4.5 stars
This book was awesome!
This book consists of different sections with main topics such as bandits, con artists, white collar crime, kidnappings, organized crimes, murder, serial killers and so many others. Within each section, there are individualized stories - with crimes committed as early as 1303 to present day. Some are well-known cases such as Bundy and Dahmer, while some I haven't even heard of-and I read quite a bit about true crime.
This book was really interesting and well paced. That being said, this is not an intensive read by any means- some are even just a single page in length. You could read the whole book in one sitting or just a story here and there. Each story covers the location, theme, and the before and after. Includes black and white photos for each story-either newspaper articles, crime scene photos (nothing gory or inappropriate), and the criminal themselves.
I would recommend this one to any true crime lover or someone interested in this subject.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to DK and Cathy Scott for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a wonderful book! It is concise and I'm in awe of the research that went into this book. I bookmarked several stories. Highly recommended.

If you are interested in investigating crimes and bringing criminals to justice.. then, The Crime Book is a MUST have for your library. The crimes are well investigated, cover a wide historical base.. from pirates to modern day. Criminals are the same.. no matter what age they live in. Peacekeepers are a little bit of both, as they must think like a criminal.. but, believe that laws are necessary in a civilized society. Though, sometimes, even they.. know that a "gray" area may exist.

The Crime Book has many photos and paintings. The author truly spent a great deal of time putting this criminal encyclopedia together! Very impressive! Money well spent! Sure, you could google all of this info.. but, why bother.. when it's all laid out in an easy read format!

I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of The Crime Book after hearing such amazing things about it! Some of the chapters made me learn a ton about crimes I’m less familiar with (white collar, for example) and in other cases, I poured over the details to learn more about a crime I had only a superficial understanding of (Black Dahlia, for example). The graphics and set up in this book are so easy to follow and make it a great book to read cover-to-cover or to just flip through as more of a coffee table book. This book would make a great gift for the crime lover in your life (as in the person who likes learning about crimes, not committing crime!). I also think it would make an interesting gift for law enforcement.

This is a great resource for beginners who are interested in true crime. It is an easy to read format and includes lots of pictures as well as diagrams to help clearly set out times lines and such. It also contains a vast number of crimes and cases including many I had never heard of. I really enjoyed learning new things about cases I didn't know much about as well.
So why only two stars? Because when I got to certain stories I knew well, I started to see some errors. For example in discussing Jonestown, the books says they drank a poison soft drink (it was flavor-aid and this where "don't drink the Kool-Aid" comes from). And the book mentions Ed Gein in passing saying he stole corpses and then used their bodies as decorations. While this is technical accurate, Gein also killed people for his hobbies which included making decorations from human body parts, making a human suit and cooking with body parts; this book's description of him makes him seem tame in comparison. While these details seem small and inconsequential, the lack of detail and fact checking making made me wonder what incorrect information I was getting from the new stories I was learning.
A great start for beginners, this should be a jumping out for further research into the topics and crimes covered.

I own few titles from the series and I love them all. The series provides concise references on big ideas without bolting one down with too much information. All titles from the same series are good starter guides or could be served as quick references.

"The Crime Book" is no exception. Written by renowned crime experts and journalists, the "stories" included are told in the most acute form as possible. Crimes cases are organized into different categories. Some brief background, subsequent laws imposed on the matters are introduced. Though "The Crime Book" might not be as "educational" as its counterparts in the series but it offers quality information. Highly recommend to those who would want to learn few things here and there about crime histories. Well-informed crime readers, though, might find the book is on the elementary level for their taste.

Thanks DK and Netgallery for the opportunity for me to sample "The Crime Book" prior to my possible purchase of the title.

I remember reading DK books as a child over topics that interested me. I was excited to find new comprehensive overviews for adults, part of "The ________ Book" series. The Crime Book is another great entry to the series, covering all sorts of true crimes over centuries of history. Recommended for anyone with an interest in true crime.

I love crime! Okay, not crime itself, but I do like hearing about the intricate details of crime stories that have already occurred. I am a true crime junkie, so I knew when I spotted this book that I needed to read it since it is a book solely about crime. I was not disappointed. This book is so much fun for anyone who is a crime buff. Basically, it is an encyclopedia of all different types of crime stories from your white-collar crimes to your serial killers. They are snippets for the most part. They just graze the surface of the various stories that made it into the book, but it is just enough. I think my only real complaint about the book is that I wish some of the stories of the crimes were a bit longer. But I think that is the purpose. It wets the appetite just enough so that you will want to go and read more about the crimes that truly peak your interest.

The authors were skilled at giving the reader the most information on the crimes they knew people would be most intrigued by, all the while giving you some stories that were just a page or two long of specific crimes or criminals you may not have heard of. The book also includes lots of pictures and sidebars on some of the crimes about the people involved. It is a well put together book.

I highly recommend this book if you like to read about crime and criminals. This isn’t a book you have to read in order, although I did. The book is broken down by crime categories and very easy to navigate, so if you have a penchant for learning about serial killers the book can lead you right to it.

