Coram House by Bailey Seybolt

May 28, 2025

Coram House by Bailey Seybolt

Coram House was an orphanage run by nuns, closed down after decades of abuse were uncovered. Alex Kelley is a struggling writer who has accepted a job to ghostwrite a true crime book about the orphanage and the children who lived there. She is hoping the book will restart her career and that the income will help her get back on her feet. The only real downside that she can see is having to move to Vermont in January. But when she starts researching the story, she discovers a very different tale than she was expecting.

Inspired by a true story (St. Joseph's Orphanage in Vermont) and a pretty quick read. Highly atmospheric from the creepy orphanage complete with graveyard that an entrepreneur is redoing as luxury housing (I mean, seriously??) to the shifty locals to the dark Vermont winter. Good plotting that makes you wonder who the real monster is. The main character was the drawback for me - she is all kinds of stupid. Of course, if she acted like a rational person, there wouldn't be a novel ("oh, sure, I'll come alone out to your isolated house and not tell anyone where I'm going, even though you've already threatened me with bodily harm and are suspected of killing at least one person."). I do prefer my main characters a little brighter, although some readers will appreciate her imperfections. Themes include the downside of true crime writing, child abuse, pedophilia in the church, blackmail, and murder, so be warned if these subjects are triggers for you.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

St. Joseph's Orphanage, Burlington, VT

The Murderess by Laurie Notaro

February 24, 2025

The Murderess by Laurie Notaro

In October 1931, two trunks arrive in Los Angeles on a train from Phoenix. At first, railroad employees think someone is smuggling meat, but once the trunks are opened, they discover a much more horrific cargo. 

Based on the crimes of Ruth Judd, aka the Trunk Murderess, who murdered and dismembered two women she called her closest friends (I would hate to be her enemy). The crime is described in gory detail, especially the disposal of the bodies, as is Ruth's descent into mental illness, so more sensitive readers should be aware. Extensively researched, this is a departure for Laurie Notaro, who is best known for her humorous essay collections. Readers who enjoy Megan Abbot's edgy novels will enjoy this true crime fiction.

Winnie Ruth Judd, dubbed the Trunk Murderess

Diamond Dust by Russ Swain

September 17, 2024

Diamond Dust by Russ Swain

After borrowing $10,000 from a loan shark and realizing he had no way to repay the loan, Russ Swain decided to put his artistic skills to good use and forged a pile of $20 bills that were so good even the Secret Service had a hard time detecting them. After his life crashed down around him, Swain used his talent to rebuild his life.

Who doesn't love a good Mormon book? A lot of information about what makes U.S. currency unique (who knew there was silk in the paper or that the surface has a slight grit to it), as well as how to counterfeit a $20 bill. Will appeal to readers of true crime, general nonfiction, and do-it-yourself.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Example of a counterfeit $20 bill

Tangled Vines by John Glatt

June 16, 2024

Tangled Vines by John Glatt

The Murdaugh family of South Carolina were a celebrated dynasty often compared to the Kennedys. They ruled local politics, society, and the SC legal system for decades. But underneath their glossy exterior lay the truth: they engaged in illegal acts, deliberately bilked their legal clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements, and even committed murder. 

At the risk of sounding cold and callous, it's hard to feel sorry for any of the Murdaugh clan. They engaged in so many nefarious acts, cheated and stole from people who trusted them, and used their connections to avoid paying for their crimes, believing they were above the law. They reminded me of the Borgias. Alec was convicted of murdering his wife and son Paul, while older son Buster (what kind of a grown man goes by the name Buster?) was suspected of murdering a gay classmate that he had a liaison with, while Paul (yeah, the one Alec killed) crashed his boat while drunk, killing a friend on board. Paul may also have killed the family's housekeeper. And yet local law enforcement and prosecutors were hesitant to go after any of them. Recommended for fans of true crime and despicable families.

