True crime Books

Book SynopsisAn exploration of the Jack the Ripper murders through the eyes of the Londoners who lived through it, including eye-witness accounts and inquest testimonies. The shocking murders carried out by an unknown serial killer in London''s East End in during the autumn of 1888 dominated the news and public imagination at the time and have continued to exert a baleful influence ever since. But what was it like to live through those terrifying weeks? No matter what precautions the locals took, the killings continued. Featuring eye-witness accounts, photographs and documents of the time, this book looks at the crimes of Jack the Ripper and their impact on the people of Victorian London. It follows the way the crimes affected the local population, the rumours that swept the streets, the alarms, the riots, the persecutions, the suspicions and the sheer naked terror of the awful autumn when Jack the Ripper stalked the streets.

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Book SynopsisGripping reconstructions of a selection of the most notorious serial murders in the history of London.

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Book SynopsisExplores a tragic and little-known aspect of the Home Front in wartime Britain.

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Book SynopsisThis will be the first full-length biography of Victorian detective Jerome Caminada, exploring his fascinating career fighting crime in 19th century Manchester's turbulent underworld.

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Book SynopsisMary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly are inextricably linked in history. Their names might not be instantly recognisable, and the identity of their murderer may have eluded detectives and historians throughout the years, but there is no mistaking the infamy of Jack the Ripper. For nine weeks during the autumn of 1888, the Whitechapel Murderer brought terror to London's East End, slashing women's throats and disembowelling them. London's most famous serial killer has been pored over time and again, yet his victims have been sorely neglected, reduced to the simple label: prostitute. The lives of these five women are rags-to-riches-to-rags stories of the most tragic kind. There was a time in each of their lives when these poor women had a job, money, a home and a family. Hardworking, determined and fiercely independent individuals, it was bad luck, or a wrong turn here or there, that left them wretched and destitute. Ignored by the press and overlooked by historians, it is time their stories were told.

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Book SynopsisOn 3 April 1832, a twelve-year-old girl visited her grandfather''s house, a public house known as Bill''s o''Jack''s on the edge of Saddleworth Moor, only to find her uncle dying on the floor of a room saturated with blood. Upstairs, her grandfather lay in his bed having suffered mortal injuries. Neither man lived long enough to explain what had happened. The story of the murders of William and Thomas Bradbury quickly spread throughout the local area and beyond, precipitating a frantic hunt for suspects. No-one was ever charged and the case remains unsolved, but the story never quite went away, becoming a legend that long outlived those directly affected.The Bill''s o''Jack''s Murders took place at a time of great change, and the background to the case encompassed many issues, including political reform, enclosure and the growing influence of newspapers. It was a crime very much of its time, shaped by contemporary issues and concerns. Yet the legend took on a life of its own, removed f

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Book SynopsisA fascinating array of cases that helped shape British criminal history. Britain has long been a leader in crime-fighting technology and forensic science, and this is the story of how technology and techniques have developed over the years.

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Book SynopsisSue Grafton has become one of the most popular female writers, both in the UK and in the US. Born in Kentucky in 1940, she began her career as a TV scriptwriter before Kinsey Millhone and the 'alphabet' series took off. Two of the novels B is for Burglar and C is for Corpse won the first Anthony Awards for Best Novel. Sue wrote twenty-five novels in her alphabet series, the last was Y is for Yesterday, before her death in California in December 2017.

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Book SynopsisThe sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in a wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control and the death penalty.WINNER of the 2022 Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime BookOn July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario. The intelligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentally ill mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and a hazy plan for violent revolution. Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. Dubbed The Beatle Bandit, Smith was eventually captured, tried, anTrade ReviewHendley tells the story as though he were writing a crime novel; an apt read-alike might be Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, with which The Beatle Bandit shares a journalistic style and a perceptive analysis of people and events. First-rate true crime. * Booklist *Hendley does a fine job putting Smith’s crimes in the context of Canadian culture decades ago. Students of true crime won’t want to miss this thoughtful book. * Publishers Weekly *With this absorbing, deeply researched tale of a troubled, gun-obsessed bank robber-turned-killer in 1960s Toronto, veteran true crime writer Nate Hendley has scored another triumph. * Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream and Empire of Deception *A fascinating, bizarre, important story told by one of the country's top true crime writers. What's not to enjoy? The Beatle Bandit is a hit. * Peter Edwards, Toronto Star crime reporter and co-author of The Wolfpack: the Millennial Mobsters who brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld *The Beatle Bandit is a fascinating true crime story that weaves meticulously researched facts and compassionate observations into a gripping narrative that is as much historical as entertaining. Nate Hendley’s eye for detail provides the reader with an engaging account of life in 1960s Toronto, a bank robbery gone bad, mental illness, the Canadian judicial system, and the individuals who were a part of those places. * Desmond P. Ryan, Retired Toronto Police Detective and author of The Mike O’Shea Crime Fiction Series and The Mary-Margaret Cozy Series *In his compelling new true crime book, Nate Hendley walks us through a case that roiled the peaceable province of Ontario in the mid-1960s. At centre stage is a troubled young man facing the death penalty for a murder committed in the course of an armed and violent bank robbery. As the tragedy unfolds, Hendley demonstrates with lucidity and empathy that when it comes to mental illness, sadly, there are no simple answers. * Lorna Poplak, author of The Don: The Story of Toronto’s Infamous Jail *Nate Hendley has written a page-turner with The Beatle Bandit, about Toronto bank robber Matthew Kerry Smith, who donned a Beatle wig when robbing banks in the mid-1960s Beatles’ era. Hendley’s background as a journalist and narrative writing skills bring to life Smith’s story from childhood into adulthood. * Sharon A. Crawford, author of The Enemies Within Us: a Memoir *With The Beatle Bandit, Nate Hendley does a splendid job reconstructing the life and crimes of one of Canada’s most unusual bank robbers, Matthew Kerry Smith. Known as ‘Toronto the Good’ in the early sixties, violent crimes were few and far between, and murders committed during the course of bank robberies were rare. Hendley’s book paints a vibrant portrait of a city on the brink of becoming a world-renowned metropolis, a deeply disturbed young man, and the debate over capital punishment. * Robert J. Hoshowsky, author, The Last to Die: Ronald Turpin, Arthur Lucas, and the End of Capital Punishment in Canada *The Beatle Bandit is a fascinating, brutal, unflinching true crime story, shorn of sensationalism, which will thrill you and anger you in equal measure. * Kid Ferrous Reviews *Nate Hendley is a great storyteller and tells this true crime story as it should be; facts, stats, first-hand witnesses, and news reports of the time. * Viva La Books *Excels at unpacking the crime in light of the time setting in which it occurred… Highly recommended for readers of the true-crime genre. * Miramichi Reader *This book is a must read for anyone looking for contentious and responsible true crime. * True Crime Index *Hendley is a clean, crisp writer who knows how to pace a story. * Winnipeg Free Press *An absorbing true life story that reads with all the drama of a fiction novel...a compelling and informative read from cover to cover. * Midwest Book Review *Hendley writes like a reporter, sticking to the facts, with a clear sense of how to pace a story in order to keep readers turning pages...a solid addition to the true-crime canon. * Literary Review of Canada *Table of ContentsIntroduction1, Bullets, Banks, and Beatle Wigs2. Boy to Man and Madness3. Pistols and a Car Chase4. Love and Bank Robbery5. Portrait of a Hero6. One More Heist7. Jailed, Analyzed, and Condemned8. Trouble Enough for a Lifetime9. PostscriptAfterwordAcknowledgementsBibliographyImage CreditsIndexAbout the Author

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Book SynopsisDetective Lt. Joe Kenda, star of Homicide Hunter, shares his deepest, darkest, and never before revealed case files from his 19 years as a homicide detective.Are you horrified yet fascinated by abhorrent murders? Do you crave to know the gory details of these crimes, and do you seek comfort in the solving of the most gruesome? In I Will Find You, the star of Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda shares his deepest, darkest, and never-before-revealed case files from his two decades as a homicide detective and reminds us that crimes like these are very real and can happen even in our own backyards. Gruesome, macabre, and complex cases. Joe Kenda investigated 387 murder cases during his 23 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department and solved almost all of them. And he is ready to detail the cases that are too gruesome to air on television, cases that still haunt him, and the few cases where the killer got away. These cases are horrifyingly

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Book SynopsisThe surprising true story of Mexico's hunt, arrest, and conviction of its first female serial killerFor three years, amid widespread public outrage, police in Mexico City struggled to uncover the identity of the killer responsible for the ghastly deaths of forty elderly women, many of whom had been strangled in their homes with a stethoscope by someone posing as a government nurse. When Juana Barraza Samperio, a female professional wrestler known as la Dama del Silencio (the Lady of Silence), was arrestedand eventually sentenced to 759 years in prisonfor her crimes as the Mataviejitas (the little old lady killer), her case disrupted traditional narratives about gender, criminality, and victimhood in the popular and criminological imagination.Marshaling ten years of research, and one of the only interviews that Juana Barraza Samperio has given while in prison, Susana Vargas Cervantes deconstructs this uniquely provocative story. She focuses, in particular, on the cTrade ReviewSerial murderers, lucha libre wrestlers, gender-transgressing vestidas, prejudiced scientists and disoriented policemen populate the pages of this insightful study of the cultural construction of crime and criminals in Mexico. Focusing on a case that challenged what Mexicans thought they knew about crime, Vargas examines performance, images, media languages and expert discourses, and uncovers their racist and machista premises. Her criticism is original but also urgently needed, as we see how the neglect of certain victims and the criminalization of those who do not conform to gender norms contribute to the dehumanizing levels of violence that Mexico is witnessing today. -- Pablo Piccato,author of A History of Infamy: Crime, Truth, and Justice in MexicoThis brilliant mixed-genre meditation on the life and crimes of Juana Barraza combines the pulse of true crime, a picaresque cast of historical characters, the contextual nuance of cultural history, the sophistication of queer theory, and disturbing new insights into Mexican identity and its complicated relationship with human mortalitya (trans)historical achievement of the highest order. -- Robert Marshall Buffington,author of A Sentimental Education for the Working Man: The Mexico City Penny Press, 1900-1910In addition to Samperio's story, Cervantes thoroughly analyzes subjects including Mexican history, lucha libre, anthropology, serial killing and gender roles and expectations. Fascinating … not your typical true crime book. * SLAM! Wrestling *

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Book SynopsisBehind Bars is filled with stories both ancient and urgent of what happens when alcohol meets crime, from illicit stills in the Scottish Highlands to moonshine in the USA, rum smuggled by Caribbean pirates, the roaring times of Prohibition, to current-day gangs selling millions of dollars' worth of fake Bordeaux and the often-unsolved cases of people walking into a liquor store, stealing whiskey bottles worth tens of thousands of dollars, and walking out, never to be seen again.Award-winning travel and drinks writer Mike Gerrard takes readers on a centuries-long journey highlighting the most bizarre and expensive alcohol-related crimes all while revealing the inside world of booze: how it has been distilled, legislated, imbibed, and infused into culture and society for hundreds of years. Discover the evolution of the world-leading whiskey industry in Scotland; how the war in Ukraine has impacted illicit vodka rings; how Southern smugglers laid the foundation for NASCAR; and

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Book SynopsisAxton Betz-Hamilton grew up in small-town Indiana in the early '90s. When she was 11 years old, her parents both had their identities stolen. Their credit ratings were ruined and they were constantly fighting over money. This was before the age of the Internet, when identity theft became more commonplace, so authorities and banks were clueless and reluctant to help Axton's parents.Axton's family switched PO Boxes, changed all of their personal information and moved to different addresses but the identity thief followed them wherever they went. Convinced that the thief had to be someone they knew, Axton and her parents completely cut off the outside world, isolating themselves from friends and family. Axton learned not to let anyone into the house without explicit permission and once went as far as chasing a plumber off their property with a knife. She had panic attacks throughout her formative years and often became physically sick with anxiety and quarantined behind the closed curtains in her childhood home. She began starving herself at a young age in an effort to blend in - her clothes, hair, makeup and weight could be nothing short of perfect or she would be scolded by her mother, who had become paranoid and consumed by how others perceived the family.Years later, her parents marriage still shaken from the theft, Axton discovered that she, too, had fallen prey to the identity thief but by the time she realised, she was already thousands of dollars in debt and her credit was ruined. After her mother's death, Axton's father found a box filled with pay stubs that listed his wife's first name but a different last name; copies of Axton's birth certificate; denial of application letters for various checking accounts; properties with other men. Axton and her father quickly came to realise that the identity thief was her mother all along. THE LESS PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT US is Axton's attempt to untangle the intricate web of her mother's lies and to understand why and how her mother could have inflicted such pain upon the two people closest to her. Axton will present a candid, shocking and redemptive story that will provide clarity and comfort for others in similarly unfortunate circumstances, and reveal her courageous effort to grapple with a parent who broke the unwritten rules of love, protection, and family.

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Book SynopsisAfter two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, law enforcement pursued and convicted two innocent men: Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. Together they spent a combined thirty years in prison before finally being exonerated in 2008. Meanwhile, the real killer remained free.The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist recounts the story of how the criminal justice system allowed this to happen and of how two men, Dr. Steven Hayne and Dr. Michael West, built successful careers on the back of that structure. For nearly two decades, Hayne, a medical examiner, performed the vast majority of Mississippi's autopsies, while his friend Dr. West, a local dentist, pitched himself as a forensic jack-of-all-trades. Together they became the go-to experts for prosecutors and helped put countless Mississippians in prison. But then some of those convictions began to fall apart.Here, Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington tell the haunting story of how the courts and Mississippi's death investigation system--a relic of the Jim Crow era--failed to deliver justice for its citizens. The authors argue that bad forensics, structural racism, and institutional failures are at fault, raising sobering questions about our ability and willingness to address these crucial issues.

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Book SynopsisA moving memoir of an inexplicable crime, a family’s loss, and a legacy preserved. Kim Wall was a thirty-year-old Swedish freelance journalist with a rising career. Then, in the summer of 2017, she followed a story that led to an eccentric inventor in Copenhagen. Instead of writing the next day’s headline, she’d become one. As the bizarre events of Kim’s murder unfolded, the world watched in shocked disbelief. For Kim’s distraught parents, Ingrid and Joachim, it was a devastating personal struggle. In the ensuing months, day by grueling day, they had to come to terms with their loss, process the global media attention, and endure the investigation and trial. In the end, they’d make certain that Kim would be seen not only as a victim but as a bright, funny, complicated, ethical, and selfless young woman—a loved and loving daughter, sister, fiancée, colleague, and friend. Kim Wall’s life and promise may have been cut short, but everything she stood for lives on in this emotional memoir of braving the worst of days, moving forward, and never forgetting.Trade Review“[Kim] packed a lifetime’s worth of experience into her 30 years…A tragically short life that will hopefully serve as inspiration.” —Kirkus Reviews “In this tender memoir, the parents of Swedish journalist Kim Wall recount their daughter’s exceptional life and her murder…The authors recall their anguish and pain during the year following their daughter’s death, but also celebrate her life and share their mission to develop a memorial fund to provide young female reporters with support for their work. This is a passionate portrait of a woman’s meaningful life and her contributions to journalism.” —Publishers Weekly “A Silenced Voice is a tapestry of past and present, at once a joyful chronicling of a life well lived and a family’s reckoning with that life being extinguished.” —Marie Claire “In a powerful memoir, Wall’s parents share how they navigated their grief in the aftermath of their daughter’s horrific death and the investigation and trial that followed. Though their subject matter is unthinkably sad, Ingrid and Joachim Wall focus on Kim and the life she led, sharing stories of her passions and ambitions as a journalist, partner and friend.” —TIME “Journalism grants a kind of license to curiosity, legitimizes it, gives it a professional guise…Kim used it to get herself around the world, to report from Cuba, Uganda, and North Korea. But her story also shows how tenuous, how fragile that feeling of permission can be…A Silenced Voice, translated from Swedish by Kathy Saranpa, is about everything else Kim was…If the law represents one form of justice, one of the promises of journalism is to enact another: doing justice to the people you write about, justice to the things they care about, justice to the person behind the story. A Silenced Voice is an exercise in that pained, loving, generous justice. It insists that the story of Kim’s murder include the details only parents remember: childhood ceramics projects, her favorite type of pen, the kinds of presents she brought her family home from travels around the world…The Walls are working to make sure that Kim Wall’s name will not be a warning, but a tag under ambitious investigative pieces, a line on resumes, a ticket, a calling card. Through it all you can see how desperately important it is for them, like it was for her, to get the story right.” —NPR.org “In their jointly written and heart-breaking memoir, Ingrid and Joachim Wall, the parents of murdered Swedish journalist Kim Wall, remember the trauma of their loss and honor the memory of their daughter. A delicate, brave, and beautiful rendering of unimaginable grief.” —CrimeReads

