A few months ago, crime historian Laura James criticized one of the most common tropes in true crime publishing: the promise of "shocking" photos within. "It's not a quaint embrace of the genre's tabloid heritage," James complained on In Cold Blog. "Those six words undermine the point of the 60,000 words inside... I'm not looking for shocking photos. I'd much rather have shocking moments in my true crime stories."

Fast-forward to the present, when James hears from true-crime writer Corey Mitchell (who also happens to run ICB) about the arrival of advance copies of his newest book, Strangler, which details the "career" of serial killer Anthony Allen Shore. "And what does it say on the book cover?" Mitchell asks rhetorically. "'Includes sixteen pages of photos.' No 'shocking,' no exclamation points. Cut and dry. Ironically, this book has some of the most graphic photos of any of my books." This makes James very happy, and hopeful that maybe now people will start taking true crime writing a little more seriously.