The Murdaughs, a few years before Alec killed Maggie and younger son Paul

In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce

March 24, 2024

In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce

Before Ted Bundy, before John Wayne Gacy, there was Belle Gunness, the infamous Black Widow of LaPorte. As a girl in Norway, Belle was beaten by her lover until she miscarried her unborn child. After emigrating to the U.S., Belle lived with her sister's family in Chicago in the middle of a large community of Norwegian immigrants. Tired of men's cruelty and also tired of being poor, Belle vowed to never be under a man's control again and that she would never again be poor, taking her revenge on the men of the world in a gruesome fashion.

Historical fiction based on the life and crimes of the Black Widow of LaPorte, Indiana, one of the first American serial killers. Her crime spree began in Chicago, then later she moved to a farm in Indiana, where she continued her bloody deeds. I had heard of Belle but didn't really know her story. This was another book for Women's History Month, this time about a truly notorious woman who proved that women can be just as evil as men. 

Belle Gunness and her three foster children

Three Boys Missing by James A. Jack

January 1, 2024

Three Boys Missing by James A. Jack

On Sunday, October 16, 1955, three boys from the Jefferson Park neighborhood in northwest Chicago went to a movie at a downtown movie theater. They never returned home and were found murdered two days later. James Jack was one of the original detectives assigned to search for the missing children, and he details the case. The investigators were under pressure to solve the case quickly - little did they know that it would take 40 years to bring the killer to justice.

I live just north of Jefferson Park and I know the areas in this book very well. This crime occurred in the pre-Internet era, and police work was very different in the 1950s than it is today. Now there are surveillance cameras everywhere and there have been great advances in DNA testing. It does seem like the police spent a lot of time chasing down pointless leads. A number of the officers had fixed or pre-conceived ideas about who committed the crime - one of the persistent ideas was that a gang of teenagers had killed the boys. Most of the suspects brought in for questioning were guilty of something, just not of murdering the three boys. One witness starts filming the scene and a police officer is disgusted and confiscates the film - they'd be shocked that in 2023, everyone has a camera on their cell phone and people record everything. With law enforcement agencies not cooperating or communicating with each other, it was a wonder than any crimes were solved.

Milwaukee Avenue where much of the action in the book takes place, in the 1950s

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman

December 27, 2023

A Murder in Hollywood by Casey Sherman

Lana Turner and her boyfriend Johnny Stompanato had a tumultuous relationship. Actually, Lana had tumultuous relationships with almost all of her eight (!) husbands and many boyfriends. She had notoriously bad taste in men. The story of Johnny's murder has been overshadowed by many other sensational Hollywood crimes, such as the Black Dahlia murder. Lana was a victim of the masculine privilege and misogyny that so many actresses were victims of, and continues to the present day. At least women are speaking up today about how male studio heads, agents, actors, producers and others abuse their positions of powers.

Things you probably don't know about Lana Turner:

- Evita Peron, wife of Argentinian dictator Juan Peron, was obsessed with Lana and modeled her look after Lana, to an extent that bordered on creepy;

- Lana was indirectly responsible for the death of actress Carole Lombard: Lana was doing a film with Clark Gable, Lombard's husband, and Lombard was afraid that Gable was having an affair with Lana (he had a well-known weakness for blondes); Lombard was in the Midwest doing a war bonds tour, and instead of traveling home with the rest of the tour which would have taken 2-3 days, she decided to fly home which would get her back to Los Angeles by that evening; Lombard's plane crashed into a mountain killing everyone on board; 

- Lana was rumored to be bi-sexual and to have had a steamy affair with Ava Gardner, one of her best friends;

- Sean Connery's first major film role was in a movie produced by Lana's production company, Lanturn Productions; the movie was a flop, but Sean's career took off;

- Lana was Rh-positive; although she was pregnant at least three times, only her daughter Cheryl Crane survived.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Lana Turner, Johnny Stompanato, and Lana's daughter Cheryl Crane

Broadway Butterfly by Sara DiVello

August 1, 2023

Broadway Butterfly by Sara DiVello

Set in 1923 in New York, flapper/model Dot King is a fast-living Broadway girl with several sugar daddies supporting her lifestyle, found dead in her 57th Street apartment. Homicide detective John Coughlin in assigned to the case and immediately sets about identifying Dot's gentlemen friends. Over at the Daily News, Julia Harpman is one of the few women reporters in New York, and the only one covering the crime beat. When it becomes apparent that several influential men were involved with Dot, the police allow the case to go cold. Julia is determined to secure justice for Dot and begins her own investigation.

