Kate Winkler Dawson is a seasoned documentary producer, her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, WCBS News, ABC News Radio, 'PBS NewsHour' and 'Nightline'. She is the author Death in the Air, American Sherlock and All That is Wicked, and the host of Tenfold More Wicked, a historical true crime podcast on the Exactly Right network, now on its fourth series. Follow @kwinklerdawson on Twitter, Visit katewinklerdawson.com
About the book
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. Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer - some have called him a 'Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter' - whose crimes spanned decades.
From alienists (early psychiatrists who tried to analyse the source of his madness) to neurologists (who wanted to dissect his brain) to phrenologists (who analysed 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?
Expanding on her hit podcast, Tenfold More Wicked, acclaimed crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson draws on hundreds of source materials and never-before-shared historical documents to present one of the first glimpses into the mind of a serial killer - a century before the term was coined.
Review
This is historical true crime, which is well documented enough for the author to create an accurate factual picture instead of speculation and theories. The case of Edward Rulloff, a man who confused the experts of that era, because he didn't fit the image of a monster.
How do you equate heinous acts with a man who appears intellectually superior - a gentleman. I think this aspect is something we see in our day and age, and the last century. If a criminal is articulate, intelligent and well educated a lot of people think it is a direct contradiction to their image of what a serial killer might be, ergo also makes them more vulnerable to manipulation and make them potential victims.
I think the last few chapters, especially the epilogue, gave a lot of food for thought. I can imagine Rulloff was considered a bit of an enigma. The perfect specimen to interview, examine and to diagnose. Perhaps the first inklings or awareness of a certain sector of people who don't have a reason for killing, who enjoy the power of death cause by their actions. Just sitting on the boundary of discovering serial killers. At the time the actions of Rulloff must have felt like an inexplicable blip.
I wondered whether the description of how Rulloff was perceived differently by each person who interacted with at length actually resonates as a type of pathology - the mirroring to give the other person what they need and expect, ergo making them comfortable, vulnerable and even hyper-vigilant to the danger.
I thought the book was well researched and an utterly engrossing read. As the author mentions, it's the path towards the mindhunter - trying to understand the behaviour patterns, the reasoning and the triggers in order to catch this very dangerous and special type of killer. It's genuinely concerning to think that at any given time there are many undetected serial killers, who haven't hit any radar or who have and are needles in very large human population needlestacks. Really interesting read.
Buy All That Is Wicked at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Icon Books pub date 6 Oct. 2022. Buy at Amazon com.
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