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Book SynopsisIn a powerful true-crime memoir, an Emmy Award–winning journalist seeks closure in a decades-long series of crimes and freedom from her own personal demons. In April 1999, reporter Tamara Leitner woke to an active crime scene outside her Arizona apartment. Her neighbor had been sexually assaulted by a man who would later be identified as Claude Dean Hull II, a serial rapist who escaped justice for decades. New identities. New states. New victims—more than one hundred suspected across the country and thousands more victimized in myriad ways. Tamara’s twenty-year compulsion to follow the investigation began. She needed to question a failed system. She needed to know the women whose lives were irrevocably altered. And she needed to face the root of her obsession with Hull and his crimes. In interviewing, befriending, and profoundly connecting with Hull’s survivors, Tamara crafts a unique true-crime narrative. It not only reveals the struggles of the justice system to help victims of sexual violence but explores how these resilient women—and Tamara herself—strove to reclaim their power in the wake of indelible trauma.Trade Review“This title will satisfy readers who seek out true crime written from a personal angle, like Erika Krouse's Tell Me Everything (2022), and those who appreciate precisely detailed and unflagging police and journalistic work in search of justice, like Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2018).” —Booklist

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Book SynopsisA lively collection of wilder-than-fiction poaching stories from across Canada and the US, including insights from investigating officers involved in real poaching situations. Get ready to read some of the wildest true crime imaginable. Showcasing fish and wildlife poaching stories from every province and territory in Canada and every state in the United States, decorated fishery officer Randy Nelson offers a thrilling look into a dangerous industry.With insights gathered through thousands of phone calls and emails to investigating officers, The Wildest Hunt collects over one hundred North American fish and wildlife officers? stories, with tales ranging from absolutely disgusting to hysterically hilarious. Nelson takes readers across North America, from busting turtle-trafficking rings in Oklahoma to collecting a 14.5 foot beluga whale from a bus in Saskatchewan.Nelson?s entertaining stories also shed light on the important work of fish and wildlife officers, and the often messy, sometimes dangerous situations they must face, as well as how important the public can be in solving wildlife crime.

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Book SynopsisDespite advances in DNA testing, forensics, and the investigative skills used by police, hundreds of crimes remain unsolved across Canada. With every passing day trails grow colder and decades can pass before a new lead or witness comes forward if one comes forward. In Unsolved, Robert J. Hoshowsky examines twelve crimes that continue to haunt us. Some cases are well-known, while others have virtually disappeared from the public eye. All of the cases remain open, and many are being re-examined by police using the latest tools and technology. Hoshowsky takes the reader through all aspects of the crimes and how police are trying to solve them using three-dimensional facial reconstructions, DNA testing, age-enhanced drawings, original crime scene photos, and more. None of the individuals profiled in Unsolved deserved their fate, but their stories deserve to be told and their killers need to be brought to justice.

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Book SynopsisHUNTING A PSYCHOPATH chronicles the search by multiple agencies for a serial rapist/murderer who terrorized Northern and Southern California between 1976 and 1986. Known as the EAR/ONS, he remains unidentified. Retired Lieutenant Richard Shelby, one of the original investigators, speaks out for the first time. By opening new doors, this book may lead to the Final Chapter of this three decade long search.

