Book Review: Murderland by Caroline Fraser

“Think of what the place has been through. Burning, then freezing. Consider its proclivities: abusive and abused. Moisture seeps from every moss pore and lichen crevice. It has survived unspeakable pressures, once compressed by ice thousands of feet deep, sheets creeping across the surface, cresting in glacial slow motion every few thousand years and then falling back, drop by freezing drop. This is not terra firma. The longer we look, the more we see how it’s broken. And where it will break again.”

author

Review:

I’ve seen this book pop up for a while now and was casually interested. I picked it up when it was chosen as a book club read. While it was kind of what I thought it was about, it also wasn’t what I expected. 

This book discusses the region of the Pacific Northwest, mainly areas in Washington state. While the focus is largely on infamous serial killers who spent time in this region (mostly following Ted Bundy), it’s also about the region’s industry and architecture. Mixed in throughout is the author’s personal memoir.

This book lacked focus and flow. I’ll say that the various criminals of the area and time period are the core subject, but then there were these extensive side quests about a bridge and the history of it being built. It sort of connected to the narrative, but in a distracting, long-winded way. The deep discussions about lead did connect, but in a murky way that didn’t offer much evidence backing up the claims. More so, the theory ignored other external factors. I can absolutely believe that lead can poison the mind as much as the body, but it was presented in a way where we’re more or less supposed to blindly trust the author. Some studies were mentioned, but not expanded upon.

The most distracting element of this book was the inserted memoir, which, aside from being in this part of the country, had no overall connection to anything else being discussed aside from the implication of lead poisoning being the cause of her father’s disposition. I’ll happily read a memoir. I could be interested in the industrial age history. I’m very curious to read more about lead poisoning. But when I pick up a book titled Murderland, I’ve prepared myself to read about the topic of serial killers and not get completely sucked out of the topic for these random side ventures. 

Another issue I had with the book is that the depictions of the crimes portrayed by these criminals felt unnecessarily graphic. Given it’s not an in-depth biography on a single killer, there was no reason for the reader to be immersed in the gore and depravity. The immersive writing is mostly a compliment, but I didn’t see the benefit of the gratuitous imagery, especially when children were involved. It went beyond the facts, and it felt creepy. 

I nearly DNF’d this book a few times. I continued reading because I genuinely found the lead discussion interesting even though it didn’t offer much from a detailed research standpoint. After the book’s closing, I realized DNFing would have been worth it. 

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• I found the lead theory to be interesting.

What I didn’t like:

• Lacked focus.
• The depictions of the crimes didn’t need to be so graphically immersive.

Afterthoughts:

This was the July nonfiction group read with The Global Book Nook.

Where to buy the book: