Ian Case Punnett is a professor of multimedia journalism who came back to graduate school after a successful decades-long career in commercial radio/television/print/digital media. Other books include A Black Night for the Blue Grass Belle (2016) and How to Pray When You’re Pissed at God (2013).

"With this book, Dr. Ian Punnett has staked out new and important territory in the study of true crime. This is essential reading for anybody interested in how and why true crime remains compelling to worldwide readers and audiences." -Jean Murley, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, USA

• 1. Introduction: An Outline in Chalk1.1 Securing the Scene1.2The Background Check2. The Exploratory Study: A Proper Search2.1 Interrogating the Texts2.2 Selection of True Crime Narratives: "The Usual Suspects"2.3 Summation3. The Findings: Two Sides to Every True Crime Story3.1 The Prosecution: The Critic’s View3.2 The Defense: True Crime as a Justice Mechanism3.3 A Review of the Evidence: A Theory of True Crime 3.4 Summation4. Conclusion and Discussion: TheVerdict4.1 A Theory of True Crime4.2 Crimen Veritas4.3 The International Man Hunt is On4.4 Accomplices after the Fact4.5 NON-narrative True Crime Writing 4.6 Crime Porn4.7 The Final Sentence

Ian Case Punnett is a professor of multimedia journalism who came back to graduate school after a successful decades-long career in commercial radio/television/print/digital media. Other books include A Black Night for the Blue Grass Belle (2016) and How to Pray When You’re Pissed at God (2013).

"With this book, Dr. Ian Punnett has staked out new and important territory in the study of true crime. This is essential reading for anybody interested in how and why true crime remains compelling to worldwide readers and audiences." -Jean Murley, Queensborough Community College, CUNY, USA

• 1. Introduction: An Outline in Chalk1.1 Securing the Scene1.2The Background Check2. The Exploratory Study: A Proper Search2.1 Interrogating the Texts2.2 Selection of True Crime Narratives: "The Usual Suspects"2.3 Summation3. The Findings: Two Sides to Every True Crime Story3.1 The Prosecution: The Critic’s View3.2 The Defense: True Crime as a Justice Mechanism3.3 A Review of the Evidence: A Theory of True Crime 3.4 Summation4. Conclusion and Discussion: TheVerdict4.1 A Theory of True Crime4.2 Crimen Veritas4.3 The International Man Hunt is On4.4 Accomplices after the Fact4.5 NON-narrative True Crime Writing 4.6 Crime Porn4.7 The Final Sentence