As a research librarian, Kate Winkler Dawson's depth of research ALWAYS IMPRESSES ME. She is an incredible storyteller and a stellar writer and podcaster. I fell in love with her work years ago, and I was overly excited to see her book offered for review on Netgalley. Seriously. I jumped up and down in my office. All That Is Wicked is a deep dive into the wild story of serial 19th century murderer Edward Rulloff. The sheer amount of work it took Dawson to dig into the archives to find every tiny bit of Rulloff-related materials is colossal. This dude was appalling and she captured his foul mature to a T. If you're into historic true crime or even if you just love being dazzled by expert research, check this book out. Oh, also. Rulloff's brain is on display at Cornell University's Uris Hall remains one of the largest on record. Yeah. Yep.

This book was incredibly well-researched. It was not at all what I had anticipated. It follows the life and crimes of Edward Rulloff. I had anticipated much more of the story to include pathology of the criminal mind, but in actuality this was mostly discussed in the last 20% of the book. I found this to be somewhat disappointing. I thoroughly enjoyed the last 20% of the book. If I had not been gifted the eARC, I may not have finished it.

Kate Winkler Dawson is so good at turning the facts into a story. Each chapter was like its own book. I couldn't put it down!

Full disclosure I am a fan of Kate Winkler Dawson's Podcasts from the Exactly Right network. I was only familiar with Edward Rullof because of her, and her fantastic coverage of the crimes in season one of Tenfold More Wicked.

I don't want to spoil much so I'll give my opinions and impressions.

I am another person who is fascinated and near obsessed with True Crime stories, I am also a big history buff. Kate Winkler Dawson is fantastic at digging up facts about historical crimes and building the case into a narrative.

She is so full of detail, it's almost a lecture at times, but in a good way. She doesn't mince any details and really paints the gilded age against the legacy left behind. She gives tribute to the family that still thrives despite Rullof's crimes.

The interesting part of the story isn't his crimes, but the studies that came from them. Yes more modern killers have been given a celebrity for the horror they've forged, But we forget I think that sciences, especially psychological sciences, are learned and developed. They don't come from nowhere and so to see where modern 'Mindhunting' started is fascinating. I honestly wish there was more of it in the book, but at the same time you can't put everything.

I'm glad to live in an era where we all know "yes above intelligent white men can and do commit heinous crimes" and of course any other race, but for too long the crimes of white men were ignored and blamed on other less fortunate people.

If you enjoy true crime & are looking for a new story, I would check out All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson.

All That Is Wicked comes out October 4, 2022!

Thanks you NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam for giving me the opportunity to read an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars!

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I always love learning about serial killers that I have never heard of, and Kate Winkler Dawson is the master of digging up and researching the obscure. The monster in this book is fascinating and disgusting, and the detail with which Dawson is able to describe his life is impressive. At times, the detail reaches more dissertation-level than that of non-fiction, which is my one negative comment - it did, sometimes, get bogged down and drag as a result. However, if you are interested in true crime and this time period, give this a go - it will be worth your while.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of All That is Wicked.

I'm not familiar with the author's podcast but I was intrigued by the premise of this book.

I've never heard of Edward Rullof, and I was fascinated to learn more about him.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the killer's life and methods; yes, he was amoral and ruined the lives of the Schutts' and terrorized a community and its inhabitants, but he's no Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy.

Perhaps I'm disillusioned since I've grown up in a society that idolizes and fetishizes serial killers in so many ways that Rullof's horrific actions barely raised an eyebrow (for me), especially in comparison with more modern murderers.

And I know I shouldn't compare Rullof to anyone else, not the Golden State Killer or BTK, but Rullof, like many serial killers, leaned on his charm, wit, and pretty face to disarm and deceive his victims.

One of the reasons Rullof evaded authorities for so long was the prevailing belief that an intelligent man couldn't kill; even Mark Twain wrote in defense of Rullof.

We now know that's definitely not true; the more intelligent the killer, the better he or she will evade the authorities.

I wouldn't call Rullof brilliant or diabolical; he was a psychopath who lacked empathy and cared only about himself.

He destroyed families, caused unbearable suffering for the victims' families and friends, but in the end, he was still a nobody.

I don't know who called Rulloff a modern day Hannibal Lecter, but that person obviously doesn't know who Lecter is and what he did.

