True Crime Masters at Work R. Barri Flowers Talks About His Work and The Women Condemned

True Crime Masters at Work

Good day! I'm R. Barri Flowers and I am delighted to be part of this True Crime Blog Tour with Kelly Sons,  Bonnie Kearne, and Dane Batty.

As this week launches my latest true crime work, the timing couldn't be better!

I am the editor of MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME: Chilling Stories of Murder and the Macabre (Prometheus, 2102). It is a gripping anthology of seventeen stories written by an all star line-up of award winning, bestselling, and experienced true crime writers--including Harold Schechter, Katherine Ramsland, Burl Barer, Carol Ann Davis, Cathy Scott, Robert Scott, Patricia Springer, Linda Rosencrance, Robert J. Watkins, Amanda Lamb, Michele McPhee, Camille Kimball, Lee Lofland., Phyllis Gobbell, Doug Jones, and Laura James

According to criminology professor Kathleen M. Heide, MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME is "a riveting collection of short stories told by veteran crime writers. Once you begin to read this book, you will have trouble putting it down."

Amongst the chilling true crime tales covered is my own piece about serial killer Donald Miller who graduated from my alma mater, Michigan State University, with a degree in Criminal Justice during the 1970s, before becoming a stone cold killer. Miller murdered and sexually assaulted at least four women in and around the MSU campus in East Lansing, MI, including his ex fiancée, Martha Sue Young, a 19-year old student at the university.

Other spine tingling tales include Phyllis Gobbell's take on the  Nashville murder of girl scout Marcia Tremble and Cathy's Scott's fascinating account of the Las Vegas murder of former Mob enforcer Herbert Blitzstein.

There are two riveting tales that take place in Europe. Katherine Ramsland, who teaches forensic psychology, does an excellent piece about Italian female serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli; while Scottish bestselling true crime writer Carol Ann Davis writes a absorbing story about British arsonist and serial killer Peter Dinsdale, who was only twelve when claiming his first victim.

Diane Fanning, bestselling true crime writer and author of Mommy’s Little Girl , says of MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME: “Striking, well-written tales sparkle in this ocean of murder.” --

This anthology is a must for any serious true crime fan! You can find in both online booksellers as well as many local bookstores and stores such as Walmart.

See video where I talk about MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME:

http://youtu.be/45ILyEsc1J4

As for the world of true crime writing, I have been at it for many years with bestsellers including THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS, MURDERS IN THE UNITED STATES, SERIAL KILLER COUPLES, and MASS MURDER IN THE SKY.

My next true crime/criminology book, THE DYNAMICS OF MURDER: Kill or Be Killed (CRC Press, 2012), comes out in December.

See entire episode of Couples Who Kill, in which I am interviewed extensively:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upl9zXs9SDE

I also write page turning thriller fiction and criminology books. In the latter category, I have written extensively about violent and deadly women in such books as FEMALE CRIME, CRIMINALS, AND  CELLMATES and WOMEN AND CRIMINALITY.

This blog, Women Condemned: Wives, Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Friends, is certainly apropos in today's time in describing the women in prison and on death row.

Alas, every woman in prison is something to someone outside the prison walls. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, at the end of 2010, there were around 113,000 women in state or federal correctional facilities. This was 2 percent higher than the number of female inmates in 2000, suggesting the trend is headed in the wrong direction.

To be sure, most women in prison are there for drug-related offenses, family-related offenses such as child abuse and domestic violence, property offenses, and sex offenses such as prostitution and commercialized vice. The length of incarceration and charges varies from state to state.

However, with respect to sentences for women of more than a year, nearly 4 in 10 female inmates are incarcerated for crimes of violence. As such, violent women are most likely to receive stiffer sentences, as are violent men compared to nonviolent offenders, as one would expect.

When it comes to imprisonment, minority women are much more likely to serve time than white women. The rate of incarceration for African American women, for example, is nearly three times that of white females in prison. This typically is attributed to police discretion at the arrest stage, under education, poverty, inadequate legal representation, and the type of offenses that are more likely to result in a conviction and confinement.

Let's talk about Capital Punishment and women.

As of December 31, 2010, there were 58 women on Death Row in the United States. Of these, 18 women, or around 30 percent, were sentenced to death in California, with 11 women, or about 19 percent, given a death sentence in Texas. Thus, around half of all women on death row in this country are in two states. Fifteen states currently have no death penalty. There were five women who were taken off death row during 2010.

Though females on death row wear many hats in society and could arguably be given leniency on that basis alone, men are far more likely to be sentenced to death than women.

Men constitute more than 98 percent of death row inmates and 99 percent of those actually put to death, though they too are husbands, fathers, brothers, sons, and friends.

The inequities of the system certainly favors some more than others when it comes to being sentenced to death. As such, the crime does not always fit the punishment, one way or the other, and in some instances, wrongful convictions can make the verdict and outcome that much more unsettling.

In MASTERS OF TRUE CRIME, murder is the theme in each story. Justice may or may not be served. You can decide for yourself...

You can find another true crime post from R. Barri Flowers on his next stop of the blog tour, the official website of author Gary C. King on July 25th.


Our next true crime guest author here at The Woman Condemned will be Gary C. King. He talks about his true crime beginnings as well as where he is going.