True Crime

The True Crime American history book series dispels the shadows surrounding the insidious true crime stories that have gripped local communities. Cut through the myths and mistakes that plagued Brenda Joyce Holland’s murder case. Join the excavation of the mass grave of fifty-five railroad workers at Duffy’s Cut. Meet the infamous gangsters of Buffalo, New York, the outlaws of Western Pennsylvania, and the morally bankrupt moguls of Cleveland’s Millionaires’ Row. Featuring evidence from law enforcement, newspaper archives, and eyewitness accounts, these true crime books will force readers to look at their towns in a new light. [View all True Crime books]
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Leavenworth Seven
Leavenworth Seven
$16.99
Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey
Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey
$16.99
Murder at the Roosevelt Hotel in Cedar Rapids
Murder at the Roosevelt Hotel in Cedar Rapids
$16.99
The Ruthless Northlake Bank Robbers: A 1967 Shooting Spree that Stunned the Region
The Ruthless Northlake Bank Robbers: A 1967 Shooting Spree that Stunned the Region
$16.99
The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign
The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign
$16.99
Pittsfield's Fosburgh Murder Mystery
Pittsfield's Fosburgh Murder Mystery
$16.99
Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County
Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County
$16.99
Murder in Linn County, Oregon
Murder in Linn County, Oregon
$16.99
The Tri-State Gang in Richmond: Murder and Robbery in the Great Depression
The Tri-State Gang in Richmond: Murder and Robbery in the Great Depression
$16.99
Minnesota Mayhem
Minnesota Mayhem
$16.99
The North Country Murder of Irene Izak: Stained by Her Blood
The North Country Murder of Irene Izak: Stained by Her Blood
$16.99
Murder of a Herkimer County Teacher
Murder of a Herkimer County Teacher
$16.99
Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington, The
Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington, The
$18.99
1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery, The
1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery, The
$18.99
Death at Papago Park POW Camp
Death at Papago Park POW Camp
$16.99
The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch
The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch
$16.99
The Witch of Delray: Rose Veres & Detroit’s Infamous 1930s Murder Mystery
The Witch of Delray: Rose Veres & Detroit’s Infamous 1930s Murder Mystery
$16.99
The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards
The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards
$16.99
North Carolina Moonshine
North Carolina Moonshine
$16.99
The Boy Nevada Killed: Floyd Loveless and the Juvenile Capital Punishment Debate
The Boy Nevada Killed: Floyd Loveless and the Juvenile Capital Punishment Debate
$16.99
Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey
Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign
The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike
The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Louisville's Alma Kellner Mystery
Louisville's Alma Kellner Mystery
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards
The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County
Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County
$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%
A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana: The Tragic Betrayal of Nettie Diamond
A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana: The Tragic Betrayal of Nettie Diamond
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Murder in Linn County, Oregon
Murder in Linn County, Oregon
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Richmond in Ragtime
Richmond in Ragtime
$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%
The Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington
The Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington
$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
The Rise & Fall of Nashville Lawyer Tommy Osborn
The Rise & Fall of Nashville Lawyer Tommy Osborn
$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
The 1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery
The 1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery
$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
Murder in Visalia
Murder in Visalia
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Minnesota Mayhem
Minnesota Mayhem
$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia
The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia
$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey

9781467137942

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Author John E. O'Rourke recounts the crime that rocked a sleepy community and brought the nation's eyes to North Jersey.


On a spring morning in Morristown in 1992, authorities discovered a car idling in a driveway with the door open and the driver missing. After they learned the driver was Sidney Reso, the president of Exxon International, the FBI joined the investigation. Over the next two months, law enforcement received cryptic communications that led to a cat-and-mouse chase for those responsible. Retired cop Arthur Seale and his wife, Irene, demanded one of the largest ransoms in U.S. history, and authorities struggled to solve the case.