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Book SynopsisAs the cruel South Dakota winter thawed toward the end of February 1976, a rancher on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation discovered the frostbitten corpse of a Jane Doe at the bottom of a 30-foot cliff, 100 feet from a state highway. An autopsy determined she had died of exposure, while the FBI sent her severed hands to Washington for analysis.Weeks later, a match of fingerprints to feisty American Indian Movement (AIM) activist Anna Mae Pictou-Aquash led to exhumation and another autopsy, this time revealing that she had been shot in the head. Those sympathetic to AIM assumed hers was simply one of nearly 200 unsolved murders during an era when the Reservation was held secretly under martial law, now known as the Reign of Terror.Months before Aquash''s murder, a deadly gun battle between AIM members and two young FBI agents forced her to flee with her friend and fellow agitator Leonard Peltier. Although Peltier always denied FBI claims that he was the one who delivered coup de grâ ce shots to the agents, he was eventually convicted of double murder. This prompted unsuccessful popular movements for a Presidential pardon as inept lies from both sides helped stalemate any legal or polit

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Book SynopsisFollowing The Streets Are Blue, this book, More Than Heroic, marks the second installment in a series of true tales of service from the front lines of the Los Angeles Police Department. In this book, the realities of police work are captured through the spoken words of thirty former officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. The most powerful aspect of their words is that they reveal the individuals behind the badge, the individuals you call when in need. The officers, like others who serve in law enforcement, willingly answered the call to put themselves in harm’s way to protect and serve. As you read their stories, hopefully you will appreciate the sacrifices these extraordinary individuals made and, through their stories, the sacrifices others have made during their careers with the Los Angeles Police Department.

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Book SynopsisUnited States History award-winner from the International Book Awards, Best Nonfiction True Crime award from BookFest, and Five Stars from Reader's Favorite among other accolades. "Spieler offers a portrait of an erratic, unstable woman with a protean capacity to shift identities, with the 1960s and '70s as a dramatic backdrop. Fans of true crime accounts or contemporary history will savor this.” ―Publishers Weekly President Gerald Ford suffered two attempts on his life during his term in office: one by a young woman in Charles Manson's Family, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and the other by a far more unlikely candidate—an average middle-aged mother of five—Sara Jane Moore. After thirty years in contact with Moore in prison, journalist Geri Spieler deconstructs her life in Housewife Assassin, tracing the path from Moore’s small-town upbringing in West Virginia to that fateful moment when she tried to assassinate the president. Throughout Moore’s dodgy life she hid her identity and misled those around her. Through the turbulent 60s and 70s, she married five times, abandoned children, faked amnesia, befriended Patty Hearst’s father, became a revolutionary, and worked as an FBI informant turned double agent feeding information to the underground radicals, all before the assassination attempt. From Spieler’s insider correspondence and independent research, including interviews with President Ford himself, she confirms details (the gunshot missed the President’s head by six inches) and debunks others (Sara Jane did not “shoot wild” as the press had reported) to deliver a compelling profile of a society lady turned elusive assassin. Trade Review "Spieler offers a portrait of an erratic, unstable woman with a protean capacity to shift identities, with the 1960s and '70s as a dramatic backdrop. Fans of true crime accounts or contemporary history will savor this.” ―Publishers Weekly “In her investigative exploration, Spieler leverages the unexpected narrative of Sara Jane Moore—an everyday housewife turned attempted presidential assassin—as a startling exposé of systemic issues within the U.S. intelligence network. The remarkable story of Moore, who managed to evade the detection of agencies like the FBI and Secret Service, presents a compelling case study in the perils of interagency miscommunication and inadequate threat evaluation. Spieler challenges us to ponder: how can such glaring oversights occur within our intelligence apparatus, and more importantly, what measures can be implemented to safeguard our nation from similar, potentially more successful threats in the future? . . . Housewife Assassin thus stands as a critical resource for all those invested in the security of our nation—policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and ordinary citizens alike. . . . It's a stirring testament to the urgent need for reform, and a roadmap to achieving a more secure future for our nation.”—USA TODAY "It is the obligation of the thoughtful journalist to tell us something meaningful that we don't already know. In Taking Aim at the President, Geri Spieler is more than up to the task. The byzantine tale of Sara Jane Moore's double, triple and quadruple lives, with so many bizarre groups - including the federal government - exploiting her vulnerabilities, is the stuff of Hollywood fiction. The fact that it's all true, and told with precision by Spieler, raises Sara Jane's story to something significantly more than a footnote to history." ―Alan Weisman, author of Prince of Darkness: Richard Perle, The Kingdom, the Power & the End of Empire in America and Lone Star: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Dan Rather "Geri Spieler has done a marvelous job of unraveling the details surrounding one of the most bizarre events in American history, Sara Jane Moore's attack on Gerald Ford.” ―James Dalessandro, author of 1906 and Citizen Jane "A well-written, fascinating story about an inexplicable moment in American History." ―Carl Stern, Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University, and former NBC News correspondent "Talk about truth being stranger than fiction! Captivating." ―The San Francisco Chronicle

