Not a Very Good Murderer
by Ronan Farrow
Why You'll Love This
Ronan Farrow turns a real killer's spectacular incompetence into a story about who gets to bury the truth — and who finally doesn't.
- Great if you want: true crime with a sharp investigative journalism edge
- The experience: lean and propulsive — reads fast, lingers longer than expected
- The writing: Farrow layers character study into crime reporting without losing momentum
- Skip if: you want depth — at 190 pages, it leaves you wanting more substance
About This Book
What happens when the person under investigation turns out to be a genuinely strange, almost comic figure — bumbling in his attempts at concealment yet dangerous in his reach? Ronan Farrow's Not a Very Good Murderer follows the kind of story he was born to tell: a real-crime investigation that reveals not just what one person did, but how institutions and reputations protect people who probably shouldn't be protected. The emotional stakes here aren't abstract. They're about who gets believed, who gets buried, and who escapes accountability through sheer social camouflage.
What distinguishes this as a reading experience is Farrow's control of tone — he holds dark material with a steady, almost clinical hand, letting absurdity and menace sit side by side without forcing either. At 190 pages, the book moves fast but doesn't rush, and the compression feels intentional rather than thin. Farrow writes journalism the way a good prosecutor builds a case: methodically, without flourish, and with an eye toward the moment when the reader finally sees exactly what he saw.