California

Name: Death at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles
Brand: Dale Richard Perelman
SKU: 9781467150187
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Plan all your California getaways with our Golden State catalog. Whip up the coast on the PCH to old San Francisco, where Gold Rush fever is slow to fade. Leave some flowers for Cecil B. DeMille and Johnny Ramone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Get a progress report on the receding waters of the Salton Sea and the expanding minds in Northridge. From the fertile fields of Nevada County to the Venice Beach Boardwalk, experience the largesse and diversity of California's history with our California history books. [View all California books]

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Death at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles

The San Francisco Doodler Murders

Napa Valley Lawmen and Outlaws

Murder in Pleasanton:

Deadly San Diego

The McGlincy Killings in Campbell, California

The Napa Murder of Anita Fagiani Andrews

Napa Valley Case Files

Murder in Visalia

The Los Angeles Sugar Ring: Inside the World of Old Money, Bootleggers & Gambling Barons

California's Lamson Murder Mystery

San Luis Obispo County Outlaws

Death at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles

9781467150187

$21.99

Built during Los Angeles's rapid growth in the Roaring Twenties, the Beaux Arts-style Cecil Hotel was briefly a glimmering downtown landmark until it became one of the most infamous sites of violence and murder in the country. Nicknamed "The Suicide," the Cecil was the eerie location of more than a dozen people taking their own lives going back to the 1940s and '50s. Rumors still swirl that Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, frequented the hotel in the days before her gruesome murder. Serial killer Richard "Night Stalker" Ramirez lived at the Cecil for long stays in the 1980s. Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger murdered three sex workers while a guest at the Cecil in 1991. Author Dale Perelman charts the brutal and mysterious history of Los Angeles's most notorious hotel.

The San Francisco Doodler Murders

9781467149877

$23.99

In 1974, one of San Francisco's most horrific unsolved serial murder cases began.

In less than two years, the man police called "The Doodler'? took at least five lives, terrorized the LGBTQ community, and left three survivors forever changed. Initial reports claimed the murderer didn't approach his victims with the knife he used to kill them, but that the suspect shared skilled drawings--sketches of faces and animals--before leaving several gay men to bleed out in the sands of Ocean Beach. Police investigations and activist efforts to uncover the killer led to several suspects, but no definitive identification of the artist of death.

Author Kate Zaliznock shines a light on this riveting cold case.

Napa Valley Lawmen and Outlaws

9781467142366

$21.99

Law enforcement in Napa County traces its roots back to the days of Spanish rule and was formalized when California became a state in 1850. Since then, those who wear the badge have pursued the lawless in search of justice. Chuck Hansen, who started as a patrol officer, pioneered the use of forensic science at the Napa Police Department, collecting DNA evidence in 1974 that would become key in solving a murder decades later. And the killer known as "Willy the Woodcutter" was caught thanks to the expertise of Hal Snook of the Napa County Sheriff's Department. Napa police sergeant Todd Shulman brings to life the stories of those who played a part in solving some of wine country's most infamous crimes.

Murder in Pleasanton:

9781467117654

$21.99

In April 1984, Foothill High freshman Tina Faelz took a shortcut on her walk home. 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.

Deadly San Diego

9781467152792

$23.99

Delve into a world of cold cases, serial killers and false confessions pulled straight from the archives of the San Diego Police Department. From a rash of attacks in Balboa Park to the slayings of two police officers that remain unsolved to this day, detectives have investigated several vexing and violent cases over the years. In 1931, the murder of ten-year-old Virginia Brooks was initially linked to serial slayer Gordon Stewart Northcott, later hanged for his crimes, while the mysterious death of young Dalbert Aposhian languished for seventy-two years before modern forensics closed it. Join author Steve Willard as he pulls back the curtain on San Diego's dark side.

The McGlincy Killings in Campbell, California

9781467138437

$21.99

On the morning of May 27, 1896, the peaceful township of Campbell awoke to shocking news. Six people were brutally murdered at the home of Colonel Richard P. McGlincy, one of the town's most respected citizens. The suspect, James Dunham--the colonel's son-in-law--fled the scene and disappeared into the hills of Mount Hamilton overlooking Santa Clara County. This heinous crime triggered a massive, nationwide manhunt while investigators pieced together the details. Author Tobin Gilman examines the mind and motives of the killer, the sensational media coverage and the colorful personalities associated with the protracted and unresolved pursuit of justice.