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Book SynopsisThis true crime odyssey explores a forgotten, astonishing chapter of American history, leading the reader from a free-love community in upstate New York to the shocking assassination of President James Garfield. It was heaven on earth—and, some whispered, the devil’s garden. Thousands came by trains and carriages to see this new Eden, carved from hundreds of acres of wild woodland. They marvelled at orchards bursting with fruit, thick herds of Ayrshire cattle and Cotswold sheep, and whizzing mills. They gaped at the people who lived in this place—especially the women, with their queer cropped hair and shamelessly short skirts. The men and women of this strange outpost worked and slept together—without sin, they claimed. From 1848 to 1881, a small utopian colony in upstate New York—the Oneida Community—was known for its shock

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Book SynopsisIn 1898, a group of schoolboys in Bridgeport, Connecticut discovered gruesome packages under a bridge holding the dismembered remains of a young woman. Finding that the dead woman had just undergone an abortion, prosecutors raced to establish her identity and fix blame for her death. Suspicion fell on Nancy Guilford, half of a married pair of “doctors” well known to police throughout New England. A fascinated public followed the suspect’s flight from justice, as many rooted for the fugitive. The Disquieting Death of Emma Gill takes a close look not only at the Guilfords, but also at the cultural shifts and societal compacts that allowed their practice to flourish while abortion was both illegal and unregulated.Focusing on the women at the heart of the story—both victim and perpetrator—Biederman reexamines this slice of history through a feminist lens and reminds us of the very real lives at stake when a woman's body and choices are controlled by others.Table of ContentsPrologue 1. When Harry Met Nancy 2. Creating a Doctor 3. Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin 4. Lethargy 5. The Salem Trials 6. New Haven, Hotbed of Abortion 7. Road Trip 8. Coming Home to Her Funeral 9. Link by Link 10. Transcontinental Dragnet 11. A Much-Persecuted Woman Afterword Acknowledgments Notes

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Book SynopsisOne week prior to Christmas, in a small, Southern town, a fine Christian lady was murdered in her home as she cooked lunch. It was such a shocking occurrence that the entire town of relatives, friends and neighbors went into Silence Mode, and instructed the daughter to also, and to just go on with her life.However, as she succumbed to emotional regression, she entered college classes for therapy, and sought out private investigators since all officials refused to do their normal jobs after the murder of her mother. She desperately longed to know who and why? And, why the town's reluctance to respond appropriately?Upon the court-granted exhumation, vital witnesses were discovered who held pertinent information, which revealed the guilty party. However, the governor, local police, and even state police only reluctantly conducted their levels of inquiry by interviewing the suspect himself, and accepting his account that a 'now-deceased individual' had actually killed her.Those officials who made the efforts of covering-up a 'blatant murder,' had their own reasons for agreeing that, 'This town - state just can't handle a scandal like this. We gotta say she done it herself.'Fortunately, these exact words were overheard by the highly credible witnesses who surfaced two decades later, unaware that the victim's daughter did not know about their presence.During the decades of her efforts, she experienced emotional regression, and found therapeutic assistance via the book Massive Psychic Trauma (H.Krystal) gleaned from Survivors of Jewish Holocaust. She now travels to Israel regularly and works with other victims (including many military) of PTSD.

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Book SynopsisOn the muggy Massachusetts morning of August 31, 2013, a driver discovered a motionless dog lying in the middle of a road in Quincy, Massachusetts. When he stepped out of his vehicle and walked closer, he realized a small female Pit Bull Terrier mix. Barely alive, she wore fresh spots of blood on her head and was unable to stand or walk. The driver and his friend sought immediate help for the dog whose fate was uncertain.The discovery sparked a series of investigations and court proceedings which would cover a near five-year span and shatter the hearts of millions. While state laws relating to animal cruelty would improve, For many individuals, the emotional scars caused by the events would last a lifetime.

