There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the center of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative.

    This volume explores the detection of crime through fingerprinting and ballistics.

    Kahoka Gazette-Herald newspaper accounts of an infamous axe murder in Clark County, Missouri, and the trial of Bill Young in 1879.

    J. Liebling's "The Case of the Scattered Dutchman" and "The Tale of the Murderous Philologist with But One Big Toe."