The only contribution Rullof made to the world was 'donating' his brain so scientists can learn about what makes serial killers tick. And it wasn't even his intention to give his brain to science; no one claimed his body, not even his family.

By the way, I noticed a misspelling where the author prints a quote from Ham and one of the phrases is "vein hope."

Obviously, the correct word is "vain" but I'm not sure if this was a typo on the part of the author, copyeditor or Ham himself, because if it was taken directly from the reporter's personal paper, my esteem for him drops even lower. Not only was he charmed by a killer, he couldn't spell, either!

This was a well researched and well written narrative and I enjoyed the juxtaposition with modern serial killers, including the quote from Bundy, I think it was, who said there were a lot more intelligent and sophisticated killers than him out in the world.

This was an interesting and informative read though I feel some of the quotes could have been pulled.

I guess I have to admit that I'm somehow obsessed with murder cases. I watch documentaries on true crimes all the time. I read murder mysteries, true crime books, non fiction about investigations. And I listen to about a bazillion podcasts on the topic. Yikes. If I was ever a suspect in a murder, the FBI would have a field day with my search history. Not a killer -- I'm just interested in investigations of solved and unsolved murders/violent crimes.

When I saw this book available for review, I had to read it. Not only had I not heard of this serial killer, but I hadn't heard of Kate Dawson either. Glad I rectified both issues! I have two other books by this author added to my TBR at the local library, and I'm followed two of her podcasts as well!

This book is intense. Edward Rulloff was an evil, violent, disgusting person. He was a genius and a serial killer in the 19th century before the term "serial killer" even existed. His case was one of the first to become a public spectacle and media frenzy. And, doctors and scientists practically lined up to study Rulloff. In fact, a renowned university still has this killer's brain preserved in a jar.

Awesome book! Dawson definitely did huge amounts of research and tells the tale in a factual, yet interesting way. This book kept my attention from start to finish. I was so curious about the doctors and psychiatrists back then who were just trying to learn about the human brain and criminal behavior. So interesting!

I'm definitely going to read more by this author. I enjoyed reading about a case that I really hadn't heard of before.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Penguin Group. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson

Although I’ve read & watched quite a few true crime things, I don’t consider myself a true crime junkie. This book revolved mostly around a serial killer, Edward Rulloff, that I hadn’t heard of. The majority of this focuses on the life of this wickedly evil man, which was told very well. This story elicited genuine fear from me whilst reading.
I studied science in school & along with my own chronic illness journey, I consider myself pretty well-versed & fascinated with science in general, but especially that pertaining to anything related to the medical field. My background made the science & medical discussion parts my favorite sections of the book. I honestly wanted more of the science parts of the book. This is purely personal preference that I wanted less of the history of Edward & more of the science of criminal minds.
Also, because most of my true crime knows is relegated to more the last century crimes, I did find it interesting to hear about true crime from longer ago & thinking about the advancement of forensics & such since then.
My favorite part of this book was learning about Dr. William Hammond, who is now known as America’s father of neurology. He banned the use of mercury! I thought that was absolutely fascinating.
If you enjoy true crime & are looking for a new story, I would check out All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by Kate Winkler Dawson.

All That Is Wicked comes out October 4, 2022!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Group Putnam for giving me the opportunity to read an arc of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

Trigger warnings: This book mentions &/or contains murder including of children, violence, death by death penalty, gore & descriptive & graphic medical parts.

This book was a wild ride from start to finish. I had never heard of Edward Rulloff before, but as a true crime fan, his story fascinated me! The author definitely put in the work to portray the vile & bewitching behavior of the subject. At the root of the story was the hot debate in the 1870’s. Should a person be murdered because of their actions, which has robbed family and friends or should they be saved because of their intelligence, thus robbing society of a brilliant mind? It was also interesting to see how they came around to measuring your brain to determine psychopathic tendencies. A must read for sure!

3.5 stars

As much as I love reading (or watching) true crime, I am by no means an expert on the subject. So when I saw that I had never heard of Edward Ruloff, I knew I was going to give this a go. This is the story of a man who was very good at faking it until he made it...and had no issue murdering people for whatever reason he saw fit...and even after he was caught he seemed to be find a sort of rock star status as he was researched to find out how someone so brilliant could commit such heinous acts.
For a book set in a different time, the 1800s, the research and detail is certainly there. The author certainly set the stage and you can tell this was well researched. With that being said I did find some parts a bit dry. I found myself, more than once, kind of having to push past some paragraphs. It's still worth the read and by no means did it stop me from reading the book.

