His most recent book Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence
was a very good read. James combines his excellent writing skills, history that most of us probably never knew or had forgotten and a sense of logic and common sense to give explanations of what probably actually happened in these sensational crimes.I grew up knowing the Lizzie Borden rhyme about giving her mother 40 whacks. Now I know the whole story thanks to James. I do admit that I did get a bit bogged down with James' idea of giving points to decide guilt but that is a small quibble. If you like history, crime or just good writing then you'll like Popular Crime.