True Crime Stories, Volume 7

I’ll admit, I approached *Volume 7* with skepticism—how fresh can another true crime anthology really be? But Rosewood’s selection feels *curated*, not just cobbled together. The standout here is the 1995 ‘Sarajevo Roses’ case (a wartime murder wrapped in political intrigue), which Rosewood handles with rare nuance, avoiding the pitfall of reducing victims to footnotes. That said, the 2003 ‘Toy Box Killer’ segment stumbles slightly into familiar territory, and Kollins’ otherwise stellar performance occasionally falters with overly dramatic pauses during graphic descriptions—like he’s *trying* to let the horror sink in, but it veers into audiobook trope territory. The real strength? **Efficiency.** At three hours, this is true crime for the time-strapped—no 20-minute deep dives into a killer’s childhood, just the essentials: motive, method, and the chilling aftermath. The sound design is minimal (thankfully no jarring ‘spooky’ music), though I’d love a touch more variation in Kollins’ tone between cases to distinguish, say, a white-collar embezzler from a serial arsonist. Still, it’s a masterclass in how to pack a punch without overstaying its welcome. If you’re tired of true crime that romanticizes killers or drags on like a courtroom transcript, this is your palate cleanser.