True crime Books

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Book Synopsis***With an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation between Billy Jensen and retired detective Paul Holes on the Golden State Killer, their favorite cold cases, and more***Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in commonthey didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. YTrade Review"An intense, fascinating read for true crime lovers and newbies!" - Patton Oswalt"True crime is having a moment, and Jensen has helped make that happen... this book will find an easy audience in true crime-readers, "Murderinos" (My Favorite Murder cohost Karen Kilgariff writes the foreword), and anyone fascinated with Michelle McNamara, as well as wannabe detectives, who will be rewarded with Jensen's guide to self-sleuthing." - Booklist"In this engrossing memoir, journalist Jensen takes the reader on his quest to hunt down killers using internet sleuthing and crowdsourcing. For fans of true crime, this is a fascinating story" - Publishers Weekly"Part memoir, part how-to guide, Chase Darkness With Me includes rules for responsible citizen detective work...Jensen has poured nearly all of his free time and energy over the past three years into crowd-sourcing criminal investigations. Some have yielded answers and arrests, like when his social media blitz flushed out a fugitive in the Nashville shooting of Teddy Grasset. Others are still in progress... Even when he accumulated $20,000 in debt from promoting his posts, he's never given up on a case." - Rolling Stone"Jensen can't stop. Though his crime solving work brings in money through a podcast, his book and consulting for media companies, the real payoff is catching a killer, which he describes as "like a drug." At one point, he juggled 30 cases and rang up tens of thousands of dollars in credit-card debt doing his job. But Jensen has now played a part in clearing 10 homicides, and he hopes others will join the cause." - New York Post"Through his work, Jensen hopes not only to unearth witnesses and crack cases, but to shift the focus from "propping up these killers and fetishizing them." Instead, he wants to inspire a new generation of true crime viewers and readers to become true crime's superheroes." - Bustle

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Book SynopsisDAVID STOUT writes for the New York Times and other outlets and is the Edgar Award-winning author of six books. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife.Trade Review"I feel vaguely guilty about having enjoyed The Kidnap Years so much. A lot of blameless people died and a lot of evil people did terrible things, but David Stout writes with so much innocent enthusiasm that his book is addictive. Using the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Baby as a thread running through the years from the late 1920s to the mid-1930s, we are regaled with stories about gangsters, prohibition, early kidnappers and their victims, the formation and development of the F.B.I., and the passing of the Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932. This can't-put-down book reminds us that virtuoso detective work was done long before the discovery of DNA, and that criminals were being "profiled" well before the term to describe it came into common use." - Shelly Reuben, author of The Boys of Sabbath Street and Tabula Rasa"David Stout's The Kidnap Years is not only a riveting, page-turning collection of sensational true crime stories but a brilliant work of social history, a long-overdue examination of one of the most infamous chapters in the annals of American crime-the 1930s kidnapping epidemic." - Harold Schechter, author of Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer"Blending meticulous research, the personal experiences of a seasoned journalist and a reader-friendly prose style, Dave Stout has produced a terrific book. If anyone has the chops to tackle this grim but compelling subject, it is Stout, an Edgar-award winning novelist, the author of other important true crime books and a longtime editor and reporter for the New York Times whose reporting assignments once required him to witness and a write about a state-sanctioned execution. " - Neal Hirschfeld, author of Detective: The Insipirational Story of the Trailblazing Woman Cop Who Wouldn't Quit"David Stout's The Kidnap Years is a great read and great history–a rollicking, often nail-biting chronicle of the wave of kidnappings that overwhelmed law-enforcement agencies in the Great Depression. New York Times-veteran Stout sheds important new light on the rise of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and on the "Crime of the Century"–the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby son." - Philip Shenon, New York Times-bestselling author of A Cruel and Shocking Act: The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination"With a page-one eye for detail and trenchant prose, David Stout's The Kidnap Years feels like a Ken Burns documentary about the Depression-era phenomenon of kidnappings ripped from a police detective's whisky-soaked casebook. The spree of often violent abductions victimized the rich and celebrated, turned a few kidnappers into national anti-heroes and helped launch the careers of a generation of crime-fighting lawmen and prosecutors. The stories of these cases are as riveting as they are true." - David Johnston, former New York Times criminal justice reporter and co-author of Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, an American Spy"A fascinating crime book like no other." - David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist"David Stout combines a newsman's savvy and a writer's touch in recounting a chilling and wrenching era in American history. A must-read for true crime aficionados." - Eric Lichtblau, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Nazis Next Door"A thrilling account that puts the 1932 Lindbergh baby kidnapping case, billed as "the crime of the century," in the context of the thousands of other kidnappings that occurred in the U.S. during the Prohibition and Depression eras... will enthrall true crime fans." - Publishers Weekly, STARRED review"In this extensively researched and smartly focused true-crime compendium, award-winning Stout delves into the who, what, when, where, and how, if not necessarily the why, of this most frightening and exploitative of ordeals." - Booklist"At turns fascinating and heartbreaking, this expertly crafted history is a must-read for true crime aficionados." - Library Journal, STARRED Review"Stout reconstructs these long-overlooked cases in rich detail, mining newspaper accounts and interviews with descendants of some of the victims... The Kidnap Years is a captivating journey into the crime that helped to define the Depression era. " - Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

