This book includes ten true crime stories. Kiss Me, Kill Me is the longest story at 128 pages and is about a pregnant young mother who is murdered in her home. The other stories “The postman only killed once”, What does love have to do with it? “,” Old Flames Can Burn “,” The Lonely Hearts Killer “,” The Captive Bride “,” Bad Blind Date “,” The Highway Accident “,” You Kill Me… Or I’ll Kill You “and” Where is Julie? “They are shorter stories and average 25 pages each. The common thread in each of these stories and probably the reason Ann Rule used them all for this crime file is that they are all crimes against women and they involve a certain element of trust on the part of the victims for the killer.
Suffice it to say that all of Ann Rule’s books are great. Her ability to bring you into the life of the victim before she is killed evokes an emotional response, as you feel like you already know these people when they are killed.
I enjoy the true crime files, but am a bit let down by the shorter stories, as most of them seem to have the potential to be a full book on their own. Ann Rule has commented that she is asked to write so many books about certain people and criminal acts and that she really doesn’t have time to write them all. The true crime files is his way of writing about as many stories as he can. She mostly chooses stories that are close to her heart, as in “Kiss me, kill me”, she is a personal friend of the victim’s uncle.
I think True Crime Files is perfect for readers who enjoy true crime stories but aren’t too fond of reading long books. In this way, Ann Rule has ensured that all kinds of readers of hers are satisfied. To me, any Ann Rule book is wonderful and she only wishes she would write more books. I always wonder when I read a true crime story that I don’t enjoy, if Ann Rule would have written it differently and made it a good book. I personally think so. . .
Long story short, I prefer the full stories, but I still read the crime files, as I read anything written by Ann Rule.
This is my personal review of Kiss Me, Kill Me by Ann Rule, but I would suggest getting the opinions of other true crime story readers before buying a true crime book online.