A terribly interesting book. I only say terrible because of the subject matter. The book is all about crime. All of the crimes people have heard about from Grave robbing to Aileen Wuornos and everything before, during, and after. The book gives you a pretty full story of each crime, when, where, how, and when they were stopped as well as how they were judged in court. The book is broken down into sections like robberies, serial killers, and more. I personally couldn't put the book down once I started it.

Nicely categorized and readable.

No Benazir Bhutto in assassinations. Or the strange case of self-confessed killer Javed Iqbal in serial killers / child abductors.

This book is a must read for anyone who is a fan of true-crime. It is filled with cases, famous, and a few not as well known, with facts you may not have heard before. I know I have looked into so many of these cases, but have still learned things I had to heard or read before. You are constantly learning! It is organized by type of crime, which is nice. As a fan who love the true-crime genre, this is a great reference guide. I give it 5 gold stars and will recommend it to anyone who loves this area. You have have to read it to believe it!

Entertaining read and very informative! Rivals The Serial Killer Files by Harold Schechter and love that it had plenty of cases I'd not previously read about.

True crime fans will enjoy The Crime Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained), by DK and Cathy Scott. Organized almost like an encyclopedia of international crimes, ranging from the murders committed by Jack the Ripper to D.B. Cooper's mysterious disappearance after hijacking a plane, the book pulls the readers through its pages quickly and easily. The crimes include train robberies, bank heists, and more, and illustrations and diagrams are great additions to the experience.

While this is a fine compendium, it doesn't go into much depth or detail. I found myself stopping periodically to browse the Web for more information. But the book includes synopses of each crime, which makes it easy to put the book down and pick it back up again when you're ready.

This is an engaging read. Thanks to Netgallery for my free e-copy. My opinions are honest and my own.

The Crime Book by DK; Cathy Scott, was a great, interesting read. I found many of the articles very fascinating . There were many cases that I have heard about , but did not really know too much about. There were many crimes that had took place long before many of us were born (1800's for example). Other cases were in our life times. I like how this book read like a magazine of archived crimes with detailed information, images and diagrams. I was able to finish the book in two days. I enjoy reading and learning about crime both past and present cases, I would recommend this book for anyone that wants to learn about a variety of crimes that has happened .
I found documentaries on Netflix by reading some of the articles in this book; of course I had to watch them for a more in depth view of the crimes.

I'm thinking that this would make a nice book to have on the bookshelf or coffee table. :)

As I write this review, I'm trying to think of what famous crime, criminal, or type of crime isn't featured in this book. And I can't.

The Crime Book is a compendium of everything crime. From Tupac Shakur to Neaderthals, Mafia to Outlaw Bikers, Fraudsters to Bandit Queens, they're all here.

Each entry gives you history, quotes, and fascinating details - accompanied by historical photos and documents that bring the crime and criminals to life.

You'll witness the last days of Bonnie & Clyde, imagine the horror of a serial killer's victims, and read intimate details of modern crimes you've seen play out on the evening news.

The book is extremely readable and utterly fascinating.

You can read it straight through or page through it, stopping on the people and crimes that fascinate you most. And you'll find yourself returning to it again and again!

A truly excellent book!

This book is like a crime encyclopedia of crime in one volume. It was researched very well, using crimes from before the 1700s. Excellent and detailed examples and explanations. There were a lot of high profile examples, too. For example, for the robbers, there was Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde and the Great Train Robbery. There were many International examples too. For Arson there was John Orr and the Antwerp Diamond Heist. Con Artists such as Doris Payne. So many others! I found it fascinating. Honestly, I had not heard of many of these people, so it was fun to learn about them. What crime encyclopedia would be without a large section on organized crime. This book gave a lot of information on the roots of organized crime and the different families and people in power. And yes, there is a large section on murder. Many high profile cases, such as Lizzie Borden, Elizabeth Short, Manson Family, "Dingo got my baby", John Lennon, and many others. Including ones I personally had not heard of. There there are the serial killers. Who does not like to read about serial killers (when you like to read true crime)? Ted Bundy, Brady & Hindley, and Jeffrey Dahmer. There is more to the book, and it is well worth reading. It is well written and well researched. Simply put, it is a must read.

This is a must have for any true crime reader/lover of true crime genre. It has all kinds of crimes and a brief synopsis of the criminal. Very in-depth and good reading. I found myself saying one more page and many pages later I was still reading. The book is broken down in various crimes, ie: Bandits, robbers and arsonist, murder cases, serial killers, etc. There is something for everyone. What i found very different and interesting was the concept of providing the location of the crime, other criminals before the subject criminal(s) as well as others who created the same type of crimes after. Kudos to the author!!!! Get this book you will not be disappointed. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this wonderful book in return for my honest review.

I really liked this book and would have given it 5 stars if I could have finished it. Starting at the chapter of serial killers, every other page was skipped so I could not finish the book.

Up until that point the book was awesome. I am a big fan of true crime and this is the ultimate book for it. I really liked how it gives some details of other crimes from before and after the crime the author's are writing about.