Book picks similar to
Early Graves by Thomas H. Cook


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Strange Crime


Portable Press - 2018
    Dumb crooks, celebrities gone bad, unsolved mysteries, odd laws, and more—Strange Crime has plenty of stories that will make you ask yourself, “What could they possibly have been thinking?” This easily portable paperback book is ideal for readers on the go. Take it to school, to work, to jury duty!

Before He Wakes


Jerry Bledsoe - 1994
    When she "accidentally" shot her husband, a popular high school coach, the police believed it was an accident. Then they found out her previous husband had died in a similar manner, and her facade began to unravel. Photos.

A Taste For Murder


Burl Barer - 2016
    His wife and step-daughter are in shock, and so is the medical examiner when he performs the autopsy. Aside from being dead, Frank is in perfect health. Demanding to know the cause of her husband’s death, Angie Rodriguez badgers the police, insisting that Frank was murdered. The cops attribute her assertions to overwhelming grief, but soon they too believe that Frank didn’t die of natural causes. When the police enlist their number one suspect to help in the investigation, things spiral out of control until police are dealing with a daring plot to murder Angie’s best friend, and allegations of another homicide so evil and perverse that even seasoned L.A County Detectives are shocked beyond belief ... and so will the readers!

Prescription: Murder! Volume 3: Authentic Cases From the Files of Alan Hynd


Alan Hynd - 2014
     From the files and pen of world renowned true crime writer Alan Hynd (1903 - 1974) comes the final installment of deliciously dark true murder cases of the first half of the 20th Century. These stories, the third of these three short collections, are unified by a single theme: they all involve physicians. And not for the autopsy, but as perpetrators or accused perpetrators. You may never see your family care giver again in the same light. Told in the characteristic wry, anecdotal reportorial style that made Alan Hynd famous in his day (two wartime best sellers in 1943, contributions to The Reader's Digest, Colliers, Coronet, The Saturday Evening Post, True, Liberty, The American Mercury and almost every true detective magazine in print) these tales will have you cringing one minute, laughing the next, and gasping in shock a moment later. Truly, no one could make up classics like these. We meet here the notorious Dr. Cream, a twitchy-eyed psychotic with a yen for prostitutes, a Philadelphia chiropractor whose girlfriend lost her head, and Marcel Petiot, whose patients payed their own way out of this world. Then as a bonus, get to know (from a safe distance) "Lethal Louise," the black widow of California, and Adolf Luetgert of Chicago, whose sausage-making plant was put to extracurricular uses. This is not for the faint of heart. True crime is always farther out there than fiction.

A Death In California


Joan Barthel - 1982
    But he murders the beau and later rapes Hope Masters. Suffering from trauma and the Stockholm Syndrome, Hope thinks she's in love with him, although both he and she are accused of murder. This is a true crime story of the socialite and the sociopath that happened in the early 1970s.

Beaten and Left for Dead: The Story of Teri Jendusa-Nicolai


Dave Alfvin - 2017
    The Crime of the Decade in Wisconsin. WITH PHOTOS Teri Jendusa never dreamed she would marry a violent, malignant narcissist like David Larsen. But she did. Why? Simple. Larsen cleverly concealed his true nature until the marriage vows were final. David, an eventual church council president and model citizen, rapidly began to morph into a monster and sociopath, telling Teri on their wedding day, “Now, I own you.” Beaten and Left For Dead is a book about extreme marital violence, dominant control and psychological torment through the mind of the out-of-control David Larsen. It's also about survival, faith and a mother’s will to live for her children’s sake...as she faces death, face to face. This is an ideal book for women’s studies and book clubs as it looks inside a large women’s shelter, giving the reader a glimpse of a support network. The author also interviews a counselor who works with violent men with surprising results. Teri Jendusa-Nicolai continues to crusade for women’s issues to this day and currently works with a Wisconsin commission on domestic violence. EDITORIAL PRAISE "Teri Jendusa-Nicolai's story is a powerful example of the horrific lengths of barbarism a man can go to when he considers a woman his personal property. And it is, equally, an inspiring, riveting story of a woman's courage and clear thinking under the absolute worst of conditions, and of her tenacious hold to life...I am so grateful to Teri Jendusa-Nicolai and to Dave Alfvin for getting this story out to us. Don't miss it." --Lundy Bancroft, best-selling author on domestic violence, trainer, and activist on male violence against women "This book is important because it gets our message out as to what we do to help abusers change their value systems." --Maureen Manning-Rosenfeld, Clinical Professional Counselor

She Wanted It All


Kathryn Casey - 2005
    in a second conspiracy to commit murder.

Summer's Almost Gone: The Haunting Case of the Bricca Family Murders


J.T. Townsend - 2020
    A crime destined to become the most notorious and obsessive cold case in Cincinnati history. On that long ago day in September on the cusp of autumn, we were horrified by the blaring Bricca murder headlines. Jerry, his pretty wife Linda, and their young daughter Debbie were found stabbed to death in their home in the city’s Bridgetown neighborhood. Striking between the 4th and 5th slayings of the Cincinnati Strangler in 1966, the Bricca killer plunged a city already on edge into an abyss.A half century later, the Bricca mystery lingers in cobwebs and survives on whispers. Enter Cincinnati crime writer, J.T. Townsend, author of local best-seller Queen City Gothic. J.T. was given unprecedented access to the case file, laden with information that never saw the light of print before–evidence that might illuminate the relentless rumors that police “screwed up the crime scene” or “covered up for the suspect.” 50 years later, True Crime Detective J.T. Townsend answers “Who dun it?” and renders a final verdict.

The Professor and the Prostitute: And Other True Tales of Murder and Madness


Linda Wolfe - 1986
    

Beyond Obsession: The Shocking True Story of a Teenage Love Affair Turned Deadly


Richard Hammer - 1992
       Joyce Aparo seemed to be the perfect single mother. She doted on her sixteen-year-old daughter, Karin, encouraging her musical ability and lavishing affection on her. But behind closed doors, Joyce was a terror. For thirteen years, she beat Karin savagely, kept her away from other children, and demeaned her relentlessly. When Karin met the troubled yet brilliant Dennis Coleman, the two fell head-over-heels into lustful infatuation. But Joyce disapproved—so she had to die.   On August 5, 1987, Joyce’s body was found under a bridge near the Connecticut–Massachusetts border. She had been strangled, and was covered in bruises, with paper stuffed in her mouth and pantyhose knotted around her throat. The police investigation soon dragged her horrific treatment of Karin into the open, and the teenage lovers became the prime suspects. Dennis eventually confessed to the murder, testifying that Karin begged him to kill her mother. But Karin had a very different story to tell, claiming to have no knowledge of Dennis’s plans. Was she manipulating the police the same way she manipulated her former boyfriend, or was she an innocent victim?   Based on meticulous research, court transcripts, and interviews with the survivors, Beyond Obsession is the definitive account of an American tragedy and the basis for a popular TV movie starring Victoria Principal and Emily Warfield.

Murder in Pleasanton: Tina Faelz and the Search for Justice


Josh Suchon - 2015
    About an hour later, she was found in a ditch, brutally stabbed to death. The murder shook the quiet East Bay suburb of Pleasanton and left investigators baffled. With no witnesses or leads, the case went cold and remained so for nearly thirty years. In 2011, the investigation finally got a break. Improved forensics recovered DNA from a drop of blood found at the scene matching Tina’s classmate, Steven Carlson. Through dusty police files, personal interviews, letters and firsthand accounts, journalist Joshua Suchon revisits his childhood home to uncover the story of a disturbing crime and the controversial sentencing that brought long-awaited answers to a city tormented by questions.

Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case


Clifford Irving - 1988
    With no witnesses and only allegations of family greed, incest, and sexual abuse, the murder remains unsolved for years. The most likely suspects, the victims' youngest daughter Cindy, and her ex-Marine boyfriend, David West, had an alibi the police could not crack. And then West fell in love with Kim Paris, a sexy ex-stripper turned private investigator. She coaxed a confession from him that led to a complex murder case exploding into national news. Clifford Irving wrote: "I started out in Houston as a writer on assignment . . . but I became an investigator, a friend to many of the dramatis personae, and a trial witness. As a result, to my discomfort, I helped to determine the outcome of events . . ." The story of Cindy, a tortured woman, and David, a man determined to do the right thing even if it required multiple murder, is as spectacular and thrilling a true-crime courtroom drama as you will ever read.

