Cyanide and Sin offers a broad history of the true crime magazine in America with an emphasis on its visual content, during the 1950s. With 196 color illustrations, Will Straw, a scholar teaching in the Communications Department at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, has written a 12,000 word essay that traces the stylistic and conceptual evolution of the Crime magazine genre. He catalogues specific photographers and key designers who were regular contributors to the various magazines.