I've just read 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. It's a chilling account of the murder of a Kansas farmer and his family in 1959. It also examines the lives of the two murderers in great detail, plus an account of how they were tracked down and of their trial and execution.

I've recently seen two films based on the book but they are really about Capote (a complex character - to say the least!) and of his relationship with one of the murderers.

Nevertheless, the book is cooler, more objective and less 'emotional' than the films - which, somehow, gives it a greater impact. Capote handles the moral ambiguities involved in the story with great insight and skill.

It's not the sort of book that I would normally read but I was very impressed by it, and it's undoubtedly a masterpiece.