Mystery, Millions & Murder in North Jersey

The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign

9781467119290

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Adam "Pump" Arnold was both feared and regaled in Victorian- era Battle Creek. He was a bootlegger and a pimp, a robber and a con artist, an arsonist and a loan shark and even an assassin. Arnold faced off with the city over illegal liquor sales and flaunted his victory with a life-size statue of the mayor dressed as a hobo. Called the "greatest criminal in the history of Battle Creek," Arnold was convicted in a captivating public trial for the murder of his own son. Join authors Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester as they explore the life and misdeeds of the unabashed criminal mastermind who rocked Battle Creek to its core.
The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign

The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike

9781467136891

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

Fear, rumor and white supremacist ideals clashed with an unprecedented labor action spawned an epic tragedy.


On November 23, 1887, white vigilantes gunned down unarmed black laborers and their families due to strikes on Louisiana sugar cane plantations. A future member of the U.S. House of Representatives was among the leaders of a mob that routed black men from houses and forced them to a stretch of railroad track, ordering them to run for their lives before gunning them down. According to a witness, the guns firing in the black neighborhoods sounded like a battle. Author and award-winning reporter John DeSantis uses correspondence, interviews and federal records to detail this harrowing true story.

The Thibodaux Massacre: Racial Violence and the 1887 Sugar Cane Labor Strike

Louisville's Alma Kellner Mystery

9781467138161

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%

A kidnapping, a brutal murder, an international manhunt, and a diabolical priest… This is the true story of the murder of eight-year-old Alma Kellner.

On a bitterly cold day in December of 1909, young Alma Kellner simply disappeared from the altar of St. John's Church in Louisville. Her body was found four months later near the site of the church, and news of the murder rocked the city. The manhunt for the suspect Louisville police Captain John Carney eleven thousand miles across the country, and even to South America, to return the killer to justice. While a man was tried and convicted to life in prison for the crime, suspicion lingers that the true culprit was the murderous and maniacal Catholic priest Hans Schmidt, the only priest to have ever been executed in the United States. Author Shawn M. Herron details the fascinating story of a tragedy that still remains a source of mystery to this day.

Louisville's Alma Kellner Mystery

The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards

9781467117876

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
After Monroe Edwards died in Sing Sing prison in 1847, penny dreadfuls memorialized him as the most celebrated American forger until the turn of the century. With a bizarre biography too complicated for easy history, his critical contributions to Texas settlement, revolution and annexation were inextricably mired in his activities as a slave smuggler and confidence man. Author Lora-Marie Bernard unravels the unbelievable story of one of the most notorious criminal adventurers ever to set foot on the soil of the Lone Star State.
The Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards

Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County

9781467135290

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%
Hangings, lynchings and jail breaks are long forgotten in Pacific County, where tourists flock to quaint attractions every season. But back in the early days, when the first jailhouse was built, this was a rough, rustic setting. Popular cannery worker Lum You was hanged here in 1902--the only legal execution in county history. Industrious smugglers and creative entrepreneurs outwitted state-sanctioned prohibition measures, though some still did time in the jailhouse. Historian Sydney Stevens presents a collection of tales culled from a forgotten prison record book. Opium fiends, thieves, military deserters and even wayward girls jailed for incorrigible acts are brought out of the shadows of a wilderness long gone.
Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County

A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana: The Tragic Betrayal of Nettie Diamond

9781626194786

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
Nettie Herskovitz was wealthy and widowed. Her suitor, Harry Diamond, was a dashing young bootlegger a decade and a half her junior. At first she resisted his advances, but soon the two were married with an infant daughter. Disinterested in a domestic life, Diamond shot Nettie on Valentine's Day 1923 while riding in their Hudson sedan. He tried to pin the crime on the fleeing chauffeur, but Diamond made a mistake. Though mortally wounded, Nettie lived long enough to identify her attacker to police and change her will. The sensational Diamond murder became tabloid fodder--a Roaring Twenties story of roadhouse floozies, illegal booze, orphaned children, trust funds and legal acrobatics.
A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana: The Tragic Betrayal of Nettie Diamond

Murder in Linn County, Oregon

9781467135221

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
On June 21, 1922, Linn County sheriff Charles Kendall and Reverend Roy Healy drove out to the town of Plainview to arrest a moonshining farmer named Dave West. By the end of the day, all three men were dead. First responders found Sheriff Kendall facedown with his pistol still holstered. The court appointed William Dunlap as the new sheriff, but within a year, someone killed him, too. Author and journalist Cory Frye delivers a riveting, detailed account of these shocking and tragic crimes that haunted Linn County for decades.
Murder in Linn County, Oregon