True Crime Case Histories, Volume 2: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories


Jason Neal - 2019
    The stories you are about to read are brutally gruesome. They represent humanity at its worst. TV crime shows and stories in the news tend to gloss over the truly horrible parts, but the True Crime Case Histories series leaves out none of the details. A sampling of the stories include: The Girl in the Barrel - A homeowner finds a fifty-five gallon barrel in the crawl space beneath his home. What they find inside the barrel unlocks a murder mystery dating back thirty years. The Dexter Wannabe - A young man obsessed with the TV show Dexter lures unsuspecting victims to his "kill room" and keeps a detailed diary of the dismemberment of his prey. The Murder of Elizabeth Olten - A fifteen-year-old girl wants to know what it feels like to kill a person. Interpol's Most Wanted - When fishermen pull up the dead body of a man in the English Channel, police stumble upon one of Interpol's Most Wanted criminals. The Girl in the Box - An unbelievable story of a psychopath who kidnaps a young girl and keeps her as a slave locked beneath his bed for seven years. The Green Chain Rapist - A beautiful young mother is butchered in broad daylight in a London park and the only witness is her two-year-old son. Police then waste three years chasing the wrong man while the real killer slaughters another woman. Paige’s Secret Life - A young single-mother of three goes missing and police realize she's been living a secret life that her friends and family didn't know about. A Walking Shadow - A suicidal teenager, frustrated with the bank threatening to foreclose on the family home, kidnaps the bank manager's ten-year-old son and holds him for ransom. Plus three more disturbing true crime stories. The stories included in this collection are dark and creepy and will leave you with a new understanding of just how fragile the human mind can be. Scroll up to get your copy True Crime Case Histories Volume 3 is coming December 2019 featuring 12 more short stories of; True Crime, Murder & Mayhem, Serial Killer Biographies, and True Murder Case Files. Stories include: Mark Twitchell, Howard Elkins, Rick Valentini, Cameron Hooker, Alyssa Bustamante, Jamie Reynolds, Albert Johnson Walker, Lester Jones, Robert Napper, Mike Adams, Harvey Glatman, and Myles Fukunaga. Also included is the full text of Mark Twitchell's "SK Confessions" diary.

Pathological: The Murderous Rage Of Dr. Anthony Garcia


Henry J. Cordes - 2018
    But Who Could Kill With Such Precision?Detective Derek Mois wasn’t sure what he was dealing with when in March 2008 he walked into a home in an affluent Omaha neighborhood and was confronted with the bodies of an 11-year-old boy and the housekeeper. Both had been murdered with kitchen knives plunged into their throats. Who would do something so vile, and why? Lacking answers, Mois and other detectives working the case were stumped.Five years later, a strikingly similar crime occurred in which two more victims were brutally murdered with knives expertly thrust into their jugular veins. The modus operandi of the murders pointed Mois and a special task force in the direction of looking for a serial killer. But no one could have anticipated that path would lead to the Department of Pathology at Creighton University.In PATHOLOGICAL: The Murderous Rage Of Dr. Anthony Garcia, authors Henry J. Cordes and Todd Cooper, who covered the story for the Omaha World-Herald, recount the dramatic tale of deep-seated revenge, determined detectives, and the sensational trial of the doctor-turned-serial killer.

The Truth about Belle Gunness: The True Story of Notorious Serial Killer Hell's Belle


Lillian de la Torre - 1955
    On the morning of April 27, 1908, the farmhand on a lonely property outside La Porte, Indiana, woke to the smell of smoke. He tried to rouse the lady of the house, the towering Belle Poulsdatter Sorenson Gunness, and he called the names of her three children—but they didn’t answer, and the farmhand barely escaped alive. The house burned to the foundation, and in the rubble, firemen found the corpses of Belle, her two daughters, and her son. The discovery raised two chilling questions: Who started the fire, and who cut off Belle’s head?   As investigators searched the property, they uncovered something astonishing: The remains of a dozen or more men and children who had been murdered with poison or cleaver were buried beneath the hog pen. It turned out Belle Gunness was one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. And when the investigation revealed that the body found in the fire might not have been hers, the people of La Porte were forced to confront the terrifying realization that Belle might have gotten out alive.   Nominated for an Edgar Award for best factual crime story, The Truth about Belle Gunness is based on extensive interviews with witnesses and residents of La Porte who knew Belle and her family. Perfect for fans of In Cold Blood or The Devil in the White City, it is a “magnificent [and] brilliantly written” exploration of a highly unusual murderer (The New York Times).