Female First/ Mitzi Szereto discusses her new anthology "The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers"

Please tell us a bit about The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers.

Mitzi: It’s an anthology of original new material covering serial killer cases from around the world, from the UK, USA and Canada, to Italy, Japan, Australia and Brazil. The book contains award-winning writers, journalists, and even some true crime podcasters (and a number of these writers have actually had personal encounters with the killers they’re writing about too). You’re probably familiar with British authors Danuta Kot (Reah) and Martin Edwards, both of whom have received awards from the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA). It’s important to mention that the accounts in this book offer more than just the details of the crimes. They offer insight into the social and cultural implications of these crimes as well as insight into the psychology of the killers. We also learn about the victims. The Best New True Crime Stories: Serial Killers is a book that will give readers something to think about.

Of all the serial killers featured in the book who scares/fascinates you the most?

Mitzi: They’re all so diverse and fascinating, and yes, scary. I’m probably a bit biased toward the case I covered—a serial killer from the Balkans who, in a sense, used the killings as a boost for his journalism career. I think what fascinates me the most about many of the accounts in this book is that if these serial killer stories were fiction, they would be so unbelievable and so over the top it would be impossible for any reader to suspend his or her disbelief. I mean, can you imagine if someone wrote a novel about a doctor who goes around killing hundreds of his patients, getting away with it for decades? It sounds impossible even for fiction. Yet that is exactly what Dr. Harold Shipman did. The cliché about truth being stranger than fiction definitely applies when it comes to the serial killers in this book!

To read the full interview click here.