Richmond in Ragtime

9781596294431

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%
The three years from 1909 to 1911 were busy ones in Richmond, what with the misadventures of Adon A. Yoder, a muckraking
pamphleteer who gets beaten up, sued and thrown in jail; the organizing of women like Lila Meade Valentine to fight for their right to vote; the art of sculptor Ferruccio Legnaioli; the novels of Ellen Glasgow, Mary Johnston and James Branch Cabell; increased restrictions against African Americans; a public spectacle surrounding the murder trial of Henry Clay Beattie Jr.; exotic flying machines and automobile endurance contests; and the recording of Polk Miller and his Old South Quartette. Join local author Harry Kollatz Jr. (True Richmond Stories) as he revives the city of a century ago for a tour of Richmond in ragtime.
Richmond in Ragtime

The Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington

9781467138857

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
Before midnight on March 19, 1950, several startled bystanders watched two men force a screaming young woman into a car and drive away from Saint Joseph's Hospital in Vancouver. One of them yelled out that she was his wife and was drunk. That was the last time anyone saw JoAnn Dewey alive. Her battered, naked body washed up on the banks of the Wind River seven days later. Suspicion quickly fell on two brothers, Turman and Utah Wilson, who fled town before police caught them in Sacramento. Their arrest and sensational trial captivated and divided the peaceful community. Author Pat Jollota uncovers the chilling details of this tragic story.
The Murder of JoAnn Dewey in Vancouver, Washington

The Rise & Fall of Nashville Lawyer Tommy Osborn

9781467138048

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%

Author William L. Tabac describes the extraordinary legal proceeding with the twists and turns of a modern television drama and the fall of a prominent attorney.


Tommy Osborn's star was rising. The young Nashville lawyer led a band of Tennessee reformers to victory in a landmark Supreme Court case. Hailed by Chief Justice Earl Warren as the most important of his career, Baker v. Carr's "one man, one vote" mandate revolutionized how Americans chose their representatives. Osborn was hired by Jimmy Hoffa to take on Bobby Kennedy for the fourth time. Unfortunately, the young lawyer met his match in Walter Sheridan, Kennedy's top aide and brilliant spymaster.

The Rise & Fall of Nashville Lawyer Tommy Osborn

The 1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery

9781467139915

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
On the morning of April 14, 1926, the Inland Steel payroll delivery was hijacked in Indiana Harbor. Later that afternoon, Will County deputy sheriff and Mokena resident Walter Fisher died in a hail of gunfire just outside Orland Park. That night, the bullet-riddled body of Santo Calabrese turned up on a Broadview road. The exact sequence of events remains uncertain, but a jury was able to trace enough of the day's violent trajectory to send Daniel Hesly on the path to Alcatraz. Matthew Galik leaps into a drama of high-speed pursuit and mistaken identity that shocked the jaded sensibilities of Prohibition-era Chicago and plunged the town of Mokena into mourning.

The 1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery

Murder in Visalia

9781625859808

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
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.
Murder in Visalia

Minnesota Mayhem

9781609495978

$23.99 $16.79 Save 30%
Turn back the yellowing pages of Minnesota's past and explore the best of the state's worst moments, as chronicled in the Minneapolis Tribune and its successor newspapers. These stories and photos, culled from the Star Tribune's microfilm archive by author Ben Welter, range from the catastrophic to the merely curious. From a fire that destroyed the State Capitol in 1881, to a wordless fistfight that broke out on a Minneapolis street in 1898, a flu outbreak that killed more than 10,000 Minnesotans in 1918 and the arrest of Frank Lloyd Wright at a Lake Minnetonka cottage in 1926.
Minnesota Mayhem

The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia

9781467135658

$21.99 $15.39 Save 30%
In 1932, a black man was found hanging on Rattlesnake Mountain in Fauquier County. A mob set fire to his body. Officials identified the remains as Shedrick Thompson, wanted for the abduction and rape of a local white woman. Some claimed Thompson killed himself--the final act of a desperate fugitive. But residents knew better, calling the tragedy a lynching--the last one known in Virginia. Author Jim Hall takes an in-depth look at the events to expose a complex and disturbing chapter in Virginia history.
The Last Lynching in Northern Virginia