This book is very interesting. OK, that sentence feels like a 4th grade book report. Really though , it’s interesting. There are so many details, and such well researched facts. You can tell that the authors got a little obsessed with the Monster. Their obsession cataloged thirty years worth of evidence, nearly half a dozen suspects (almost all were tried, convicted, and then acquitted), fourteen to sixteen murders, and two countries.
Douglas Preston was an American author trying to write a crime novel. He met Mario Spezi, an Italian journalist semi-obsessed with the Monster of Florence case. Spezi was actually considered a Monstrologist – a title he himself coined. Together Preston and Spezi spent years researching and interviewing suspects, families, and potential witnesses about the murders in Florence. Preston abandoned his novel, and they wrote this book together.
Both authors were questioned by the police in relation to the case, as they had differing opinions from the prosecutors. The last few chapters are actually about Spezi’s incarceration and trial for crimes related to the Monster killings.
The reason I found this book was related to Amanda Knox. I followed closely her trials and all the evidence in the murder of Meredith Kercher. The same prosecutor was involved in both cases. If you look at any of the evidence in either case, you know that the prosecutor was a scary nutjob. Conspiracies were spun out of simple facts, and many innocent people were arrested and jailed.
I totally recommend this book. It takes a little while to read, because there are a lot of names, and places, and details. It’s messy, just like real life.