Ending in 2010, The Best American Crime Reporting was an annual publication that compiled the best essays in crime reporting, previously published in magazines and newspapers. Inspired by this serial, Weinman pulls together some of the best pieces of the past five years. Recently the true crime genre has been having a moment; the huge success of McNamara’s I’ll be Gone in the Dark in 2018 (reviewed here January 31, 2019) and numerous other bestsellers, podcasts such as Serial and My Favorite Murder; Netflix documentaries like Making of a Murderer and The Bundy Interviews, and Amazon Prime’s O.J.: Made in America, to name but a few. Why the true crime obsession? Perhaps we are fascinated by what we see as other, and grapple with understanding what could motivate heinous behavior. Perhaps we can see evil emerge from the appearance of ordinary lives, and fear that it could manifest in any of us. What makes the emergence of evil go beyond fantasy to enacted reality?

As with any story telling, the difference is in the craft— a well structured story, sharp writing, careful development of ideas, pulling the reader in. These elements must be present regardless of genre, and are present in the greatest literary classics. True crime writing at its best has all of this, and cannot be sneered at as inferior schlock. I recently have read three: My Life Among the Serial Killers, by Dr. Helen Morrison, a forensic psychiatrist who has made it her life’s work to understand the personality of the serial killer; and The Case of the Vanishing Blond and Other True Crime Stories, by Mark Bowden, former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and best known for Black Hawk Down. Unspeakable Acts was by far the most noteworthy and well-written of the three.

The book covers all manner of crime— murder, abduction, illegal immigration, to name a few. Essays address famous incidents, such as the University of Texas at Austin sharpshooter mass murder, told from the standpoint of a victim survivor; forensic science; teen murder; and society’s fascination with serial murders, told with the story of Ted Bundy. The unifying factor is excellent storytelling, and fine writing. Each essay informs and captivates, all page turning narratives. Weinman ends the collection with several suggestions for further reading, listening, and viewing. I highly recommend this book. Not a glorification, not glamourizing or romanticizing, the best writing deals with the ethical and moral issues. As Weinman says:

“Consuming and creating true crime is an ethically thorny endeavor, as it always was, and as it must be. But the pieces included in Unspeakable Acts go a long way to make the world a more just, more empathetic place.”

Highly recommended.