Hi there historical fiction fans! As the saying goes, fact is often stranger than fiction. And if ever there was proof of that, the genre of historical fiction imagining the gaps in historical true crime cases has to be it. As a big scaredy cat myself, I don’t read much actual true crime (serial killers, ahh, no thank you!). That said, historical crime fiction can be equally–if not more–fascinating since forensics and crime scene investigation techniques were such that much more was left to chance and guesswork. Which means there is a lot for historical fiction authors to work with in recreating criminal cases of the past. It makes for some truly great reading. Keep reading for cases you’ve heard of and a few you definitely haven’t.
MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:
The art of weaving true crime into historical fiction with the author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton. Margaret Atwood on Alias Grace and unreliable narrators: “If I Had Known the Truth, I Wouldn’t Have Written a Book.” Filling in the blanks of Lizzie Bordon’s case with Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done.
