Why Murder ... Why Not? | In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) BOOK REVIEW

The best way to understand apathy is to not understand at all.

In this episode, I’m back with a review of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the 1966 classic that helped define the true crime genre. I unpack the book’s retelling of the brutal Clutter family murders in Kansas, the psychology of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock and Capote’s readable, gripping style. While I can appreciate the book’s historical importance, strong reporting and the way it gives readers close access to the killers, I kept coming back to the same question: why? For me, the most unsettling part was that there doesn’t seem to be any satisfying meaning behind the crime beyond damaged people committing senseless violence.

I also reflect on why true crime generally doesn’t work for me, despite how popular it is. Reading this didn’t leave me feeling wiser or more understanding of the world — it mostly left me feeling sad. I touch on the ethical questions around capital punishment, the lack of redemption in the story and why meaningless suffering makes this such a heavy read. My final take: it’s an important and well-written book for those interested in true crime, but personally it wasn’t for me and I land at roughly a 2.5 out of 10.

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Timeline:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:01) What In Cold Blood is about

(00:02:19) The killers and the senseless motive

(00:07:05) Why true crime leaves him cold

(00:09:54) Truman Capote and the book's reporting style

(00:11:52) Capital punishment and moral questions

(00:15:42) Final verdict and whether it is worth reading