No Place Like Murder

              

No Place Like Murder: True Crime in the Midwest by Janis Thornton

Summary: A modern retelling of 20 sensational true crimes, No Place Like Murder reveals the inside details behind nefarious acts that shocked the Midwest between 1869 and 1950. The stories chronicle the misdeeds, examining the perpetrators' mindsets, motives, lives, apprehensions, and trials, as well as what became of them long after. 

True crime author Janis Thornton profiles notorious murderers such as Frankie Miller, who was fed up when her fiancé stood her up for another woman. As fans of the song "Frankie and Johnny" already know, Frankie met her former lover at the door with a shotgun. Thornton's tales reveal the darker side of life in the Midwest, including the account of Isabelle Messmer, a plucky young woman who dreamed of escaping her quiet farm-town life. After she nearly took down two tough Pittsburgh policemen in 1933, she was dubbed "Gun Girl" and went on to make headlines from coast to coast. In 1942, however, after a murder conviction in Texas, she vowed to do her time and go straight. Full of intrigue and revelations, No Place Like Murder also features such folks as Chirka and Rasico, the first two Hoosier men to die in the electric chair after they brutally murdered their wives in 1913. The two didn't meet until their fateful last night. 

An enthralling and chilling collection, No Place Like Murder is sure to thrill true crime lovers. 

Angie’s comments: 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. 

Request this item

American Sherlock

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

Summary: Known as the 'American Sherlock Holmes,' Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of America's greatest forensic scientists, with a skill level that seemed almost supernatural. Heinrich spearheaded the invention of new forensic tools that police still use today, including blood spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests, and the use of fingerprints as courtroom evidence. His work, though not without its serious - some would say fatal - flaws, changed the course of American criminal investigation. Based on years of research, American Sherlock captures Heinrich's life, work, and legacy.

Angie’s comments: Partly a biography of Heinrich, the book really shines when concentrating on Heinrich's cases. I learned more about some famous cases of the 1920s and 1930s, including Fatty Arbuckle's case. 

Recommended for readers interested in true crime.

Request this item

Dirty John

Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders by Christopher Goffard

Summary: A collection of newspaper stories by award-winning Los Angeles Times reporter Christopher Goffard--including "Dirty John," the basis for the hit podcast and the upcoming Bravo scripted series starring Connie Britton and Eric Bana.

Since its release in fall 2017, the "Dirty John" podcast--about a conman who terrorizes a Southern California family--has been downloaded more than 20 million times, and will soon premiere as a scripted drama on Bravo starring Connie Britton and Eric Bana. The story, which also ran as a print series in the Los Angeles Times, wasn't unfamiliar terrain to its writer, Christopher Goffard. Over two decades at newspapers from Florida to California, Goffard has reported probingly on the shadowy, unseen corners of society. This book gathers together for the first time "Dirty John" and the rest of his very best work.

"The $40 Lawyer" provides an inside account of a young public defender's rookie year in the legal trenches. "Framed" offers an unblinking chronicle of suburban mayhem (and is currently being developed by Netflix as a film starring Julia Roberts). A man wrongly imprisoned for rape, train-riding runaways in love, a Syrian mother forced to leave her children in order to save them, a boy who grows up to become a cop as a way of honoring his murdered sister, another boy who struggles with the knowledge that his father is on death row: these stories reveal the complexities of human nature, showing people at both their most courageous and their most flawed.

Goffard shared in the Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2011 and has twice been a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing. This collection--a must-read for fans of both true-crime and first-rate narrative nonfiction--underscores his reputation as one of today's most original journalistic voices.

Angie’s comments: Far more than just true crime stories, this collection includes stories about relationships. The public defender story is especially interesting, as it devels into the life of a public defender attorney. And the story about the child whose father is on death row leads to some questions about love, faith, and therapy. 

Recommended for readers interested in true crime, family relationships, and/or short stories about people.

Request this item

Murder Beyond the Grave

Murder Beyond the Grave: True-Crime Thrillers by James Patterson

Summary: Two true-crime thrillers as seen on Discovery's Murder is Forever TV series

MURDER BEYOND THE GRAVE (with Andrew Bourelle): Stephen Small has it all-a Ferrari, fancy house, loving wife, and three boys. But the only thing he needs right now is enough air to breathe. Kidnapped, buried in a box, and held for ransom, Stephen has forty-eight hours of oxygen. The clock is ticking . . .

MURDER IN PARADISE (with Christopher Charles): High in the Sierra Nevada mountains, developers Jim and Bonnie Hood excitedly tour Camp Nelson Lodge. They intend to buy and modernize this beautiful rustic property, but the locals don't like rich outsiders changing their way of life. After a grisly shooting, everybody will discover just how you can make a killing in real estate . . .

Angie’s comments: This is a super quick read but also super chilling because these two murders really happened. Patterson and his co-authors did a good job of researching the cases.

Recommended for readers of true crime. 

Request this item

The Man from the Train

The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James Summary: Using unprecedented, dramatically compelling sleuthing techniques, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical acumen to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight, bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villisca, Iowa, murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal. In turn, they uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America. Riveting and immersive, with writing as sharp as the cold side of an axe, The Man from the Train paints a vivid, psychologically perceptive portrait of America at the dawn of the twentieth century, when crime was regarded as a local problem, and opportunistic private detectives exploited a dysfunctional judicial system. James shows how these cultural factors enabled such an unspeakable series of crimes to occur, and his groundbreaking approach to true crime will convince skeptics, amaze aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history. Angie’s comments: I had heard of the Villisca, Iowa murders, but not the other murders. The authors did a lot of research and presented a compelling argument as to the identity of the murderer. I found it very interesting and at times scary.  The book is at times difficult to follow because there were so many attacks in so many places. Some Googling may be required. Also, sometimes the authors' comments are intrusive. Recommended for readers interested in historical true crimes.  Request this item