"Acclaimed crime historian, podcaster, and author of American Sherlock Kate Winkler Dawson tells the thrilling story of Edward Rulloff - a serial murderer who was called "too intelligent to be killed" - and the array of 19th century investigators who were convinced his brain held the key to finally understanding the criminal mind.

Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer - some have called him a "Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter" - whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity. From his humble beginnings in upstate New York to the dazzling salons and social life he established in New York City, at every turn Rulloff used his intelligence and regal bearing to evade detection and avoid punishment. He could talk his way out of any crime...until one day, Rulloff's luck ran out.

By 1871 Rulloff sat chained in his cell - a psychopath holding court while curious 19th-century "mindhunters" tried to understand what made him tick. From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyze the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analyzed the bumps on his head to determine his character), each one thought he held the key to understanding the essential question: is evil born or made? Eventually, Rulloff's brain would be placed in a jar at Cornell University as the prize specimen of their anatomy collection...where it still sits today, slowly moldering in a dusty jar. But his story - and its implications for the emerging field of criminal psychology - were just beginning.

Expanded from season one of her hit podcast on the Exactly Right network (7 million downloads and growing), in All That Is Wicked Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer - a century before the term was coined - through the scientists whose work would come to influence criminal justice for decades to come."

How have I never heard of Edward Rulloff until now!?!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher Penguin Group Putnam for an E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, This was a good book! I do love True Crime, but i've never heard of the Serial Killer Pshycopath Edward Rulloff until I read this book. The Author definitely did some deep research as this book was very well detailed and well informed. Recommend for any historical true crime buffs

I was really excited to be approved for this book. I'm an avid true crime fan. But, prior to reading this book, I'd never heard of Edward Rulloff. All I have to say about this guy - what a horrible human. I'm surprised I've never read about him or heard a podcast episode on him. His intelligence, coupled with his charm, and utter lack of morals and feelings made him the ideal candidate to start the fields of criminal psychology and forensic psychology. So many people wanted to figure out why he committed his crimes and what made him a sociopath and a psychopath. And how he kept worming his way out of punishment. I was completely engrossed in the story and I wanted the answers just as badly. I really enjoyed the writing style and I could tell that the author did a lot of research. And now I want to go see the pickled brain,

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Putnam for providing me with a digital copy for review. The opinions expressed here are my own and no not reflect those of the author or publisher.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced copy of this book on murder and the fascination and cottage industry that grew up around it at the end of the nineteenth century.

There has always been a sympathy for the devil feeling in people about certain kind of criminals. Especially the smooth talking, good- looking, kind of criminal, the person who seems more likely to be met at a church gathering, not wearing a leather apron waving a chain saw in a dark alley. Familiar not foreign, as most things in America seem to go. Edward Rulloff was one of these. Good looking, with an air about him of both learning and sophistication. A man on the go in this country that loved gumption. Yet would kill people he claimed to love, for a variety of reasons, money, envy, satisfaction. All That Is Wicked: A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind by author and podcaster Kate Winkler Dawson tells of this self- made man, and the journalists and burgeoning criminologists who tried to learn from him, or even more make money from him.

The book begins with a brief summary before setting into the true story. Edward Rulloff was a murder, a liar and a thief, who had the capacity to fake it till he made it. Arriving poor in America after a stint in prison, and with a new name, Rulloff made friends with a man who was impressed by his drive to make something of himself, and his scholarly air. Bringing him home to his small town in New York State, Rulloff ingratiated himself into the family, and began to work as a schoolteacher in a one- room schoolhouse. Soon he married into the family, which was beginning to have doubts about the Rulloff and his lack of past, and which became worse as Rulloff was soon jealous of a wealthy friend of the family, who he thought too liberties with his new bride. Soon members of the family began to die, including Rulloff's wife, and he began a decades long career, rising up in society, and killing those who held him back, or began to question to closely. Until he was captured, and began his second life as a media star, and a new test subject for those who wanted to understand why men, especially such fine upstanding men killed, and how money could be made on it.

