Books for the Armchair Detective in Your Life

Inside some of the mildest people we know is a penchant for reading dark stories of small-town murders, or chilling serial killers. Why not arm the armchair detective in your life with true crime books from every dark corner of the American dream? Here are fascinating stories of unsolved cases, organized crime, historical murders, detective memoirs, epic manhunts, and everyday small-town murder. For the true crime fan in your life, we offer these gripping cases served hot, cold, strange, and straight – so go ahead, throw the book at them!
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Crime, Corruption & Politics in Hull
Crime, Corruption & Politics in Hull
$21.99
Murder in Marple:
Murder in Marple:
$21.99
The Burlington County Prison:
The Burlington County Prison:
$21.99
Cincinnati Police History
Cincinnati Police History
$24.99
Auburn Police
Auburn Police
$24.99
Mystery on the Vineyard:
Mystery on the Vineyard:
$21.99
Murders in Monmouth
Murders in Monmouth
$21.99
Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley
Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley
$21.99
Murder in the Courthouse:
Murder in the Courthouse:
$21.99

Crime, Corruption & Politics in Hull

9781596291263

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If you lived in Hull, Massachusetts, during the first four decades of the twentieth century, you were susceptible to two forces: the political machinations of Boss John Smith and the vitriolic editorial columns of Hull Beacon publisher Floretta Vining. Smith ran the town with an iron fist through fixed elections, padlocked town meetings, kickbacks, graft and bribes. Vining reported on it all and fought it like no other Progressive Era woman could, using newsprint space to lash out at girls who chewed gum in public and small boys who made too much noise at night, and calling for old men over sixty years of age to simply be put to sleep. Hull Times contributor and local historian John Galluzzo brings back the days of Vining and Smith, of steamboats and trains, of Paragon Park and the grand hotels of Nantasket Beach. In this accessible history, the reader gets a ringside seat to some of the most heated political battles in the history of the South Shore, fought in town halls and occasionally spilling into the streets of the once quiet and peaceful Hull Village.
Crime, Corruption & Politics in Hull

Murder in Marple:

9781467117944

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Benjamin D'Amore abused his wife for the last time on November 29, 1949. That night, his sons John and Nicholas exacted revenge and executed Benjamin with a shotgun and deer rifle. The trial that followed was unlike many before it. Two psychiatrists diagnosed the brothers with "catathymic crisis," which inhibited their judgment during the crime. But despite the defendants' guilty plea, an all-female jury acquitted them. Thomas Deitman and Dawn D'Amore Yankanich unravel the horrific events and conspiracies regarding the shocking patricide case.
Murder in Marple:

The Burlington County Prison:

9781609491055

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Built in 1811 in Mount Holly and intended to be a short-term holding facility, Burlington County Prison became one of the most notorious prisons of its time as criminals of all sorts spent days, years or lifetimes in its dungeon-like cells. Renowned architect Robert Mills designed the structure to be escape-proof, but more than a few prisoners overcame that challenge. Murderers, kidnappers, abusers, alcoholics, the mentally ill and other undesirables"? served time here. Many were executed on the grounds, while others never left. From conception to construction, from criminal deviants to prisoners guilty of simply being poor, authors Dennis Rizzo and Dave Kimball explore the prison's past and present, the whole story of one of New Jersey's most well-known landmarks."
The Burlington County Prison:

Cincinnati Police History

9780738550961

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The Village of Cincinnati appointed its first marshal, James Smith, in 1802. Today the Cincinnati Police Department boasts a dedicated staff of more than 1,000 sworn officers. Throughout its 200-plus years, the department has celebrated many firsts, such as being the first police agency to use telephones, and has also persevered through some difficult times, the most recent being the 2001 race riots. The Cincinnati police have won such awards as the Best Community Police Program by National League of Cities, the Governor's Community Policing Award of Excellence, and more than 35 local, state, national, and international awards. Programs like the Cadet/Intern Program, the Civilian Volunteer Program, the Juvenile Aid Bureau, the Youth Services Section, and the Citizens Police Academy are ways the police have reached out to the community to educate and protect over the years.
Cincinnati Police History

Auburn Police

9780738550350

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Auburn Police traces the history of the Auburn Police Department, which dates back to the mid1800s. It portrays many of the faces of those people who have devoted 20, 30, or more years of service to their community. Although a number of aspects of law enforcement have changed over the years, the very principle of the police officer interacting with the public remains the same.
Auburn Police

Mystery on the Vineyard:

9781596294233

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In the pre, World War II innocence of small-town America, a dapper off-Islander impresses the locals. Drawn to the prettiest girl, he is upset when an elderly woman tries to break off their romance. In a drunken stupor he murders the troublesome woman. Through an amazing confluence of circumstances, he avoids prosecution. The reclusive, paranoid teacher of the victim attracts the attention of a distracted district attorney who is eager for a sensational trial to promote himself in an impending election. The teacher is arrested and charged with the murder. The looming shadows of war on the international stage capture the people of Martha's Vineyard, and the local murder fades into the murky memoirs of history.
Mystery on the Vineyard:

Murders in Monmouth

9781596293489

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Why do people kill? In the case of the young and mentally unstable Frank Zastera, the rationale was as simple as the act was brutal: he wanted William Sheppard's money. In other homicides, such as the still-unsolved 1913 murder of George Harris, the motive for committing the ultimate crime remains obscured for eternity. In Murders in Monmouth, author George Joynson unflinchingly assembles the who, what, when, where and why surrounding twelve high-profile killings perpetrated by various individuals in early twentieth-century Monmouth County.
Murders in Monmouth

Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley

9781609499976

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The pleasant neighborhoods of the Crescenta Valley offer no hint of the many violent and heinous crimes that have occurred between the San Gabriel and Verdugo Mountains. But ties to such macabre episodes as the Onion Field murder and the search for the Hillside Strangler left lasting scars here. Infamous criminals such as mafia boss Joe "Iron Man" Ardizzone, red-light bandit Caryl Chessman and accused yacht bomber Beulah Overell have left a black eye on La Cresecenta's history--not to mention the "Rattlesnake Murder," "Female Bluebeard" and "Santa Claus Killer." Join historians Gary Keyes and Mike Lawler as they expose the crimes and criminals that have inflicted murder and mayhem in Glendale, La Crescenta, Montrose and La Canada Flintridge.
Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley

Murder in the Courthouse:

9781596297555

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No suspect was ever indicted or tried for the murder of scalawag politician John W. Chicken" Stephens in a North Carolina courthouse; and the Ku Klux Klan not only rid itself of a troublesome adversary, but also set up a showdown between the state's old guard and the radical regime of Governor William Woods Holden. Follow this little-known tale from the murder, through the "Kirk-Holden War," through the courts and to the finale, when Holden became the United States' first governor impeached and removed from office. Newspaper reporter and historical columnist Jim Wise takes us beyond the final days of the Civil War in North Carolina, amidst the destruction and poverty and debt, to chronicle the men whose clashing agendas and personalities shaped a violent era and laid foundations for the Jim Crow century to come."
Murder in the Courthouse: