I didn’t know Ann Rule was true crime, I though she wrote fiction. People have mentioned her name here and there so when I saw a book of three Rule stories I snapped it up even though I had no knowledge of her style or genre. I got three books in one and hoped they would all be great. Actually, I was thinking something like “...need book to pacify self to help with sleeping". I was a little hesitant about the true crime angle because I’ve found those books tend to rely on the true nature of the crime to carry the book leaving nuance, subtlety and purpose by the curb. A crime story encompasses the passions, hurts, loves psychic drama’s etc. of every player on many levels. This is why layering is so important.
For me, the most important aspect of a crime story involving vicious acts of violence is the ‘why’ behind the act. I want to know ‘why’ a man could hate women so much that he shoots randomly at females. If the criminal at the heart of the story has been estranged from his family for years, I want to know why. I figure that past family issues are probably very much a part of the eventual move toward violent, criminal behavior.
So my question for Ann Rule is, ‘how can you write a true crime story as a novel or work of art without any forensic psychiatry?’ It doesn’t matter how sick the criminal was or how sad the victims family was if there is no motive…..I have worked with battered women’s groups and issues surrounding sexual assault and I promise you, offenders have a profile and a track-able history. A story of rape and murder without the ‘this could be why’ aspect is like having a dinner party then serving slabs of raw steaks. It’s not enough to set the table, you have to cook the food.
The ‘why’ is the variable which controls every event in a true crime. If there’s no why, there’s no story.
So Ann is very lucky to have found her niche in the publishing world. I cannot recommend her books.




Recommended: No