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Book Synopsis“When Mom got out of jail, it was great having her home.”Mondo the Dwarf. Frankie Shots. Joseph “Little Lolly Pop” Carna. Larry “Big Lolly Pop” Carna. Salvatore “Sally Boy” Marinelli. Johnny Tarzan. Louie Pizza. Sally D, Bobby B, Roy Roy, and Punchy.They were THE PRESIDENT STREET BOYS of Brooklyn, New York.Frank Dimatteo was born into a family of mob hitmen. His father and godfather were shooters and bodyguards for infamous Mafia legends, the Gallo brothers. His uncle was a capo in the Genovese crime family and bodyguard to Frank Costello. Needless to say, DiMatteo saw and heard things that a boy shouldn’t see or hear.He knew everybody in the neighborhood. And they knew him. . .and his family. And does he have some wild stories to tell. . .From the old-school Mafia dons and infamous “five families” who called all the shots, to the new-breed “ind

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling author, television personality, and host of the #1 podcast Paper Ghosts, M. William Phelps is one of America''s most celebrated true crime authorities. In WE THOUGHT WE KNEW YOU, he takes readers deep into the murder of Mary Yoder, a popular wife, mother, and healer in Upstate New York -- telling a gripping tale of a family drama, a determined investigation, and a killer with the face of an angel.In July 2015, Mary Yoder returned home from the chiropractic center that she operated with her husband, Bill, complaining that she felt unwell. Mary, health-conscious and vibrant, was suddenly vomiting, sweating, and weak. Doctors in the ER and ICU were baffled as to the cause of her rapidly progressing illness. Her loved ones--including Bill and their children, Adam, Tamryn, and Liana--gathered in shock to say goodbye.In the weeks that followed Mary''s death, the grief-stricken family received startling news from the medical examiner: M

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Book SynopsisA #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller. From New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell comes Ripper: The Secret Life of Walter Sickert, a comprehensive and intriguing exposé of one of the world’s most chilling cases of serial murder—and the police force that failed to solve it. Vain and charismatic Walter Sickert made a name for himself as a painter in Victorian London. But the ghoulish nature of his art—as well as extensive evidence—points to another name, one that’s left its bloody mark on the pages of history: Jack the Ripper. Cornwell has collected never-before-seen archival material—including a rare mortuary photo, personal correspondence and a will with a mysterious autopsy clause—and applied cutting-edge forensic science to open an old crime to new scrutiny. Incorporating material from Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed, this new edition has been revised and expanded to include eight new chapters.

