In Cold Blood

To me, a true crime novel is the ultimate horror story because it is not possible to think 'it's not real, it can't happen to me!' You cannot put it down and be glad it's only fiction. There is an added layer of outrage and sadness I don't generally feel when reading regular fiction.

In small doses, this genre is extremely interesting though not for the faint of heart.

Truman Capote's In Cold Blood explains the before, after and during of one of America's most shocking and gruesome crimes of the 20th century. Capote draws on his own observations and interviews with the convicted murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, Kansas State investigators working on the case and townsfolk of Holcomb, Kansas just outside of which the Clutter family lived. The result is an in-depth characterisation of not only the family destroyed, but to a larger extent the two men who destroyed it and how their life experiences shaped them to be capable of such horrific acts.

A ground-breaking piece of work back in 1966 when it was first published, In Cold Blood was considered by many as the original non-fiction novel and later classed in the wave of 'New Journalism' - interesting stories about inconsequential people.

In Cold Blood was a chilling novel to read, it sucks you in the same way a car accident might - horrifying and terrible but unable to tear your gaze away from. The detail Capote puts into his work is something he is famous for and when reading this novel you almost forget that it is non-fiction. Even when heard from the murderers own confession it is so difficult to understand what could make a person commit such atrocious acts on the farmer Herbert Clutter, his wife and two of their children.

The worst part is knowing that only the smallest of changes or one decision made differently could have saved their lives. I clearly remember groaning in frustration and sadness when it was clear that 'if only he had said something' or 'if only they had locked that' could have made Capote the author of one less book.

I appreciated the work that went into this book, Capote spent six years of his life on it. It made me shudder and squirm the way a horror story is supposed to and thankfully there was the fierce satisfaction that comes when a novel wraps up the way you want it to.

I definitely checked my front door was locked...

Jess

In Cold Blood