Do you love murder?
Do you want to understand why your wife, girlfriend, daughter, partner, aunt, and other women around you love murder?
Are you a murder?
If you can find even one YES, so this book is for you.

Hilary Campbell is a professor of murder shit, graduated under her mother and grandmother's watched. She and her ancestors (only women) have an obsession, murder obsession.
Obsession to what? Zodiac, In cold blood, Ted Bundy (very bold in this graphic novel), crime books, reality murder tv series, podcasts, and all sorts of things that are related to true crime.

This was a funny story about a true-crime lover girl. A graphic book with many texts. Recommended to crime lovers.

Thanks to Netgalley, I have given an honest review of Murder Book by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell.

This was a very interesting and light read about the author's love for true crime, with a sprinkling of true crime stories in a few portions. I liked those parts best, especially the last crime story because I think it's one that isn't as wildly known. I enjoyed the author's humor and writing, some moments had me actually laughing, which should be weird for a book about true crime. Some portions felt winded, like they were just repetitions of the same musings. Sometimes the writing also felt a little too quirky-cringey? It's a personal thing though. Art was cute and some illustrations were funny too.

I love graphic novels and am a sucker for a good memoir, so using true crime as a lens to view Hilary’s life through was really fun. I personally can only handle true crime in small doses, (I’m a scaredy cat!) so it was a good way to distance myself for the cases, but still learn about them. The format and layout of this one took me a while to get used to, and was a little hard to follow, but overall I’d recommend for those who like both true crime and graphic novels.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance copy of this book.

Murder Book will appeal to fans of true crime, especially if you’re a white woman who listens to My Favorite Murder. Sorry, but those are just the facts. If you’re not a fan of murder infused with humor, you definitely won’t like this book.

The author attempts to get to the bottom of her lifelong true crime obsession. I get it—I have the obsession, too. But during moments when I should have identified with the author, I found myself cringing, asking: is that how I come across to other people? It’s kind of obnoxious.

Campbell does a great job of giving the reader a brief primer on infamous murder cases. However, the humor comes at the expense of the victims at times, despite the author’s insistence that she’s not a victim blamer. And while she laments the systemic racism within the true crime community, in her own book she focuses on many crimes in which the victims were pretty white women.

The whole book is very white feminism, which is why I recommend it for fans of My Favorite Murder. (Clearly the author is a huge murderino, as she gives MFM a shoutout no fewer than four times.) Personally, I’m weary of media like this that appeals only to a very specific segment of the population—and unfortunately, this book isn’t for me.

This was oddly a stroll down memory lane when reading about cases and when thinking about how my mom fed into my love of true crime and crime related drama. I grew up on the Ramsey and OJ cases, I was actively following Scott Peterson, and I cut my teeth on CSI. I'm in the corner screaming "please stop touching things without gloves", and sighing "classic husband murder shit" because my mother was the same. Will make a great physical book, it was a little hard to read on a phone screen.

This was just the memoir I needed! I felt like this was so relevant to things currently going on in the world [i.e., the whole Gabby Petito case & the conversations about true crime that have gone along with it], but told in such a unique manner. This book made me laugh, but it also made me consider how & why I consume true crime in the way that I do. Hillary is SO RELATABLE and her writing and cartoons really hit home. I loved that I could feel the connection to the author while also learning a thing or two.

4 Stars
This was a cute, very accurate, portrayel of a true crime obsessed girl. I can relate so much to the author on this subject. I love shows, podcasts, books, etc. . such an enjoyable read. I really loved the unique choice of a graphic novel. It made the memoir more enjoyable to read.

I'm a true crime fanatic. I stream hours' worth of documentaries every day while I'm at work. My obsession began in the 1980s with Unsolved Mysteries, which my mother turned me on to. So at the onset of this graphic novel I was enjoying it, because the author stated she loves true crime and can trace the interest through her family line back several generations. I hadn't considered that before, and has made me wonder if my grandmother was a true crime lover. It's given me something to talk to my mom about.

However...this graphic novel is very disorganized. The speech bubbles are scattered all over the pages, which are very pixelated and blurry, and the text goes off on long, rambling tangents that really really bored me. I did not find anything humorous about the book and I did not need the Zodiac's entire life story dictated to me because, obviously, as someone interested in a "murder book," I have also seen the documentaries.

I am the target audience here, but I did not find this book enjoyable at all.

As a true crime lover, I saw this book and decided to give it a try. However, it is not at all what I was expecting. I could not get interested in the book and ended up mainly skimming it. This book was just a huge miss for me.

Absolutely loved this graphic novel. This will be a funny and very relatable read for any true crime lover. The author’s connection with her mother is lovely, and so is the one between her and other murderinos. It’s an insightful look into what makes us weirdly obsessed with murder. I created a Goodreads list with some of the books mentioned in Murder Book, a few more books to add to the TBR!

Disclosure: I received no compensation other than the chance to read this work.

Murder Book is about the author's exploration of what attracts her, and other women, to the true-crime genre. Told from her viewpoint and interspersed with facts from infamous true-crime cases, this graphic novel covers what she tries to see as possible motivations for her true-crime fascination and if it really could be harmful to wallow in the details of other women's deaths.

