Book recommendation for June 2026: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Considered to be the first true crime novel, I’ve yet to read another better than this. And the story behind the book, of how Capote came to write it and his relationship with one of the killers, is so compelling that they’ve made two movies about it.
What it’s about: In a small town in Kansas in 1959, a wealthy farmer and his family are brutally murdered in their home. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies, and a whole lot of questions. Capote’s reconstruction of the murder, the ensuing police investigation and court cases was built up from newspaper articles and interviews with key individuals, including the killers themselves to create a gripping masterpiece.
Why I love it: I am a bit reluctant to say I “love” a book about a family getting murdered, and truth be told it might not be something I would pick up now, but when I did pick it up, I couldn’t put it down. Capote’s writing sucks you in, it drags you into Holcomb, Kansas, and you know you’re in the hands of a master storyteller. His writing is just brilliant, absolutely brilliant. But beyond the story in the pages of this book is one almost as compelling: the story of how Capote, a famed New York writer, came across the story of this murdered family in Kansas, decided to go down and write about it (to the horror of his friends), and then his increasingly close relationship with one of the alleged killers. That story was so interesting in and of itself that two movies have been made about it: Capote, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Infamous, starring Toby Jones (I’ve only seen the former). If you like true crime, then for my money, the book that established the genre still stands at its pinnacle.
Beyond the book: I read this book while I was teaching English in Huaihua, China, back in 2009. In those days I did not have an ebook reader (were they even a thing then?) so I had to carry my supply of books with me from Wales. All I took was a rucksack, and most of my weight allowance went on books. However, within about a month I had read all the books I’d brought with me. Luckily for me, the teacher before me had left behind a fascinating biography of General “Vinegar” Joe Stilwell, a US Army General stationed in China during WWII, and “In Cold Blood”. Boy did I luck out with those two books! And now, whenever I think of “In Cold Blood”, or Truman Capote, I’m instantly taken back to my flat in China and I can’t help but smile.
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