Published
1 Jul 2025Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1529238198Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
1 Jul 2025Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1529238150Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
1 Jul 2025Page count
240 pagesISBN
978-1529238211Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
True Crime
True crime is a huge cultural industry: media organisations use crime stories to push sales and clicks. Yet behind this phenomenon lies the real-life victims and a disconnect between the representation of violent crime and its reality.
This book is a go-to guide for students and researchers in understanding the development of this phenomenon and its social and cultural impacts. Through case studies including Lucy Letby, the Yorkshire Ripper and Fred and Rosemary West, the book considers true crime’s ethical implications and its wider influence on crime and punishment.
Ian Cummins is Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford.
Martin King is an independent scholar and author.
Louise Wattis is Assistant Professor at Northumbria University.
Foreword
1.Introduction
2.True Crime – a history
3.Consuming True Crime
4.Using True Crime to explore theoretical perspectives
5.True Crime and Punishment
6.The Ethics of True Crime
7.True Crime / True Detectives
Case Studies section
8.A True Crime case study: The murder of Meredith Kercher
9.Fear of Masks: Reading Gordon Burn
10.They Walk Among Us.
11.Conclusion
