The Best American Crime Reporting 2010
Although it will be of interest primarily to true-crime aficionados, this is not really a true-crime book. The focus is on the people—perpetrators and victims—rather than the nuts-and-bolts details of the crimes and investigations. For example, Rick Anderson profiles a career criminal who spent most of the past quarter-century in jail but still managed to rack up 112 convictions over the brief periods when he was out. David Grann’s story about a man who may have been wrongly convicted of burning down his own home and murdering his family has moments of heartbreaking sadness. On the other hand, Kevin Gray’s story about a con-artist gigolo is, if not outright funny, at least worth a raised eyebrow or two. And Ron Chernow’s piece about a couple of notorious pyramid schemers who predate Bernie Madoff provides a nice capsule history of this always-profitable (and usually self-destructing) swindle. Another fine entry in a consistently interesting series that always spotlights fine writing and engaging stories. --David Pitt