title: Murder in Plain English: From Manifestos to Memes--Looking at Murder through the Words of Killers
author:  Michael Arntfield 
description: Words matter. What we say tells us a lot about who we are. From its origins in the Bible to Jack the Ripper, the Iceman, and more, murder is on full display here, as both entertainment and serious moral corruption of the soul. The authors make a compelling argument accessible, leaving us with a true understanding of what the murderer is thinking when he or she puts thoughts on paper to justify the evil he or she has committed. Thrilling, engaging, and unique, <i>Murder in Plain English</i> ranks among the most important books to rise from the dust of the true-crime explosion, as it provides a compelling and original journalistic approach and puts some of the most popularand perhaps importantmaterial of our day to good use.<br /> <br /> M. William Phelps, <i>New York Times</i>bestselling author and award-winning investigative journalist<br /><br /><br />Riveting and intellectual. Finally a new (and smarter) spin on understanding the deadliest sinmurder. Many books have been written about murder.Many books have been written about storytelling and the power of words.But no book has put these together.<i>Murder in Plain English</i> will satiate your appetite for true crime while digging into the psychological mind of the killer in his own words.<br /><br /> Robin Sax, legal analyst and criminal law attorney<br /><br /><br />Arntfield and Danesi have done it again! For the past twenty-five years, the study of murder has been monopolized by the tyranny of quantitative social-science research. In a field that desperately attempts to reduce complex human phenomena to black and white, Arntfield and Danesi dive deep into the gray shades of qualitative research and come up with pearls. With the line between media and reality increasingly blurring, this profound examination of the role of narrative in criminality has never been more timely. A milestone in literary criminology!<br /> <br /> Lee Mellor, criminologist and author of <i>Homicide: A Forensic Psychology Casebook</i><br /><br /><br />Arntfield and Danesi present a fascinating connection between murder and the written word, taking the reader on a rare psychological journey from ancient writings to modern manifestos. Anyone interested in <i>why</i> murderers commit their heinous crimes will find <i>Murder in Plain English </i>a<i> </i>gripping read.<br /><br /> Jack Branson and Mary Branson, authors of <i>Delayed Justice: Inside Stories from Americas Best Cold Case Investigators </i>and<i> Murder in Mayberry: Greed, Death, and Mayhem in a Small Town<br /><br /></i>An enlightening and fascinating book. A work of incontestable quality . . . highly recommended.<br /> <br /> Antonio Nicaso, lecturer in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Queens University,and internationally recognized expert on organized crime<i><br /></i>
zlib_text: 
  
  
  # JUDITH FLANDERS
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## _The Invention of Murder_
  
  
  ### How the Victorians Revelled in Death and  
  Detection and Invented Modern Crime
  
  
  ![](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _For Susan and Ellen  
  without whom …_
  
  
  
  
  
  >
  
  
  # CONTENTS
  
  
  [Cover](dummy_split_000.html#filepos1688974)
  
  
  [Title Page](dummy_split_000.html#filepos181)
  
  
  [TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS](dummy_split_004.html#filepos3229)
  
  
  [A NOTE ON CURRENCY](dummy_split_005.html#filepos10223)
  
  
  [ONE _Imagining Murder_](dummy_split_007.html#filepos12402)
  
  
  [TWO _Trial by Newspaper_](dummy_split_008.html#filepos57081)
  
  
  [THREE _Entertaining Murder_](dummy_split_009.html#filepos259631)
  
  
  [FOUR _Policing Murder_](dummy_split_010.html#filepos363678)
  
  
  [FIVE _Panic_](dummy_split_011.html#filepos468348)
  
  
  [SIX _Middle-Class Poisoners_](dummy_split_012.html#filepos635385)
  
  
  [SEVEN _Science, Technology and the Law_](dummy_split_013.html#filepos822438)
  
  
  [EIGHT _Violence_](dummy_split_014.html#filepos910387)
  
  
  [NINE _Modernity_](dummy_split_015.htm