True crime fiction based on an actual murder case. The story is told from three POVs: the detective, the reporter, and the wife of one of the sugar daddies. The story is well-researched and the author gathered the facts from a variety of sources. I love true crime cold cases so this one should have ticked all the boxes for me. But the story seemed to drag - maybe it was the author's writing style. It was disappointing that the case has never been solved.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Dot King, murdered in 1923, never solved

Hilda Ferguson, Dot's ex-roommate 

What the Dead Know by Barbara Butcher

May 25, 2023

What the Dead Know by Barbara Butcher

Barbara Butcher was an medicolegal death investigator for the New York Office of the City Medical Examiner for 22 years. Her job was to go out to death scenes to collect information, examine the remains and the surroundings, and determine the manner of death (accident, suicide, homicide, natural causes, misadventure). 

Riveting account of a job that most of us know very little about. The author treated both the victims and their families with dignity and respect. The chapters about working at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks are particularly intense. Not something to read while eating dinner. Highly recommended to readers of narrative nonfiction and true crime.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Pile (aka Ground Zero) at the World Trade Center

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

February 21, 2023

Rogues by Patrick Radden Keefe

A collection of articles about modern crooks and con men that the author research and interviewed in his work as an investigative journalist. As in any such collection, some were fascinating, others not so much.

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

November 2, 2022

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

In Belfast in December 1972, a woman named Jean McConville was taken from her flat by a group of people with the IRA. Nine of her ten children waited at home for her to return but they never saw her again. In 1999, the IRA admitted to killing Mrs. McConville because they believed she had been passing information to the British Army stationed in the city. No evidence was ever found to back up their claim about Jean, and in fact, when she was abducted, her oldest son was serving time in prison for being an IRA member. Her body was not found until 2003. Dolours and Marian Price and Brendan Hughes, all infamous IRA members, are believed to have taken part in her murder. It is believed that Marian was the one who actually shot Jean. Dolours later claimed not to have known that Jean was the mother of ten children, although she was one of the people who removed Jean from her home.

The story of Jean's abduction and murder is set against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, including the London bombings, the Price sisters' hunger strike in prison, the death of Bobby Sands, and the founding of Sinn Fein, which lobbied for a unified Ireland. It also explores the dissatisfaction of old IRA members who believed that violence was the only way to get their message across to the British, with the new philosophy of compromise and working through legal political channels. The impact of the Boston College oral history project about the Troubles is also discussed at length in this very readable piece of narrative nonfiction.

Jean McConville

The Queen by Josh Levin

October 15, 2022

The Queen by Josh Levin

Linda Taylor (not her real name) was a mysterious African American woman who lived on Chicago's South Side. She had mink coats, drove a new Cadillac, wore designer clothes, and owned expensive jewelry. She was married multiple times and at various times, reported having as many as eight children. She used multiple aliases. Even her age and her race were uncertain. When she reported a robbery at her south side home (claiming a burglar had stolen her refrigerator and removed it from the house through a small kitchen window), the detective assigned to the case recognized her as a woman he had arrested for welfare fraud in Michigan. As he investigated her claims, he realized that Taylor used a number of aliases to commit a variety of crimes in several states, including welfare fraud, kidnapping, con games, and possibly murder. The Chicago Tribune dubbed her the welfare queen and the title was picked up by then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, who made her story a national legend and a disgrace.

