Murderers in New Mexico (Gruesome and Grisly True Stories of Murders in the Sand)

I’ll admit, I approached *Murderers in New Mexico* skeptical of yet another regional true-crime roundup. But Becker’s selection of cases—obscure enough to avoid retreading *Serial* territory, but not so niche they feel like filler—won me over. The standout? The 1999 murder of a Las Cruces family by their own son, a case that’s less about the crime itself (though it’s brutal) and more about the community’s collective cognitive dissonance. Becker excavates the *why* without psychobabble, and Goodrick’s narration sells it; his pauses feel loaded, like he’s letting the weight of each detail sink in before moving on. That said, the brevity is a double-edged sword. Some cases (like the “Smiley Face Killer” theory tied to a local drowning) get short shrift, leaving loose threads that’ll frustrate deep-divers. And while Goodrick’s delivery is hypnotic, his cadence occasionally flattens the urgency—you’ll find yourself rewinding to catch a name or date. The production is clean but minimalist: no mood-setting music or sound effects, just the raw narrative. That spartan approach suits the material, though I wished for a bit more atmospheric texture (imagine the wind howling over a mesquite field during the more isolated killings). Ultimately, this is true crime for listeners who’ve outgrown the *Dateline* formula. It’s not about solving mysteries—it’s about staring into the void of human capacity and recognizing the landscape as both witness and accomplice. Pair it with a long drive through the Jemez Mountains for maximum unease.