True Crime Book Club: The Family Next Door

True Crime Book Club meets on the second Thursday of the month on the library's third floor. Ask to borrow your copy at the 3rd floor Reference Desk. 

Murders, heists, kidnappings, fraud—we read and discuss true stories about them all. Conspire with us to share your “whodunnit” theories at our friendly gathering of this fascinating genre. 

Note: Book selections are non-fiction, and may contain disturbing content. Reader discretion is advised.

This Month: The Family Next Door by John Glatt

A seventeen-year-old girl dials 911. Struggling to stay calm, she tells the operator that she and her 12 siblings—ages 2 to 29—are being abused by their parents. When asked for her address, the girl hesitates. “I’ve never been out,” she stammers.

For years, David and Louise Turpin kept their children in increasing isolation, trapping them in a sinister world of torture, fear, and near starvation. What police discover when they enter the family home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history. 

In this first major account of the case, investigative journalist John Glatt delves into the disturbing details and recounts the bravery of the thirteen Turpin siblings in the face of unimaginable horror.