This is an unusual narrative about a shadowy figure who learned how to work the system and not get caught. Part of the reason behind her success as a con artist was the reluctance of government agencies and law enforcement to investigate. It took a crusading journalist at the Chicago Tribune to bring the case to the public's attention. This is an issue that really pisses off working people: our tax dollars going to people who don't work, smoke cigarettes, drink liquor, party, gamble, and frequently have a large number of children. While there are certainly recipients who fall into that category, many welfare recipients are going through a bad time and need help to temporarily bridge the gap until they can get back on their feet. The author is sympathetic to Linda and welfare recipients in general, but Linda was definitely a con artist of the first rank.

Linda Taylor (center) with her lawyer and (I think) her daughter Sandra

A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Neil Bradbury

March 22, 2022

A Taste for Poison: Eleven Deadly Molecules and the Killers Who Used Them by Neil Bradbury

Science and history blend together to make a highly readable narrative about the history of poison as a murder weapon. The author describes how these poisons kill us, from how they are administered to how they damage our organs to how they are detected. He discusses the use of poisons from early recorded history to recent headlines (like the Russian dissident who was poisoned with ricin in London).

One of the most disturbing aspects is how many of the poisoners were medical professionals, either doctors or nurses. The author speculates that it's because those in the medical field believe they know how to use poison without being caught or so the poison is not detected. Scary.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

September 23, 2021

The Five: the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

Jack the Ripper's five victims are dismissed as prostitutes and drunks who deserved to be murdered. But that was a 19th century media depiction designed to sell newspapers, not the truth by any means. The five women were daughters, wives, and mothers, not just victims. They were women who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, placed there by circumstances.

Women's fathers and husbands were usually their only source of financial support in the 19th century. If a woman was widowed or her parents died and she was left penniless, there was often no other way for her to support herself and her children than resorting to prostitution. Some of the Ripper's victims weren't prostitutes at all, just forced to sleep rough because they didn't have the means to rent a room for the night. Cheap gin was a way to forget the horror that their lives had become. Poverty, homelessness, and no prospects for employment drove them to the streets and prostitution.

This is a really insightful look at the Ripper's victims as people and not just as horribly mutilated dead bodies. Very well-researched.

The women who were victims of Jack the Ripper

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Last Call: a True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green

January 9, 2021

Last Call: a True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green

In the 1980's, a serial killer was preying on gay men in midtown New York, hanging around gay bars until closing time, when he lured lonely men to leave with him. Dubbed the Last Call Killer by the press, he was bland and inconspicuous and faded into the crowds at the gay bars (the pianist at one bar described him as forgettable).

Even though bags of body parts were showing up along New York highways, law enforcement were slow to recognize a pattern, partly because the victims were gay men, and partly because there was no online crime network at the time, so the police departments in the various towns did not work together. 

His crimes have been largely forgotten with the AIDS crisis and the rising crime and murder rates. Elon Green remembers the victims rather than the serial killer, allowing each man's life to tell his story. Love the noir-ish cover.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Hell's Princess by Harold Schechter

November 10, 2019

Hell’s Princess:  the Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men by Harold Schechter

Belle Gunness of Laporte County, Indiana, was a notorious serial killer known as the Lady Bluebeard.  She would place classified advertisements in Norwegian language newspapers in the Midwest, seeking single men to come and help her run her large farm (oh, and bring all your money, too).  Once the men arrived at the Gunness farm, Belle would rob and murder them, dismembering the bodies and burying them in her pigsty.  Since she weighed around 300 pounds and wasn’t a pretty woman by any stretch of the imagination, it’s surprising how many men were taken in by Belle (the photo on the cover of the book actually bears a resemblance to Lizzie Borden - see the photos below).  While it is unknown exactly how many men Belle murdered, at least 14 of her victims were identified, and there may have been dozens more.

When one of her victim’s brothers notified her that he was coming to her farm to search for his brother, her farmhouse conveniently burned down.  Her children’s bodies were all found inside along with a headless woman’s body.  Even though he never found her head, the local sheriff decided that it was indeed Belle and pronounced her dead, but many people believed she had escaped.  For years afterward, there were sightings of Belle all over the country.

