Jeffrey L. Smalldon

MOUNDSVILLE — Interested in an “up close and personal look at the murdering mind?” The Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, in conjunction with the Marshall County Historical Society, will offer a book talk by an author who has delved into the darkest recesses of the human psyche.

Jeffrey L. Smalldon will speak at noon on Monday, July 28, on the library’s main floor. His riveting memoir “That Beast Was Not Me: One Forensic Psychologist – Five Decades of Conversations with Killers” (Black Lyon Publishing, 2024) will be the focus of the program.

With an interest in the outsider’s point of view since his childhood, Smalldon was perhaps destined to become a forensic psychologist, though it was a very different path from his earlier pursuits in English and literature. It is no wonder then that his book “That Beast Was Not Me” has been highly praised for both its insightful probing of the minds of killers and for its terrifically propulsive and candid writing.

Charles Manson, who spent some of his childhood in McMechen, West Virginia, is one of the numerous famous murderers with whom Smalldon communicated. Through letters, prison visits and interviews, Smalldon sought to understand the minds and motivations of killers such as Manson, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy.

Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

This event is free and open to the public. It is part of the Marshall County Historical Society’s “Hungry for History” speaker series.

The Moundsville Library is located at Fifth Street and Tomlinson Avenue in Moundsville.

For more information, call the library at 304-845-6911.