Books that have a murderer or serial killer as protagonist are by nature psychological mysteries. They fall in the category of “whydoneits” instead of “whodoneits” because, of course, the reader knows from the onset who has committed the crime.
But the reader does not know why. Many of these books delve into the psychological aspects of the criminal mind and pose such questions as --What past or childhood events are responsible for shaping the future killer? How far can a normal person be pushed before they are driven to murder? How different are these people from the average, ordinary man or woman you meet everyday on the street?”--These books give a unique and different slant on the mind of a killer.
The Ripley Series-Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley is a man who claims he was born without a conscience. On the outside he appears cultured, refined, the perfect gentleman. Yet killing comes easy for him, especially when he feels murder is justified. In the first of the five-book series, The Talented Mr. Ripley, he acquires his money by murdering a wealthy young man named Dickie Greenleaf, who he was hired to find, and convince to come home from Italy. He ends up killing Dickie, impersonating him, and stealing his inheritance. From there, he goes on to a life of crime by selling fraudulent paintings on the black market and killing anyone who gets too close to his double life. Not a very likeable character, right? Read the books and you will be surprised. The reader finds themselves waiting for that rare touch of humanness or twinge of conscience Ripley sometimes displays., as when he he befriends a young boy who has also committed murder. This mixture of good and evil makes him work. Highsmith uses her talent so well that Ripley’s actions appear almost justified, at least in his own mind. The reader finds themselves hoping in Ripley Under Water that the nosy neighbor next door will mind his own business.
When The Talented Mr. Ripley first came out in 1955, mysteries with an antihero protagonist were uncommon. Mysteries before that time traditionally consisted of the villain being brought to justice at the end, of the book and many critics did not like the fact that Ripley went unpunished for his crimes.
Books in the Ripley Series:
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Ripley Underground
Ripley’s Game
The Boy who Followed Ripley
Ripley Under Water
A Demon in My View by Ruth Rendell
Arthur Johnson is a Norman Bates type psychopath. He is an average man, no one you would look at twice, living in an apartment building. But he has a secret. He has the urge to strangle women and this urge can’t be denied. When he finds an old store mannequin, Arthur goes in for a little self-help psychotherapy. He dresses the mannequin with wig and dress and handbag. When he feels the urge to kill he sneaks down to the storage area and strangles the dummy. This works well for a long period of time and the killings stop. Until someone takes the dummy, leaving Arthur with his ucontrollable urges and no way to release them except resorting once again to murder.
Like many of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine’s books, this story is filled with human touches and irony as it explores the inner workings of the mind of a psychopath.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
Dexter Morgan is a full-blown serial killer who works as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami police. Early in life he discovered he had the urge to kill and was advised by his cop foster father to channel this need of his by targeting murderers, pedophiles, and others low-lifes who “deserve to die.” Dexter lives a double life, working in the crime lab by day, killing at night. He is careful not to get caught.--until another serial killer appears on the scene, one that is mimicking his murders in a flamboyant way and who is putting his whole double life in danger. Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a dark comedy, filled with touches of irony and black humor.
A TV series Dexter is based on the novels. This book/series is not for the squeamish as the depictions of the serial murders are quite graphic.