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Book SynopsisThe never-before-told true account of the serial killers who terrorized Nashville’s music scene for decades—and the cold-case Murder Squad determined to bring an end to their sadistic sprees. Nashville—a haven for aspiring musicians and a magnet for country-music fans. By the time Pat Postiglione arrived there in 1980, it was also the scene of an unsolved series of vicious sex slayings that served as a harbinger of worse to come. As Postiglione was promoted from street-beat Metro cop to detective sergeant heading Music City’s elite cold-case Murder Squad, some of America’s most bizarre, elusive, and savage serial killers were calling Nashville home. And during the next two decades, the body count climbed. From Vanderbilt University to dive bars and out-of-the-way motels, Postiglione followed the bloody tracks of these ever-escalating crimes—each enacted by a different psychopath with the same intent: to murder without motive or remorse. But of all the investigations, of all the monsters Postiglione chased, few were as chilling, or as game changing, as the Rest Stop Killer: a homicidal trucker who turned the interstates into his trolling ground. Next stop, Nashville. But Postiglione was waiting.Trade Review“Aficionados of true-crime histories should enjoy learning about Postiglione’s formidable career.” —Publishers Weekly “Arntfield writes capably about investigatory forensics and behavioral science theory in clarifying the motivations of these sadistic murderers, as well as the tactics developed over time by smart cops like Postiglione…A fevered yet mostly engrossing narrative of urban predators and the hardworking detectives who try to stop them.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisA tale of injustice that will leave you questioning the criminal justice system.

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Book SynopsisFor as long as human societies have existed there have always been people who have always transgressed the laws of their respective societies. It seems that whenever new laws are made, certain people find ways to break them. This book will introduce you to some of the most notorious figures, from all parts of the world, who have committed heinous crimes such as highway robbery, murder, and forgery. Beginning with Bulla Felix, the Roman highwayman, this book traces the careers of medieval outlaws such as Robin Hood and Adam Bell. Early modern murderers also make an appearance, such as Sawney Beane, whose story inspired the cult horror movie _The Hills Have Eyes_ (1977). Learn also about the crimes and daring escapes of Jack Sheppard, an eighteenth-century criminal who escaped from prison on several occasions, and find out if the 'gentlemanly' highwayman, Dick Turpin, was truly a gentleman. the ruffian Dick Turpin. This book also includes an appendix of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century thieves' cant, as well as several historical poems, songs, and ballads relating to the subjects discussed, and the work is prefaced with an essay highlighting the significance of crime literature throughout history.

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Book SynopsisThis is a tale of greed, opulence, chicanery, and the Gilded Age hope and belief that a pot of gold was just around the corner. At a time when women did not even have the vote, Cassie Chadwick managed to get millions of dollars in unsecured loans from American banks willing to lend on a rumor that she was the illegitimate child of Andrew Carnegie. It is an amazing con and shows the brilliance of the criminal mind that was Elizabeth Bigley and the desperation to have it all at a time when easy money and fabulous wealth seduced rational people into flights of fancy that would result in the ruin of a banking system, destruction of reputations and lives and the embarrassment that a woman who had changed her name no less than three times had taken the wealthiest rung of society for a ride. The con of Cassie Chadwick is a cautionary tale of easy money, avarice, and the belief there is something better over the next hill. Table of ContentsA Note to the ReaderPrologue Gilded Age Chapter 1: The Trial of the Century Chapter 2: The ChaseChapter 3: The ImmigrantsChapter 4: A Genteel Victorian Twist Chapter 5: The Cauldron of GreedChapter 6: The TombsChapter 7: Mrs. Bastado Chapter 8: The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance Chapter 9: Lady Liberty Chapter 10: The Good Doctor Chapter 11: Madame DeVereChapter 12: The Bank Failure Chapter 13: The Homestead Chapter 14: The Gold Standard Chapter 15: The Carnegie SubpoenaChapter 16: The Doctor and His Wife Chapter 17: The Queen of Cleveland Chapter 18: The Broken Man Chapter 19: Setting the HookChapter 20: The Trial of the Century Begins Chapter 21: The Bait Chapter 22: Survival of the Fittest Chapter 23: The Switch Chapter 24: The Work of a School Boy Chapter 25: The Good PastorChapter 26: Geronimo Chapter 27: Cashing In Chapter 28: A Jury of Farmers Chapter 29: Amazing Times Chapter 30: A Conspiracy to Defraud Chapter 31: The Newton Loan Chapter 32: Closing Arguments Chapter 33: The Verdict Chapter 34: The SentenceChapter 35: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

