Masters of True Crime

Chilling Stories of Murder and the Macabre

By: R. Barri Flowers - editor

Narrated by: Tara Ochs, James Edward Thomas

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Spanning murder cases from the beginning of the 20th century to today, this is a must-hear for fans of true crime and will also be compelling to mystery and thriller listeners. The contributors include Harold Schechter, Katherine Ramsland, Carol Anne Davis, Burl Barer, and other leading writers in this genre.

In February 1975, nine-year-old Marcia Trimble left her house in Nashville to deliver Girl Scout cookies in the neighborhood. She never returned. After a massive but fruitless search, her body was discovered on Easter Sunday. Outrage and horror gripped the community of Nashville, but the murder investigation was frustrated at every turn. The case went cold for three decades until it was finally solved.

In January 1997, Herbert Blitzstein was found murdered in the living room of his Las Vegas townhouse. A notorious mob insider, "Fat Herbie" had pursued loan sharking and other rackets for decades. Now, Blitzstein had been dispatched gangland style - by three bullets to the back of the head - in what appeared to be a classic contract killing. But the details of who killed him and why turned out to be much more complicated, and the real motives and circumstances remain murky to this day.

These are just two examples of the riveting stories assembled in this unparalleled collection of some of the top true crime writers in the world. Each of the 17 contributors draws on his or her own strengths, backgrounds, interests, and research skills to describe, in a vivid narrative, not only the facts of each notorious case but also the terrible emotions and macabre circumstances surrounding the crimes.

©2012 R. Barri Flowers (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Garbage, poorly written and narrated

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No one should bother with this one. The audio was fuzzy and awful, and the narrators mispronounced or misspoke CONSTANTLY. There were even a couple of moments where a narrator messed up and repeated a line, and it was left in the finished audio. It was SO DISTRACTING. I should have returned the book as soon as I heard them pronounce the title "Mah-kayb-BRUH" but it was all I had to listen to on a long flight. Ugh. Ugh. ugh.

interesting and great variety of stories

I liked this book. it kept me interested and had a variety of stories. would recommend.

Bad robo-voice...

Just an unpleasant robo-voice reading these unlabelled chapters. Content is good, but the audio book could be much better produced.

Mediocre writing with an ill-fitting narrator

Full disclosure: I couldn't make it past the first chapter of this book. Flowers attempts to invoke a flavor of pulp classic true-crime in their style of writing. Instead, it comes across as bland, uninspired, and lacking in substance or detail. I might've been able to overlook this and keep listening to see if it improved, but the narration was downright jarring. To be fair the narrator himself isn't so bad, but his cadence is completely off for this material. He bounds up and down in pitch and his tone is way too bright. Were he reading a children's story, it might actually fit well. However, when combined with the author's melodramatic prose, it creates an unbearable listening experience.

Performance?

Boring and dry voice. I am unsure why anyone would want to listen to such a dull narration.

Listened to it from start to finish!

Awesome stories that I have never heard of (even as a true crime addict). Love the diversity of age, gender, modus operandi, time periods, etc. that this book covers

Very misleading title.

I gave up on this book after an hour. POORLY written and read. Very disappointed.

What?

Nothing new. Just old stuff retold from the original authors view of an infamous true crime done so long ago that no longer a mystery or whodunit. Nor do narrators raise many novel questions for today's listeners to ponder.

Really interesting crimes

This was a really interesting book with a variety of different stories. The only story I didn’t care for was chapter 4 (I believe) as I don’t think “came at them like a pitbull” is an appropriate saying in 2021. Let’s break down that stigma about pit bulls. Other than that, it was really interesting. Great for true crime fans.

nice short stories

nice voices. would listen again. enjoy the book and have a good day . bye

Average - nothing special

Didn't bother finishing. Doesn't keep you enthralled, nothing 'masterly' about it.

I need to write a few more words to ensure review is accepted.

stereotypes

As an English listener I had to give up with this book as it made me angry. The American reader was making generalisations about England for example orphanages and child welfare organisations were all run by pedophiles years ago, to name but one!!!

Really good

This is really great if your into crime stories . I found it easy to listen too and the stories are told very well.

my first audiobook

loved it and there's loads off story's in it aswell
it was good to listen to as I relaxed in bed to get to sleep

Sadly the narrators sound computerised

It started ok but went downhill from there. I definately won't be finishing it!