If you follow me on Goodreads or social media, you already know that I’m a lover of everything related to true crime. I love mysteries, and I love a good murder story. If you’re not into murder, you probably think I’m a weirdo; if you’re into murder, you’re nodding your head in agreement because you are a fellow Murderino who understands what I’m saying.

Murder is awful. I do not wish it upon anyone. However, sadly it happens every day, and I want to know how and why it happened. I’m not sure what exactly draws me into these stories, but I think it started at a young age.

When I was younger, I absolutely devoured all of the Nancy Drew books I could find. I actually read all 56 of them! I enjoyed Nancy’s adventures and the tight little bow that wrapped up each investigation into that particular book’s mystery. Once I outgrew the formulaic structure and sophomoric storylines of those books, I graduated to R.L. Stine.

I’m sure I read all of the Goosebumps books, but at the ripe old age of 9, those were much too immature for me. I was drawn to Fear Street. My library had a wonderful wall of Fear Street books, and it called to me.

I spent that entire summer reading every single Fear Street book in the collection. Then I graduated to the Super Chillers and Cheerleader series. I could not get enough of them! Sure, these were fictitious books, but I think this is where my fascination with mysteries and true crime began. I loved losing myself in the story while trying to figure out who the culprit was and what makes him/her tick. I could not get enough of them.

Now that I’m an adult with my own mini-library, the majority of my collection is now of the mystery or true crime genres. I still enjoy losing myself in the puzzle of the story, following the twists and turns the author throws at you. Discovering its pieces throughout the book absolutely feeds my inquisitive, problem solving nature; that’s probably why I love these types of stories so much.

While reading about murder is still my favorite pastime, I’ve also added podcasts to the mix. If you are also into true crime or murder like I am and haven’t checked out My Favorite Murder yet, you should. Georgia Hardstark and Karen Gilgariff do a great job of sharing new murders with you in an entertaining (yet not disrespectful) way. They are true crime junkies, just like us, and they’re not afraid of wearing it on their sleeves.

P.S. You can read Jess’s review of Up and Vanished. Her blog got me hooked on it immediately.