the Murder Room. true crime review

In what I took to be a series of vignettes, Capuzzo leads us on a journey into the mind of the sadistic, sexual, serial killer. His style led me to see this was a much better story than when I originally picked up the book. Not until I discovered a sheath of photographs halfway through the book did I realize this was in fact an actual true-crime book. The stories he had woven together where stranger than fiction and all of them chillingly real. 

From cold-case headlines, predominantly, at least initially in the Philadelphia, PA area we learn about a pro-bono, crime-fighting unit named the Vidocq Society. The group, formed by former FBI agent and private detective William Fleisher, psychic forensic artist Frank Bender and forensic psychologist Richard Walter lead us through the most bizarre, traumatic crimes ever committed, and one by one, with help from the other society members, finally put to rest scores of unsolved murders.

During brainstorming sessions where lunch was often, ‘chicken, steamed vegetables and a corpse with a small and unforgettable face’ these miracle workers brought closure to many a forgotten family who were glad to know these, ‘were men who had a green thumb in the garden of death.’ Without impeding on going, police investigations they refused any case until it was at least two-years-old. Many cases where two decades old. They discussed centuries old murders and had a melding of minds and enjoyed lively discussions with like-minded individuals.

These larger than life characters will open your eyes and your minds to the impossible, and transport you to a world you don’t want to believe exists outside of your comfortable living room.