Book: No Regrets and Other True Cases
Author: Ann Rule
My Rating: 3.5 Shocking Stars
Hey bookworms! I know I’ve been giving y’all a lot of mystery/crime reviews lately. What can I say? I’m a mood reader and it’s the mood I’m in. So, here I am to tell y’all about a book by the most famous true crime author of all time – Ann Rule.
A co-worker put No Regrets on my desk, knowing that I like Ann Rule. I didn’t realize until I got into it that it was part of her “Crime Files” which are books that cover multiple cases. So, I kept it on my desk and just read it casually as I had free time. And as I read each case, I ended up googling them all because I’m obsessive and needed to know more. One of the things I like about her books is that she gives a preface of her own thoughts and experiences. Normally, I’m the girl that skips the preface and gets straight into the story, but in Ann Rule books I love to read her personal commentary. Particularly in this book, I like how she explained that while the title was “No Regrets” and some of the murderers showed no remorse, some of them did deeply regret their actions.
The first case in this book, “The Sea Captain” was a little over half of the book, and it was a great mystery. After that one, the rest were twenty to thirty pages. Reading in my free time, it took me several days to get through the first case. The others were perfect for just picking up during a lunch break. All of these cases were typical true crime stories. Shocking and tragic. I think the unique thing about this compilation is that when you read multiple true crime stories together, it’s very easy to look at the similarities and differences behind these senseless tragedies. People have so many motivations for their choices; money, jealousy, love, etc. But no matter the motivation, every crime has fallout. Victims and their grieving families who are left to put the pieces back together.
I was left wanting more details from all of the shorter stories in the book. The main reason I googled them all was to see if there were any documentaries or podcasts about those cases that I could find and dive deeper. I think if I had sat down and tried to read this straight through like a novel, it would have been challenging for me. The fact that I was just picking it up and reading a little bit at a time probably made it better for me. But as usual with Ann Rule books, I wasn’t disappointed and I did find some new podcasts to binge. If you’re a fan of true crime, you can’t go wrong with this one – or any of her books to be honest!
Krystle Goodman is a crazy cat lady, who loves to drink exorbitant amounts of coffee, and read a shocking amount of books. She lives in Benton with her husband Josh, her son Roman, and their two cats Roxanne and Abby. When she isn’t reading, you’ll find her cooking, painting, or watching true crime shows. Watch for Krystle’s book reviews every Friday. Send fanmail to: [email protected]
See more of Krystle’s reviews at www.mysaline.com/krystle.