Murders of the Black Museum: The Dark Secrets Behind a Hundred Years of the Most Notorious Crimes in Britain


Gordon Honeycombe - 1994
    Fifty of those crimes were murders and they are explored in detail in this compelling book. Gordon Honeycombe was given privileged access to its darkest secrets of the place that was renamed The Crime Museum. His book spans a hundred years of murder, manslaughter, and attempted assassinations and reveals the true facts behind some of the U.K.'s most notorious murder cases, including Jack the Ripper, Dr. Crippen, and the Krays.

Happy Like Murderers


Gordon Burn - 1998
    As the true horror of what happened there unfolded it became clear that this was the most infamous series of murders in Britain in the 20th century.'With his first forensic commitment to get behing the tabloid headlines Burn brilliantly reinvents reportorial writing ... Startlingly original.' - Matt Seaton, Esquire'Long, brilliant, horrifying ... Burn researched with great care every detail (my God, the detail) of what went on in the Wests' household over decades.' - Libby Purves, The Times'Brilliant, bleak, unflinching ... Layer after layer, level after level, deeper and deeper, until, at last, a pricture is constructed ... His interpretations make sense. They feel right. They explain the inexplicable.' - Deborah Orr, Guardian

Angel of Darkness: The True Story of Randy Kraft and the Most Heinous Murder Spree


Dennis McDougal - 1991
    This book offers a glimpse into the dark mind of a living monster. "To open this book is to open a peephole into hell."--Associated Press. Photographs.

Bundy:The Deliberate Stranger


Richard W. Larsen - 1980
    NOW REISSUED. Richard W. Larsen’s expose, based on first-hand conversations with the killer himself, remains the granddaddy Bundy book of them all – even inspiring a hit miniseries, starring Mark Harmon, that riveted America for weeks. Now BUNDY: THE DELIBERATE STRANGER returns to mark the 30th anniversary of the execution of America’s most famous serial killer. Between 1974 and 1978 a series of brutal sex slayings claimed the lives of nearly forty innocent young women and left a trail of blood that stretched from Seattle, Washington to Tallahassee, Florida...a trail that seemed to lead to Ted Bundy. But Theodore Robert Bundy is an unlikely looking murderer. A handsome, articulate former law student, Bundy looks more like a candidate for public office than for Death Row. But in July 1979, 32-year-old Bundy was sentenced to the electric chair for bludgeoning to death two Florida coeds. And Bundy is suspected by police of being responsible for as many as 36 murders, spanning four years and four states. Larsen, who knew Ted Bundy well before he ever fell under suspicion for murder – when Bundy was a rising star in Washington State politics helping to re-elect Governor Daniel Evans – interviewed Bundy extensively in writing the definitive account of his story. In 1975, when Bundy was released on bail after his first arrest – a kidnapping charge in Utah – it was Larsen who met him at the door of the police headquarters and spend the day with him, and Larsen who lent Bundy his car after dinner so he could go out on the town that night, catching himself on the verge of parting joke – “Ted, I’d just as soon not read in the morning paper that some girl mysteriously disappeared in a Gremlin” In BUNDY: THE DELIBERATE STRANGER, Larsen brings his masterful reporting and writing skills to bear on one of the most chilling, true crime stories in U.S. history. From the moment the first young woman disappears under mysterious circumstances, you are caught up in a cumulatively tense and gripping drama. Larsen has captured it all: the anguish of the parents, the frustration of the police, the horror of discovery, the growing suspicions and mounting evidence pointing to “all-American” Ted, the drama of his arrest, his incredible escapes – one from prison, one from a courthouse – his recaptures and the sensational, televised Florida murder trial at which Bundy conducted his own defense. And through it all, the enigmatic figure of Ted Bundy – the deliberate stranger – known by the author as well as he will ever be known by any person. At once an exciting, fast-paced thriller, and a dazzling, unsentimental dissection of a cold-blooded killer, BUNDY: A DELIBERATE STRANGER is a true crime classic

The Strange History of Bonnie and Clyde


John Treherne - 1984
    This history cuts through hype and mythology and examines the outlaws' liberal and dysfunctional sex life, their astonishing ability to elude a 1000-man posse, the contradictory accounts of the mythic ambush that resulted in their deaths and the extraordinary growth of Bonnie and Clyde legend.

Hunted: The Zodiac Murders


Mark Hewitt - 2016
    Despite his appalling acts of violence, he was never arrested—he has never even been identified. Thousands of men have been accused; nearly 2,500 have been investigated. The police lack only the name of the perpetrator. Never has there been more passionate interest in the Zodiac serial killer. Never has there been more FOIA-released information on his crime spree and the subsequent law enforcement investigation. Yet, never before has a carefully-researched scholarly treatment of this otherwise eminently solvable riddle been attempted. That is, until now.

I'm No Monster: The Horrifying True Story of Josef Fritzl


Stefanie Marsh - 2009
    The true crime story that made international headlines: Josef Fritzl held his daughter captive as a sex slave, and fathered seven children with her, creating a hidden family no one knew about-not even Fritzl's own wife.

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper


Philip Sugden - 1994
    The murders in London between 1888-91 attributed to Jack the Ripper constitute one of the most mysterious unsolved criminal cases. This story is the result of many years meticulous research. The author reassesses all the evidence and challenges everything we thought we knew about the Victorian serial killer and the vanished East End he terrorized.

A Descent Into Hell


Kathryn Casey - 2008
    Cave, an ex-cheerleader, had just landed an exciting new job, while a big-money scholarship to UT's prestigious business school lured Pitonyak to Austin. Yet the former altar boy had a dark, unpredictable streak, one that ensnared him in the perilous underworld of drugs and guns. When Jennifer failed to show up for work on August 18, 2005, her mother became frightened. Sharon Cave's search led to Colton's West Campus apartment, where Jennifer's family discovered a scene worthy of the grisliest horror movie. Meanwhile, Colton Pitonyak was nowhere to be found.A Descent Into Hell is the gripping true story of one of the most brutal slayings in UT history—and the wild "Bonnie and Clyde-like" flight from justice of a cold-blooded young killer and his would-be girlfriend, who claimed that her unquestioning allegiance to Pitonyak was "just the way I roll."

In the Garden of Spite


Camilla Bruce - 2021
    . .Early in life Belle Sorensen discovers the world is made only for men. They own everything: jobs, property, wives. But Belle understands what few others do: where women are concerned, men are weak.A woman unhampered by scruples can take from them what she wants. And so Belle sets out to prove to the world that a woman can be just as ruthless, black-hearted and single-minded as any man.Starting with her long suffering husband Mads, Belle embarks on a killing spree the like of which has never been seen before nor since.And through it all her kind, older sister Nellie can only watch in horror as Belle's schemes to enrich herself and cut down the male population come to a glorious, dreadful fruition . . .Based on the true story of Belle Sorensen whose murderous rampage began in Chicago in 1900, Triflers Need Not Apply is a novelistic tour de force exploring one woman's determination to pay men back for all they have taken.

Jack the Ripper


Mark Whitehead - 2001
    As well as an introductory essay, this text considers many of the Ripper's proposed identities, a summary of his crimes, victims and the ill-fated investigation, plus a guide to the Ripper's many fictional outings.

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York


Elon Green - 2021
    The man strikes the piano player as forgettable.He looks bland and inconspicuous. Not at all what you think a serial killer looks like. But that’s what he is, and tonight, he has his sights set on a gray haired man. He will not be his first victim.Nor will he be his last.The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the ‘80s and ‘90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the skyhigh murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of the Last Call Killer and the decades-long chase to find him. And at the same time, it paints a portrait of his victims and a vibrant community navigating threat and resilience.

