Shared Madness - True Stories of Couples Who Kill

Shared Madness - True Stories of Couples Who Kill
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2010-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1784184543

Such unfortunate unions have been behind some of the most shocking news stories of recent years. But what is it that makes couples like Myra Hindley and Ian Brady follow such a twisted path of sociopathic violence? In this, the first in-depth study of cases of the condition known as folie a deux (shared madness), bestselling crime author Christopher Berry-Dee invites the reader to look these 'killers couples' right in the eye. He offers a rare, if uncomfortable, insight into the truth behind the headlines and exposes some of the most cold-blooded killers that the world has ever seen.Included are some well-known cases, including the sickening murders committed by Fred and Rose West at their very own house of horror, 25 Cromwell Street. Other cases are more obscure, but equally fascinating: such as the story of Cynthia Coffman and James Gregory Marlow whose relationship led to three brutal murders. Every one of the 22 cases of shared madness is a uniquely revealing study, making Shared Madness a must-read for anyone with an interest in true crime and criminal psychology.

Talking with Psychopaths: Beyond Evil

Talking with Psychopaths: Beyond Evil
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2023-08-22
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1635768667

Bestselling author Christopher Berry-Dee returns with a companion volume that delves even deeper into the evil world of psychopaths and their hideous crimes. In Talking with Psychopaths: Beyond Evil, criminologist Berry-Dee combines sections on killers whom he has known, interviewed, or corresponded with, with studies of psychopathic serial killers from the past, including Peter Kurten, the Dusseldorf Monster; John Christie, a murderer and necrophile; and Neville Heath, a ladykiller in every sense of the word. The result is a chilling narrative that sets the forensic examination of killers and their crimes within the context of murder in the 20th and 21st centuries, and the insoluble problem of identifying these psychopaths. This is not a book for the squeamish but is undeniably fascinating in its portrayal of just what one human being will do to another—while all too often moving among us unnoticed and unhindered. If their crimes seem as incomprehensible as they are horrific, it is undeniably true that the world’s most wicked killers may be much closer than we think.

Couples Who Kill

Couples Who Kill
Author: Carol Anne Davis
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2014-05-22
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 074901699X

What drives attractive male cousins to rape and kill ten young women? Why do an altar girl and her boyfriend lure innocent victims into their customised torture van? Couples who kill comprise only twenty per cent of killers, but they often murder serially and are responsible for particularly inhumane deaths. Sadistic friends, psychotic sisters and an increasingly pathological mother-son team are amongst those profiled in this exploration of the world's most deviant duos. There are infamous British cases, such as the Moors Murderers and the Wests, as well as many equally disturbing but less well-known ones. In the third of this series, which focuses on the psychology of murderers, Carol Anne Davis explores the formative influences of these killers and their deadly dynamics. Comprising of thirteen in-depth case studies and exclusive interviews with experts and one of the Wests' surviving victims, "Couples Who Kill" provides an unequalled study of this disturbing subject.

Shared Madness

Shared Madness
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Publisher: Blake Publishing
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2005
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

'Folie a deux' is a phenomenon in which two or more individuals, who have a similar delusion or fantasy that remains latent until they meet, together commit crime inspired by this shared delusion or fantasy. The macabre partners in this book share this little-understood condition. Perverse personalities, brooding minds and black heats, they fantasise about murder most foul, sometimes for decades. They are unable to carry their warped delusions into reality and the world is safe - unitl they meet another such evil mind and the results are shocking.

Shared Madness - True Stories of Couples Who Kill

Shared Madness - True Stories of Couples Who Kill
Author: Christopher Berry-Dee
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2010-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1844548422

It is an extraordinary, but well-documented phenomenon--two people, who seem relatively harmless alone, team up, and the results are terrifyingly explosive. Such unfortunate unions have been behind some of the most shocking news stories of recent years. But what is it that makes couples like Myra Hindley and Ian Brady follow such a twisted path of sociopathic violence? He offers a rare, if uncomfortable, insight into the truth behind the headlines and exposes some of the most cold-blooded killers that the world has ever seen. Included are some well known cases, including the sickening murders committed by Fred and Rose West at their very own house of horror, 25 Cromwell Street. Other cases are more obscure, but equally fascinating, such as the story of Cynthia Coffman and James Gregory Marlow whose relationship led to three brutal murders. Every one of the 22 cases of shared madness is a uniquely revealing study, making this a must-read for anyone with an interest in true crime and criminal psychology.

Seduced by Madness

Seduced by Madness
Author: Carol Pogash
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0061751200

A true crime account and analysis of a California housewife’s murder of her husband and the revealing trial that followed. In October 2002, Susan Polk, the soft-spoken mother of three teenage boys, was arrested for stabbing her husband and former therapist, Dr. Felix Polk, to death. Three years later she was tried for first degree murder, choosing to act as her own attorney in a trial that rapidly devolved into one of the most outrageous media circuses in modern history. To a crowded courtroom, Susan Polk presented her defense—a bizarre story of unethical therapies, abuse, repressed memories, and satanic rituals—and, in doing so, exposed her madness. Carol Pogash was there. Seduced by Madness is the remarkably compelling, profoundly disturbing true story of the severe dysfunction of an affluent American family, as told by the leading journalist who worked the case. It is a spellbinding re-creation of a troubled life, a marriage, a murder, and a terrifying, inexorable descent into madness. Praise for Seduced by Madness “While the background is fascinating, the coverage of the trial is mesmerizing. Pogash takes the characters . . . and creates an edge-of-your-seat excitement. For fans of true crime, psychology, courtroom drama and truth-is-stranger-than fiction, this is a triumph.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Where Madness Lies

Where Madness Lies
Author: Sylvia True
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2021-01-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1789044618

Germany, 1934. Rigmor, a young Jewish woman is a patient at Sonnenstein, a premier psychiatric institution known for their curative treatments. But with the tide of eugenics and the Nazis’ rise to power, Rigmor is swept up in a campaign to rid Germany of the mentally ill. USA, 1984. Sabine, battling crippling panic and depression commits herself to McLean Hospital, but in doing so she has unwittingly agreed to give up her baby. Linking these two generations of women is Inga, who did everything in her power to help her sister, Rigmor. Now with her granddaughter, Sabine, Inga is given a second chance to free someone she loves from oppressive forces, both within and without. This is a story about hope and redemption, about what we pass on, both genetically and culturally. It is about the high price of repression, and how one woman, who lost nearly everything, must be willing to reveal the failures of the past in order to save future generations. With chilling echoes of our time, Where Madness Lies is based on a true story of the author’s own family.

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes
Author: David Grann
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2010-03-09
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0385533160

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Wager—and one of the most gifted reporters and storytellers of his generation—comes a “horrifying, hilarious, and outlandish” (Entertainment Weekly) collection of gripping true crime mysteries about people whose obsessions propel them into unfathomable and often deadly circumstances. "[Grann is] one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine Whether David Grann is investigating a mysterious murder, tracking a chameleon-like con artist, or hunting an elusive giant squid, he has proven to be a superb storyteller. In The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, Grann takes the reader around the world, revealing a gallery of rogues and heroes with their own particular fixations who show that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager!