True Crime Exploitation?

The Peter Falconio murder trial has been dominating the news media, print and television, over the past couple of months and now, with the guilty verdict handed down, the rush is on to produce the first book about the case. First cab off the rank will be British writer Richard Shears' 86,000-word book, Bloodstain: The Vanishing of Peter Falconio which is due to be in the bookshops some time later today; only two days after the end of the trial. In Australian terms this must be some sort of record. And if that's not enough, we can expect to see another four or five appearing over the next 12 months. The age of celebrity continues unabated.