The Buzz...About Books

February Read

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences by Truman Capote

The Clutters were a normal family in Holcomb, Kansas. Patriarch Herbert Clutter was a well-respected, prosperous farmer. A self-made man, his once-modest farm now employed 18 farmhands. He and wife Bonnie had 4 children; the two youngest children Nancy and Kenyon were still living at home in November 1959. On November 15, 1959, the body of Nancy Clutter is found by two friends. She has been shot in the head. When authorities arrive, they discover three more victims. Bonnie, Kenyon and Herbert have all been shot. Herbert’s throat has also been cut. 

Investigators are baffled and initially suspect that the perpetrator is someone close to the family. There is little evidence at the crime scene. The investigation stalls until Floyd Wells, a prisoner at the Lansing Correctional Facility and former employee of Herb Clutter, reports that his former cellmate Dick Hickock maybe responsible. A manhunt for Hickock and his accomplice Perry Smith begins.  

Truman Capote pioneered the “non-fiction novel” genre in 1966 when he published In Cold Blood. He learned of the murders in a brief article in the New York Times and wanted to write about the effect of the crime on the community. He went to Holcomb accompanied by his friend Harper Lee and became immersed in the case eventually spending five years researching and writing the book. 

Upcoming Reads

March

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
Audiobook
eBook
Large Print
Talking Book: CD format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)

April

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
Audiobook
eAudiobook
eBook
Talking Book: CD format (restricted to Print Disabled patrons)