Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers

The question of how serial killers originate has been debated for decades, specifically whether nature or nurture plays a greater part. By the time Ted Bundy was apprehended, the number of victims during his spree was open for speculation. He had been arrested after a string of violent murders in Florida, but his reign of terror primarily was in Washington, Colorado, and Utah. Richard Ramirez cut a swath of carnage up and down California in the 1980s, frustrating law enforcement and frightening many residents. Gary Ridgway picked up where Ted Bundy left off and left dozens of victims in and around Green River in Seattle. The 1970s-1980s witnessed a proliferation of serial killers in the United States. Motives for these heinous crimes have been pondered and debated, but the role of toxic substances generated by big business hasn’t been considered until now.

Murderland is a riveting read that brings the reader on a cross-country trip through mayhem and the macabre. Author Caroline Fraser (“Prairie Fires”) has written a sublime true crime book that is comprehensive and also personal. The arguments made by Fraser for the correlation between the location of industrial pollution and various killers are more than compelling. A superlative book.