Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
A National Bestseller • A Washington Post Notable Book • Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Forbes, NPR, Vulture, Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, LitHub, Kirkus Reviews, and The Nerve • A finalist for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
“Scorching, seductive . . . A superb and disturbing vivisection of our darkest urges.” —Los Angeles Times
“This is about as highbrow as true crime gets.” —Vulture
“Fraser has outdone herself, and just about everyone else in the true-crime genre, with Murderland.” —Esquire
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond—a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence
Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing?
As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson—Fraser’s Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy’s Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser’s investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers.
A propulsive nonfiction thriller, Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk.
“Scorching, seductive . . . A superb and disturbing vivisection of our darkest urges.” —Los Angeles Times
“This is about as highbrow as true crime gets.” —Vulture
“Fraser has outdone herself, and just about everyone else in the true-crime genre, with Murderland.” —Esquire
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond—a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence
Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing?
As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson—Fraser’s Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy’s Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser’s investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers.
A propulsive nonfiction thriller, Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk.
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Community Reviews
OoOoFF... This was a hard one for me to get into, and I am from the PNW(washington state). The first 100 pages felt more like a history lesson of places in washington state ( Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 510 floating bridge) instead of serial killers from here. I eventually DNF'D this book at the 221 page mark. I may pick this back up at a different time next year.
MURDERLAND is a non-fiction book that shows a link between the rise in Pacific Northwest serial killers in the 1970s and 1980s and environmental toxins, particularly from lead smelters. Prior to reading this book, I listened to an interview with Caroline Fraser that I found boring. There's nothing boring about the book. Since 1990, I've spent a fair amount of time visiting Tacoma, Washington.I knew there were past issues with pollution, but had no idea the extent, or how it continues to impact that city and outlying communities even today. There's a reason why no trees are planted in the ground at Point Ruston... I learned a ot of cool stuff about some serial killers, too, the kind of thing that makes me want to read more True Crime. 
I like the parallels the writer included about her life and Ted Bundy. I did NOT like the “may or may not have..” r word(ed). There should’ve been a content warning for the amount of times she writes the r word. There’s power in using the correct language, and then there’s what the author did. DNF’d
I knew we were in trouble the moment I saw Caroline Fraser promoting the book on Joe Rogan’s podcast. She has a very pretentious writing style. Every chapter started with a quote, like the opening of a Criminal Minds episode. The overall writing read like a shallow attempt at suspense and atmosphere. I was more bored than scared.
The book was also uneven and unfocused. There was a lot of fluff. You’ll get through a whole chapter going through the history of a bridge, and then all of a sudden, a mention of Ted Bundy. Caroline also wrote about her own life sporadically throughout the book. It felt like a random addition. We just did not need it. The book was already long as it is. It was all over the place, which made it an unpleasant reading experience.
Sometimes you can have the right message but the wrong messenger. I have no doubt that the lead-crime hypothesis is true. This book just didn’t make a great attempt at proving it. It’s not an academic paper from a scientific journal. Why did a history major write a book about this subject? Why not an actual expert?
Murderland is the prime example of a book that is widely popular and widely advertised yet incredibly dull.
Save your money.
Save your time.
Reading this book was the real true crime.
The book was also uneven and unfocused. There was a lot of fluff. You’ll get through a whole chapter going through the history of a bridge, and then all of a sudden, a mention of Ted Bundy. Caroline also wrote about her own life sporadically throughout the book. It felt like a random addition. We just did not need it. The book was already long as it is. It was all over the place, which made it an unpleasant reading experience.
Sometimes you can have the right message but the wrong messenger. I have no doubt that the lead-crime hypothesis is true. This book just didn’t make a great attempt at proving it. It’s not an academic paper from a scientific journal. Why did a history major write a book about this subject? Why not an actual expert?
Murderland is the prime example of a book that is widely popular and widely advertised yet incredibly dull.
Save your money.
Save your time.
Reading this book was the real true crime.
Definitely echo that you shouldn't expect a true crime author's voice, though I liken the book to a serial killer podcast meets Silent Spring. I enjoyed it. Her writing style is very different with the first chapter in the history of Tacoma a little dry at first. It serves the purpose of building the lead laden foundation for the proliferation of serial killers in mid-century. i like the juxtaposition of the Ted Bundy timeline with the smelting and mining corruption as well as sprinkles of her own experience during this time. It seems to be a very personal book for the author and I enjoyed it for that reason.
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