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Book SynopsisWhat does the Manson Family have in common with professional wrestling, Confidential, and a fire-proof vault? They make up just a few of the stories featured in Courthouse Chaos. Joined by the KKK, Hustler magazine, the National Guard, and Lee Harvey Oswald, this book dives into the histories of courthouses all across the United States to reveal their most famous and infamous trials and instances of mob violence. In many towns, the courthouse represents justice, safety, and the rule of law. However, in some cities it develops into much more, becoming the home of tragedies and notorious trials. Courthouse Chaos: Famous and Infamous Trials and Mob Justice covers the most well-known of these cases in detail, offering true crime lovers their moneys worth in local stories, well-researched facts, cutting insight, and unbiased conclusions. Broken into two sections, this book is the first in a series of true crime titles aimed at highlighting the deplorable and memorable events that have taken place in and around courthouses throughout the country.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisBased on the award-winning CBC documentary, Malcom is Missing tells the story of a single mother of two from small-town Canada who looks for her missing father in Mexico and ends up taking on one of the most corrupt justice systems in the world. WINNER! Best Documentary - Los Angeles Crime + Horror Film Festival WINNER! Best Documentary - Anatomy: Crime + Horror International Film Festival WINNER! Outstanding Excellence - Documentaries Without Borders International Film Festival WINNER! Best International Documentary - Austin International Film Festival WINNER! Best Crime (Long Feature Film) - Calgary Independent Film Festival In October 2018, Brooke Mullins hastily packed a small bag and boarded a flight to Mexico. But it wasn’t for leisure. Five days prior, she received harrowing news: her father, Canadian artist Malcom Madsen, had vanished. Driven by an instinct that all was not well, Brooke embarked on a quest to find him. Within days, her worst fears were confirmed: it seemed Malcom had met a tragic end. Armed with a damning video capturing his drugging, GPS data tracing his car to a remote jungle spot on the night of his disappearance, and a series of relatively misleading statements from his Mexican girlfriend, Brooke turned to Mexican authorities, hoping for closure. Yet, even after numerous gruelling years and over $300,000 spent, closure eludes her grasp. Despite the emotional and legal hurdles, Brooke persists, propelled by twin objectives: to recover her father’s remains and to ensure justice for his perpetrators. Many might deem challenging Mexico’s notoriously corrupt legal system a fool’s errand, especially for a 42-year-old single mother from Port Hope, Ontario. But Brooke Mullins dismissed such doubts, steadfast in her resolve to fight on.

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Book SynopsisWhat makes Tony Soprano so likeable? Why would we rather leave the cannoli and take the gun? Do we truly want Scarface’s Tony Montana to succeed? Is Michael Corleone a misunderstood hero or a despicable villain? In The Mafia: A Cultural History, now available in paperback, Roberto M. Dainotto traces the complex and fascinating development of the mafia: its rural beginnings in Western Sicily; its growth into what has been aptly described as a global multinational of crime; and its parallel evolution in music, print and on the big screen. The book probes the tension between the real mafia – its brutal and often violent reality – and how we imagine it to be: a mythical assembly of codes of honour, family values and chivalric masochism. Rather than dismissing such mafia stereotypes as untrue, Dainotto sets out to understand what needs and desires, material and psychic longings, are satisfied by our mafia fantasies. Exploring the rich array of films, books, television, music and even video games portraying and inspired by the mafia, this book offers not only a social, economic and political history of the mafia but a new way of understanding our enduring fascination with what lurks behind the sinister omertà of the family business.Trade Review`Dainotto’s The Mafia: A Cultural History offers something unique in the somewhat overcrowded category of books about the Mafia and its pop culture representations: a Sicilian intellectual’s historically informed yet personal perspective on the enduring appeal of organized crime stories.’ – PopMatters

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Book SynopsisA fresh, new look at gangs in every part of the world which deliberately avoids the stories that have been done to death - about Capone, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde - and focuses on less well-known gangs such as 'Ma' Barker's Boys; the Smaldones of Denver; Scotland Yard's 1960s' Flying Squad, the so-called Firm within a Firm; Dr Death, the Melbourne drug dealer and Andre Stander, the former South African police officer who led a gang of bank robbers before being shot dead in Fort Lauderdale having fled a 17-year sentence.

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