Perfect Victim: The True Story of "The Girl in the Box" by the D.A. Who Prosecuted Her Captor


Christine McGuire - 1989
    . . most thought-provoking."--BooklistIn 1997 twenty-year-old Colleen Stan left home to hitchhike from Oregon to California. Seven years later she emerged from hell, the victim of a bizarre and extraordinary crime.This is Colleen's incredible true story, told by the determined young district attorney who prosecuted the man who had forced her to endure years of sexual perversion . . . and held her captive in a coffin-like box under his and his wife's bed. A story of riveting psychological intensity and gripping courtroom drama, Perfect Victim reveals the whole truth about Collen Stan's real-life nightmare . . . and the psychopath who enslaved her body and her mind."Horrifying!"--The Cincinnati Post"Hard to put down!"--Chicago Tribune"A gripping and disturbing story of the secret life of apparently normal people. At once, horrific and engrossing."--Vincent Bugliosi, author of Helter Skelter

Robert Pickton: The True Story of the Pig Farmer Killer


Chris Swinney - 2015
     This is the first book in a twenty-four volume series collection, edited by crime historian Dr. Peter Vronsky and true crime author and publisher RJ Parker. Each month they will publish a book of Canada’s most notorious criminals, written by various authors, and published under VP Publications, an imprint of RJ Parker Publishing, Inc. Chris Swinney worked Narcotics and Homicide cases for the past six years in the state of California. He also has written a crimes fiction trilogy called, "The Bill Dix Detective Series" Dr. Peter Vronsky is author of one of the most sold serial killer books worldwide; "Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters" RJ Parker has written 18 true crime books including bestsellers; "Serial Killers Abridged: An Encyclopedia of 100 Serial Killers", and "Parents Who Killed Their Children: Filicide", and publishes for several authors. BOOK 2 in Crimes Canada - Marc Lépine: The True Story of the Montreal Massacre by RJ Parker With extreme hatred in his heart against feminism, an act that feminists would label 'gynocide', a heavily armed Marc Lépine entered the University École Polytechnique de Montreal, and after allowing the male students to leave, systematically murdered 14 female students. But what motivated Lépine to carry out this heinous crime? Mass murderer, madman, cold-blooded killer, misogynist, political zealot? Or was he simply another desperate person frustrated with his powerless status in this world? The case of Lépine has been debated among the most prestigious criminologists in the country. This account entails some of the most controversial opinions of these experts to date. Only one thing is known for sure - Lépine's actions on December 6, 1989 radically changed this country and why he did what he did is much more complex than we will ever know. WITH PHOTOS BOOK 3 in Crimes Canada - Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka: The True Story of the Ken and Barbie Killers by Dr. Peter Vronsky WARNING: This book contains police and court transcripts of audio and descriptions of extremely graphic sexual violence contained in videotapes made by the perpetrators." Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka were so perfectly iconic as a newlywed couple that they were dubbed "Ken and Barbie". But their marriage had a dark side involving sex, death, and videotape. The 'perfect couple' first raped and murdered Karla's little sister and then kidnapped teenage schoolgirls whom they enslaved, raped, tortured and killed while gleefully recording themselves on video doing it. Vronsky will take you on the journey from the Scarborough Rapist (Bernardo) to Bordelais (Homolka's current last name) and her return to Canada in October, 2014 from the island of Gaudeloupe where she lived for several years with her husband and three children.  WITH (21) PHOTOS

Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison For a Murder He Didn't Commit


Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - 2016
    What ensued was a media firestorm and a whodunit that transfixed the nation, providing daily debates—and cruel, dinner table entertainment. Now, forty years after Michael Skakel’s conviction, his cousin, acclaimed activist and writer Robert Kennedy, Jr., has taken matters into his own hands to get the charges dropped and clear his cousin’s name.This startling expose—a page-turning, true story of murder, romance, and fame—is the story of Skakel’s conviction that the public has never before been prevue to. It is the product of hundreds of interviews with Skakel and those who knew him, Martha Moxley, and what may have happened the night of the crime, Halloween eve. It also explores why Kennedy believes Skakel has yet to receive a fair trial, and why he demands the original verdict be overturned.This is a heart-wrenching story with a powerful cast of characters. It opens the doors for the public into what was once a “perfect” Greenwich community and how a crime shook an elite family. Kennedy presents the evidence through enlightening text, photographs, and new interviews, and allows readers to decide, given the facts, what they believe really happened to Martha and if, forty years after his crucifixion, Michael Skakel should finally walk free.