A story that I knew very little about, but was fascinated in quite early. Dawson has a very nice writing style, informative, but not dry, and a way of making all the characters, seem as real as the lives they lived, in the smallest. There is no lecturing, just a story that unfolds, sometimes jumping forward and back but making sense and never losing the story. I have read that this is based on a podcast, which I have not listened to, but I wonder if the book reads so well because the writing was done for reading aloud. I found interesting those that gathered around Rulloff, those media types for the stories and revenue they could generate, and the scientists who legitimately thought they could unlock the secrets of evil from him. I think those were my favorites in the book.

For true crime fans without a doubt, and for people who enjoy stories of early detectives and crime this book would also be a treat. Also true crime podcast listeners and creators might get a big thrill out of this. An incredible interesting and very readable history of crime, how society looked at it, and how specialists and experts can be so wrong so many ways.

*3.5 stars rounded up*

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exhange for an honest review.

Kate Winkler Dawon's All That is Wicked is a deep dive into the life, crimes, and death of Edward Ruloff, the "Victorian Era Hannibal Lecter." I wasn't familiar with his story prior to reading this novel, but enjoyed the chance to learn about this monster from a bygone era.

The book is well researched, though I agree with another reader who found the content dry. It is a deep dive with a timeline that seems to jump around a bit, so be aware of that before starting it. The narrative could've been a bit shorter; but again, the attention to detail was well done. In addition, the book does need another glance through by editors prior to publication, as it contains errors (and, in one circumstance, the same paragraph used in two different places in the book). Finally, I did find myself a bit uncomfortable with Dawson's constant throwing around of psychopathy and diagnosing. I understand that she is trying to make the book relevant to a 21st century reader. However, not only did it seem forced at times, but talking about ASPD/psychopathy/any aspect of personality disorders or mental heatlh is a delicate topic to handle properly, even when consulting with experts.

Edward Rulloff was a intellectual who studied languages, committed murder, and is known for having one of the world's largest brain. Most of his life was spent in Gilded Age New York where he would commit multiple murders that ranged from his wife to that of a shop clerk over the course of several decades. People at the time were fascinated by how much brilliant mind could commit such heinous crimes. Dawson takes us through his life and crimes through his interactions with several "mindhunters" who tried to determine why he did what he did. They ranged from alienists (early psychiatrists) to journalists to phrenologists who studied bumps on ones head to determine their character. Dawson does a wonderful job of jumping from 1871, when Rulloff was interviewed by these mindhunters, to the 1850s, when his early crimes were committed, without readers loosing any sense of the timeline. We are shown not only the life of what we would now call a psychopath but also how the fascination with Edward Rulloff played a key role into how criminal psychology is conducted today. A well research and well written story that any true crime buff will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advanced copy in exchange for an honesty review.

Very engaging and interesting tale of a killer that has relevance to modern crime solving. I was not familiar with this case before now.

Enthralling and well written. I learnt a lot and that is what I love about nonfiction and this was just so interesting for me to read as I am true crime obsessed.

Have you ever wondered when the struggle to understand what drives a person to commit violent crimes really took hold? We all know the popular Mindhunters from the government that put together dossiers and profiles to help them be tracked how. The 5 w’s and how were attempted to be answered long before they started.

This book starts in the 19th century, with a man named Edward Rulloff. We journey along through his life, and his crimes. And then we start to see the OG mindhunters start to try and figure him out. Academics were conflicted: was he a savant or a fraud? He could flip from charming to lethal in a blink. Doctors were conflicted: was he insane or sane? What drove him to commit these crimes?

Edward Rulloff terrorized upper New York and conflicted untold damage on one particular family. But he drove people to try to figure out why, and helped neuroscience along the way.

When thinking about my favorite true crime stories or books, All That Is Wicked fits the mold of those. Kate Winkler Dawson brings us a fascinating story of a sadistic killer and the lengths he went to cement his ego and intellect on the works until it was his downfall.

The story of Edward Rulloff is a story of ego, violence and a look into a fractured psyche which challenged the ideas surrounding psychological needs and the brain during the Gilded Age and reading this story feels like you are there through it all. The story keeps you hooked as you follow the journey of Rulloff and his sadistic mind.

This book is a perfect mix of a true crime novel, a biography and a psychological study that is perfect for any true crime buff!