Ananya Singh’s Review of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Ananya Singh’s Review of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 

It is not often that I read a true crime novel. A close friend of mine recommended that I read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This book is based on the murder of a family in 1959. The murder was of four members of the Herbert Clutter family on their ranch in Holcomb, Kansas. In order to write the book, Capote and a friend of his interviewed investigators assigned to the case and residents. They took over one thousand pages of notes. Capote spent six years writing the book. The book was a huge success and is currently the second-best-selling true crime book in all of history.

I really appreciate the effort Capote put into writing this book. The experience was comparable to watching a documentary on Netflix. The details he mentions help the reader visualize the scenes. Capote describes the victims of the murder and the members of the community who remember hearing about the crime. The backgrounds of the murderers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were discussed, as well. This allows the audience to understand what events led up to the murder and why Hickock and Perry did what they did. The killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were arrested and executed by the state of Kansas after spending five years on death row. 

However, some events in the book differ from the real events. Others were heavily dramatized. In my opinion, Capote should have kept the book as authentic as possible. Besides this point, the book was quite a new experience. All in all, if you enjoy true crime novels give In Cold Blood a try!