Murders Strange But True

Susan Massarella is a reference librarian at Laurentian University.

Toronto Sun columnist Max Haines has produced yet another compilation of
true-crime stories. Cases detailed here range from current, well-known
cases to crimes dating from the turn of the century.

Haines continues to write in the hard-boiled style of Mickey Spillane.
Some readers will be annoyed by his superficial and sexist treatment of
the crimes (a 13 year-old is described as having “the figure of a
silicone-enhanced movie star”). That said, the stories are easy to
read, with each crime recounted in four pages or less. The cases are
organized alphabetically by the murderer’s name, allowing quick access
to such high-profile figures as Marc Lepine and the Menendez brothers.

Murders Strange but True is recommended for large public libraries or
for libraries that do not have any of Haines’s earlier books.