This book was a good read, but the narrative style (as the author herself admits) is very meandering and circular. This may frustrate some readers to where they're willing to walk away from finishing the book, but it wasn't so much confusing as it was a feeling of wanting to say 'get to the point!'.

Recommended for fans of true-crime novels and podcasts.

I really liked it, mainly because I could definitely relate to this. Being a true crime fanatic is an incredible feeling, but also a bit confusing to explain. The author has a very personal way of explaining a global phenomenon, in a very unique: a subjective point of view, in addition to many facts. The illustrations were great too. I highly recommend checking this one if you’re into true crime, it’s hilarious and interesting at the same time.

I love this book! As someone who is a bit obsessed with true crime this was a relatable and hilarious take,. It was full of interesting information about actual murders as well as musings on why it's such a popular genre. The illustrations make the content even better. I would recommend to anyone who is interested in true crime!

BOOK REVIEW
Murder Book - Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Why are we oddly fascinated with Murder? True crime docos, podcasts, books; we as a species are just here for it but this is the first graphic novel I’ve ever read on the subject and I need to report two things in my findings:
1. I am also hopelessly obsessed with true crime.
2. I definitely need to read more graphic novels.
@cartoonsbyhilary ‘s comedic take on our passion for true crime is both funny and sensitive to the subject matter. I loved her coverage of the Zodiac but the humanistic way she discusses her almost hereditary obsession. A fantastic read that’s inspired me in more ways than one!!

This was such a fun and unique concept. True Crime is a serious hobby for many people, especially women as the book does point out. I love the idea of taking the True Crime to a graphic novel style. Images make everything so much better. This was like a big picture book for women to read and fall more in love with true crime all over again.

This was beyond relatable, even for those that may not be true crime obsessed. I would not say I'm obsessed but in the bookstagram community many women are and surround their lives with podcasts, videos, shows, books, and articles about True Crime. I love how this book feels so real and there are many points when you can easily go "yeah, that's happened to me too" or "yes, I was thinking the same thing" or "I have the same theory about Lizzie Borden."

Such great illustrations, a light and funny undertone throughout the whole book and a sense of belonging that the reader can feel as they read through the book.

I'll start by saying I'm not a murderino...I think that was the word? But I was interested in knowing more about people who were super into true crime, since I know it is a thing, and I also enjoy graphic novels. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I'm still not into true crime. I'm just one of those people who don't get it and would rather be reading/watching about a thousand other things. I've never even made it through a full episode of Law & Order and the "dun-dun" noise actually makes me cringe and I need to immediately change the channel.

All that being said, I guess that makes me *not* the target audience of this book. I did really like Hilary's drawing style and narrative style and would definitely check out more books by her, this just wasn't the topic for me. I got really bored when she re-countered murders (some felt like they just went on and on and on) and I found myself skimming through the last couple. The whole book ended up feeling too long...

The bottom line is: this is a quality book and I can see a lot of people being super into it, but the subject matter just wasn't for me and I have not been converted into a true crime aficionado.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for letting me read an ARC of this graphic novel.

Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell loves murder. She's the first person to admit that her obsession sounds weird, but Campbell has been into true-crime since she was a child. In the new graphic novel Murder Book, Fitzgerald explores her family obsession with true crime, explains why true crime is so popular, and explores high profile cases that have fascinated us for decades. Fitzgerald Campbell is a New Yorker cartoonist and her work is hilarious. 

Some of the best parts of the book include conversations with Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell's mother, including a fake Murder 101 class. Her sections on famous serial killers are detailed, well-researched,  and doesn't act like Ted Bundy was hot. With jokes about wine, percentages on true crime's expansion, and her personal history, Murder Book is a comedic break in a sea of true crime.

I feel like the author was super insensitive. I don’t know if she thinks she was being funny but I found her rather rude. I kept rolling my eyes and could not stand another page. I read 39% of this awful graphic novel and I will not be recommending it. Yuck.

A delightful, funny read that made me realize how much I am obsessed with true crime!

In this non fiction graphic novel we follow Hilary as she try to answer one question: why is she so into crimes and murder? What is it that make her so invested and intrigued in something so dark?

I loved the art style and the humor in this was PERFECT, the author talk about sexisme, racism, a bunch of crime cases,serial killer, podcast, movies, tv shows and so much more! I learned a lot of stuff in a fun and cute way. This is the perfect read for octobre if you're like me and don't like horror but you still want to read about mysteries in a light-hearted way.

Hilary is a fun person (not character) to follow, I loved her relationship ship with her mom, her sister, her boyfriend and friends! After this read I feel like I know her personally and that's so cool! That's the word to describe this book :COOL.

As a fan of murder mysteries, I was curious what this graphic novel would be about. I found myself connecting to several things she wrote about, such as having a mom obsessed with true crime, always curious when sirens sound, and watching crime documentaries. I actually felt better about myself after reading this because my interest is not nearly as obsessive about murder as the author herself:) There are a lot of different elements to this graphic novel: why people are curious about crimes, what True Crime is, and famous cases that have shocked the nation. It is also a mix of an autobiography, with the way her fascination of crime has developed into an obsession throughout her life.

Two aspects that I struggled with were the art style, it just wasn't my preference, and the transitions between sections/topics were not always smooth. I did find my mind drifting a bit while reading, it didn't hold my attention throughout, but True Crime fans may find more to relate to.