Description
Book SynopsisProfiles 20 sensational true crimes from the 19th and 20th centuries Features a true creative nonfiction style, as each telling reads like a story Moves beyond details of the crimes to offer insight into motivations
Trade ReviewTrue crime fans will be well satisfied.
* Publishers Weekly *
No Place Like Murder is a manifestation of Thornton's love for local history and fascination with mysteries and true crime.
-- Amy Oberlin * The Herald Republican *
With no marker in sight, writer Janis Thornton a week ago stood in the shade of an old white oak tree she believed covered the grave of Andrew Jackson "A.J." Baker at Beech Grove Cemetery in Muncie to take a picture featured in her blog. She'd been to the site in June 2017 to look for the grave of the late butcher from Elwood who on Sept. 3, 1903, fatally shot Fred Kaiser, the husband of his alleged paramour, at the corner of Anderson and Main streets. "Some might call it a shady grave for a shady character, and I couldn't disagree," she wrote. The cemetery visit was part of a monthlong "Road Trip with the Dead," to visit the final resting places of victims and murderers. The visits coincided with the release of Thornton's latest book, "No Place Like Murder," a look at infamous historical murders throughout central Indiana.
-- Rebecca R. Bibbs * The Herald Bulletin *
Janis Thornton, one of the Frankfort Community Public Library's 2019 Women's Expo speakers, has released her second true crime book titled No Place Like Murder: True Crime in the Midwest. This book will hit a little close to home because four of the crimes took place in Frankfort.
-- Ken Hartman * Clinton County Daily News *
A Kokomo woman shot in the face twice by her boyfriend after rebuffing his advances. A Civil War veteran who shoots and kills a man in a downtown Kokomo hotel bar and gets away with it. A man sentenced to life for the poisoning deaths of his wife and her 8-year-old child. Those stories and more are the featured in "No Place Like Murder: True Crime in the Midwest," written by Tipton's own Janis Thornton. The book chronicles 20 true crime stories that "shocked the Midwest between 1869 and 1950," including crimes committed in Howard and Tipton counties.
-- Tyler Juranovich * Kokomo Tribune *
No Place Like Murder by Janis Thornton is a collection of chronicles about 20 celebrated criminal cases from 1869 to 1950. The chapters explore the criminal acts themselves, the murderers' mindsets and motives, and the ultimate disposition of the cases. The author draws heavily from contemporary newspaper reports, and the entries are written in a straightforward journalistic style, which makes for easy reading. A smattering of photographs — no crime scene photos, thankfully — which add to the accounts.
-- Rich Gotshall * Daily Journal, Franklin, IN *
Local author Janis Thornton is back with another true crime book. Tipton County locations and residents are featured in some of the tales. Most of the crimes I had not heard of, so it was a really interesting look into crimes of the past. Recommended for readers who like true crime and local history.
-- Tipton County Public Library
Table of ContentsForewords
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: All in the Family
1. The Mysterious Death of Belle Shenkenberger
2. The Liberation of Nora Coleman
3. 'Sweet Dreams, Mother'
PART II: Wife Killers
4. Dan Snider and the Strychnine Solution
5. The Case of the Drowsy Uxoricidist
6. Death on Maish Road
7. Chirka and Rasico
PART III: To Err Can Be Murder
8. Manhunt for the In-law Outlaws
9. The Black Sheep of Goldsmith
PART IV: Loved to Death
10. He Was Her Man, But He Done Her Wrong
11. Fairy's Grim Tale of the Murder on LaFountain
PART V: Deadly Decisions
12. Murder on Anderson and Main
13. The Strawtown Murders
14. Murder Unbecoming a Hero
PART VI: Worst of the Worst
15. The Awful Crime of Jesse McClure
16. Massacre on Laughery Creek
PART VII: Local Legends
17. The Legend of Kokomo Mayor H.C. Cole
18. Gun Girl
PART VIII: Unsolved but Unforgotten
19. Murder Most Foul
20. The Strange Death of Garnet Ginn
