In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
I suppose this is a classic of the genre, and it IS the second best-selling crime novel of all time, so…it must be amazing, right?
In the early morning hours of November 15, 1959, Richard Eugene “Dick” Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, robbed and murdered Herb, Bonnie, Nancy, and Kenyon Clutter of Holcomb, Kansas. The murder was senseless and netted less than $50 for the killers, who fled to Mexico until the money ran out. Returning to the states, they drifted through several states before getting caught in Las Vegas.
When a story about the murder appeared in the New York Times (before the murderers were arrested), it caught the attention of Truman Capote, who decamped to Kansas with his childhood friend Nellie Harper Lee (yes, that Harper Lee) to interview locals and write a serial for The New Yorker. While doing the research, Hickock and Perry were arrested, and Capote followed the story through to their trial, conviction, and execution.
To be clear, I didn’t hate In Cold Blood. In fact, it’s worth reading. It’s sordid, and gripping, and horrifying, and terrible, all at once. I can’t imagine how it’s publication changed the community, a place where no one locked their doors and everyone knew their neighbors. The book feels incredibly authentic and thoroughly researched, full of interviews and documents from the story.
And yet, there was something about how the story unfolds that felt just a little too perfect. For example, in the last scene of the book, the lead investigator in the murder, Alvin Dewey, is in the graveyard visiting the graves of the Clutters. It ties up the story and provides a bit of closure to the murders. And yet, it feels too perfect. Critics complain that this scene, and others, are contrived and never happened, that dialogue is invented. For historical fiction, this might work, and indeed the book reads like a novel at points, even if it is non-fiction. It’s a great read, even if it’s not completely accurate. Read it, then, for that: for entertainment, but not for a fully accurate depiction of the murder of the Clutters and the capture, trial, and execution of their murderers.
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