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Book SynopsisFor a quarter century, Luis Antonio Navia worked as a high-level cocaine transporter for all of the major Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, including Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel, and flooded the United States and Europe with cocaine before his dramatic arrest in Venezuela in 2000 during the 12-nation Operation Journey.The story of Navia’s rise, fall, takedown, imprisonment, and redemption is expertly researched and told by acclaimed biographer Jesse Fink, who has gathered interviews with Navia, Navia’s family, and a dozen law-enforcement agents in the United States and Great Britain from agencies such as the DEA, ICE and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (now Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs). Told in vivid detail, this true crime story will captivate the reader from start to finish.

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Book SynopsisFor over a decade, Cobe Williams has been a Violence Interrupter, a highly-trained conflict resolution expert working to stop the killing. Alongside thousands of workers across the country, many of whom he trained, Cobe intervenes in street conflicts before they result in murder. Interrupting Violence follows his evolution from a gang leader to a vanguard of a social justice movement. More than a memoir, Interrupting Violence spans three generations of trauma to portray a radically optimistic vision for addressing urban violence. Born into the notorious Black Disciples, Cobe rose through the ranks as a drug dealer, hustler, and shot-caller. His father, an influential gang member, was murdered before Cobe turned 11. Five men, his father''s so-called friends, beat him to death in the lobby of a public housing project. Cobe spent years seeking answers to what happened that night. As he rose through the ranksat one time, commanding over 100 men throughout the city while still in high schoola gang war turned his world upside down. Its escalation overshadowed his ascent. The war, stoked by police, who fanned the conflict''s flames, would engulf friends and family, nearly costing him his life. Ultimately, Cobe would end up behind bars for attempted murder he didn''t commit.Interrupting Violence follows Cobe as he undertakes this redemption journey, offering new hope for the nation''s most violent communities. Cobe takes readers into an often misunderstood and misrepresented aspect of the Black experience in America. As the country wrestles with the inequities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic and the complex intersections of urban violence, racial issues, police brutality, and poverty in the aftermath of George Floyd''s murder, this book provides an inspiring blueprint. Cobe''s story demonstrates how the country can resolve the issues plaguing our inner cities.

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Book SynopsisAs seen in the HBO docuseries THE VOW: A jaw-dropping insider look into the world of the so-called "Hollywood Sex Cult" NXIVM chronicling the rise of enigmatic cult leader, Keith Raniere, from its "Patient Zero," his former girlfriend and test subject for his coercive control techniques. Many have heard of NXIVM and its creator, Keith Raniere, the unassuming Albany man now prosecuted for ensnaring tens of thousands of people in the US, Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, to do his bidding and pay millions of dollars to participate in his self-improvement methodology. But where did Keith Raniere begin? Enter Toni Natalie, Keith''s Patient Zero, the first one indoctrinated into Raniere''s methodology and the first one to escape. THE PROGRAM begins with the origin story of NXIVM, follows its rise to international prominence, and takes the reader into the downfall of Raniere through Toni''s eyes. During this time she bore witness to the evolution of his methodology, including his use of sex, blackmail, and employment of psychological tools such as neuro-linguistic programming to control and punish those who would not heed his wishes. She uniquely details the fortunes lost and the lives left in disarray that she witnessed contemporaneously, including members of DOS, a group of women coerced into sexual acts under the guise of a "women''s empowerment" inner circle, whom Raniere exercised extreme control over directly and through his lieutenants. But far from being a victim''s story, in the spirit of Erin Brockovich, Toni''s is a nuanced narrative of a multi-dimensional woman saving herself, and then working tirelessly to help other women do the same for themselves. Today, Toni is happy, reunited with her son, and surrounded by friends and family--it is this perspective that makes her such a unique storyteller.

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