark history of serial killers, primarily focusing on the Pacific Northwest. Caroline Fraser, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, brings her investigative prowess to the table, dissecting not just the psyche of serial killers but also the environmental and societal factors that might contribute to such crimes. This book is not just an anthology of grim tales but an examination of how industrial pollution and societal decay could have played roles in the emergence of serial killers during the 1970s and 1980s.

Summary
"Murderland" starts by setting the scene in the Pacific Northwest, an area notorious for spawning some of America's most infamous serial killers like Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and the Night Stalker. Fraser intertwines the narratives of these killers' lives with the region's environmental history, particularly focusing on the impact of lead and arsenic from smelters that operated in the area.

She argues that the psychological impact of breathing in these toxic substances might have contributed to the mental health crises leading to violent behaviors. The book meticulously tracks the timeline of these killers, their methods, and their capture, while also exploring the broader cultural fascination with serial killers. Fraser's work is a blend of true crime reporting and environmental history, suggesting that the landscape itself might have influenced the psyche of these killers.

The narrative is rich with details from police reports, interviews, and historical data, providing a comprehensive look at each killer's modus operandi and the societal response to their crimes. Fraser also critiques the media's role in sensationalizing these figures, which often leads to a morbid public fascination rather than a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.

Conclusion
"Murderland" stands out for its unique perspective on serial killers by linking their emergence to environmental degradation. Caroline Fraser's writing is compelling, weaving together crime, science, and history into a narrative that challenges the reader to look beyond the sensational headlines. While the book might occasionally venture into speculative territory regarding environmental impacts on human behavior, it opens up a new discussion on the influences of environment on crime.

The book is not for the faint of heart, given its graphic content, but it serves as an essential read for those interested in true crime, environmental history, or the psychological study of serial killers. Fraser's ability to connect seemingly disparate elements into a coherent narrative is commendable, making "Murderland" a significant contribution to the genre.

Detailed Ratings Breakdown
Content Quality (5/5): The depth of research and the integration of environmental history with criminal psychology are exceptional. The book is packed with factual data and insightful analysis.
Narrative Style (4/5): Fraser's narrative style is engaging, though the dense nature of the subject matter might slow down some readers. The blend of storytelling with factual reporting is well-balanced.
Research and Accuracy (5/5): The thoroughness of Fraser's research is evident, with extensive use of primary sources, interviews, and historical records. The accuracy in reporting the details of the cases is meticulous.
Impact and Insight (5/5): The book provides groundbreaking insights into the possible environmental causation of criminal behavior, making it thought-provoking and influential in both true crime and sociological studies.
Readability (4/5): While the content is compelling, the subject matter's intensity and the academic approach might not appeal to a broad audience. However, true crime enthusiasts will find it gripping.
Overall Enjoyment (5/5): Given the dark subject matter, enjoyment is subjective, but for those interested in the genre, "Murderland" offers a rich, albeit grim, reading experience.

Total Rating: 5/5