In Cold Blood

Whilst not the kind of book I am used to reading, I enjoyed the prose and found the narrative engaging. It also served to provide an enlightening account of real people who have done terrible things, that is sensitive to their idiosyncrasies, passions and shortcomings whilst never shying away from the cold brutality of the acts they committed. I think this one will stay with me.

This story is beautifully written by Capote. I'm not one to enjoy a documentary of any sort, but the way he unfolds this story by following the investigation and relaying in real real time, the journey of the two criminals in tandem, keeps intrigue and the plot moving. The development of the criminal characters lends a lot of investment into them as their verdict is presented and we, as readers are left to contemplate the severity of the death penalty. The crime is horrific but there is no real, left standing, victims presented in this tale except for the town as a whole. The people of Holcomb, a well to do, small town, suffer a catastrophic event affecting their daily existence and are somewhat shook out of their sense of safety and trust in comfort and the right thing. The event is jarring. The investigation is intense. The journey through it all is worth a read through Capote's novel. I loved this read. My book club recommends it highly on audio or as a physical read.

2.5 stars/5 stars Since I have gotten back into true crime, I felt it was time to finally tackle In Cold Blood, since this is considered one of the most popular and acclaimed books of the true crime genre. While this has been out since 1966, I actually didn't know anything about this case before starting this. On November 15, 1959 four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered with a shotgun. While the murders were gruesome, no motive was found for their killings and there were almost no clues to who could have done it. This follows the investigation of this case and how the killers were eventually captured, tried, and executed. I have mixed feelings about this book. I can easily see how this book became so popular because this style of true crime nonfiction was relatively new and a detailed look at how a killer was captured would of course be popular, especially since this was pre-internet. For the most part I enjoyed Capote’s recount of the murders, investigation, trial and execution. But my issue is that this was also a bit of a slog to get through. There is an overabundance of background about this family and these criminals that wasn’t really interesting because it was too much information and most of it felt irrelevant to the case. Overall, while I am glad I read this and understand how popular and important this was for the genre, I didn’t really love it. If it had been a bit more concise, my feelings might have changed though. TW: post-partum depression; animal deaths; murder; racism and racist slurs; suicide of family members; alcoholism; pedophilia;

Really describes the crime but clearly takes liberties with the story.

Can't say enough about this pivotal work. The ease of the writing, the compelling character studies, the timelessness of the topic, make this nonfiction novel as relevant today as it was the day it was published. Capote = Genius.