The Napa Murder of Anita Fagiani Andrews

9781467147415

$24.99

In 1974, the brutal murder of Anita Fagiani Andrews, a fifty-one-year-old former beauty queen and mother of two, shook the small working-class town of Napa. Detectives, criminalists and forensic experts raced to identify who'd struck Anita down in her own bar, but despite their efforts, the case went cold. Decades passed, during which the town grew into a world-renowned wine region and tourist destination, but the case remained an open question. After thirty-seven years, thanks to DNA evidence, the killer--imprisoned for a different murder--was finally found and brought to justice. Join author and retired judge Raymond A. Guadagni as he tells the story of the shocking murder, the investigation and the subsequent trial over which he presided in 2011.

Napa Valley Case Files

9781467151849

$21.99

Well known for its picturesque setting, Napa Valley is also home to crimes perpetrated in the name of greed, love and rage.

Shocking incidents have rocked the small communities nestled among the vineyards, like that of greedy young Billy Duvall, who killed his parents as they slept, and Bob Edwards, who suffocated his beloved wife in a misguided attempt to keep a promise. Two victims of domestic violence came to very different ends--one murdered and the other offered a second chance at life after a jail sentence.

Join author and retired Napa Superior Court judge Raymond A. Guadagni as he offers his unique perspective on these notorious court cases and the criminal justice system.

Murder in Visalia

9781625859808

$21.99

One October morning in 1979, a stamp and coin dealer was gunned down in his Visalia shop. There were no witnesses. Persistent police efforts across jurisdictional lines connected it to another death. Two months earlier, the body of a Fresno coin dealer was found locked in the trunk of his car. The trail of evidence led to a most unlikely suspect. Author Ronn M. Couillard, retired judge and former Visalia district attorney, lays out the facts in this compelling case from the investigation to the court proceedings and the surprise that almost derailed the conviction.

The Los Angeles Sugar Ring: Inside the World of Old Money, Bootleggers & Gambling Barons

9781625859976

$21.99

Early movers and shakers of Los Angeles didn't always operate within the confines of the law, including opportunist and family man Big George Niotta, who supplied sugar to make illegal liquor. Niotta rose to prominence thanks to his magnetic charm and collaborations with infamous bootlegger Frank Borgia and influential gambling baron Jack Dragna. But the fall is hard for those soaring high. Bled dry by the IRS, Niotta fought to restore his wealth through ringer horses, a multimillion-dollar lottery and a notorious gambling parlor. Through the moves of a pawn dead set on wearing a crown, author J. Michael Niotta explores three decades of L.A. crime, including a rare insider's look at the history of the Eagle Brewing Company and other survivors of Prohibition.

California's Lamson Murder Mystery

9781467136532

$21.99

On Memorial Day 1933, Stanford executive David Lamson found his wife, Allene, dead in their Palo Alto home. The only suspect, he became the face of California's most sensational murder trial of the century. After a judge sentenced him to hang at San Quentin, a team of Stanford colleagues stepped in to form the Lamson Defense Committee. The group included poets Yvor Winters and Janet Lewis, as well as the "Sherlock Holmes of Berkeley," criminologist E.O. Heinrich. They managed to overturn the verdict and incite a series of heated retrials that gripped and divided the community. Was Lamson the victim of aggressive prosecutors, or was he a master of deception whose connections helped him get away with murder? Author and Stanford alum Tom Zaniello meticulously examines the details of a notorious case with a lingering legacy.

San Luis Obispo County Outlaws

9781625859266

$21.99

California was a wild and lawless place in the 1850s, and San Luis Obispo County was no exception. Outlaws and bandits passed along the El Camino Real, now Highway 101, leaving a trail of victims. Despite attempts to stem the tide of crime with a vigilante committee and a string of executions, notorious men continued to be drawn to the central coast well into the next century. The James brothers, the Daltons and even Al Capone made their mark here, while lawmen worked to tame this piece of the western frontier. Author Jim Gregory details nefarious activities lost to time.