The first half of the book is fascinating, as it recounts Belle’s background and her history as a serial killer, but unfortunately, the last half of the book is mainly speculation about what happened to Belle, and whether or not she really died in the house fire (seems unlikely).  There are comparisons to other serial killers of the age such as the Bender family in Kansas who lured wealthy travelers to their deaths, or "what if" Belle had attracted a fellow serial killer with her ads and which one would have killed the other one first.  More text is spent on the mythology that grew up around Belle, and the industry that sprang from her story (pamphlets, stage dramas, ballads, etc.).  Well researched but I lost interest soon after Belle disappeared/died.

                                                              Lizzie Borden

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

October 1, 2019

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Jonathan (Jack) Whicher was one of the first and most famous Victorian detectives.  His work influenced the fiction of Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, among others.  Summerscale's book explores the original English country house mystery, a true crime case that caused a sensation throughout England and inspired country house mystery fiction.

The crime:  June 1860 - at Road Hill House in the English village of Rode in Wiltshire, three year old Saville Kent was found in an outhouse with his throat cut.  There were 12 people in the house at the time of the murder, including Saville (his father and mother, six siblings and half-siblings, and three servants).  Their home was a large fine house with a number of outbuildings and multiple bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor.

Whicher was not assigned to the crime until almost two weeks after the murder, by which time, the scene of the crime had been contaminated, the evidence had been tampered with, and everyone had rehearsed their stories.  Whicher was convinced that someone living in the house had killed the child rather than an intruder, based on the state of the boy's bed, access to the outhouse from the rear door of the house, and his feeling that the crime would have required two people.  Although unable to prove it, Whicher came away believing that Saville's half-siblings Constance and William had committed the crime together, and that Constance had planned it.

But as Whicher began to uncover secrets and unsavory facts of Victorian family life, the English public began to lose interest in the solution to the crime, since they didn't want to hear what could be hiding behind a facade of Victorian respectability (sexual misconduct, child neglect, insanity, and literally digging through the family's dirty laundry).  The Victorian public came to view his investigation as prying into the sanctity of family life, and condemned him for arresting a young middle class girl (who later confessed to the crime and served 20 years in prison).  The failure to bring the case to an acceptable resolution ultimately destroyed his career.

The crime and ensuing investigation destroyed the family's life.  Samuel was unable to return to his job as a factory inspector, and had to sell the house and move his family to Wales.  While writing her book, Summerscale came to believe that Constance confessed to clear the cloud of suspicion that continued to hang over William, so that he could pursue his career unimpeded.  Ironically, all of the Kent children remained close to each other and eventually emigrated to Australia to be together.

The book is painstakingly researched, which some readers have felt takes away from a smooth narrative, but the case was covered extensively in the English press.  Some of the background information is necessary for the modern reader to understand the nuances of Victorian family life and the Victorian mindset to appreciate what Whicher was up against.  It was also interesting to find out what happened to the Kent family after the investigation was over.  But the back stories on all of the detectives and other outsiders could have been omitted.

Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen

August 8, 2019

Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen

They call themselves citizen detectives.  Some are journalists; others are librarians or scientists or researchers; still others are retired or former law enforcement officers.  Their goal is to investigate criminal cases that have gone cold, to get justice for the victims and bring peace to the families. Some work on unsolved murder cases, others look for missing persons and what happened to them.  Some work alone and others form "murder clubs" where they work together using their various skills.  They wade through clues and conflicting reports, trying to establish a chronology for each case.  They use crowdsourcing and geo-targeted social media campaigns, spending hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars of their own money.

For decades, Billy Jensen had been a true crime writer, writing about unsolved murder and missing person cases.  But he found his writing to be unsatisfying, since the stories didn't have an ending or a solution.  So he began to research and study unsolved cases himself, solving ten cold cases and generating leads on dozens more.  When his close friend Michelle McNamara passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, her husband and Jensen were determined to bring Michelle's unfinished book about the Golden State Killer, I'll Be Gone in the Dark, to publication.  Although her book didn't solve the case, it kept the Golden State Killer in the public's eye so that police were able to identify and arrest the serial killer.

I have always been interested in true crime, especially missing persons cases.  When I retire, this is something I would like to do, join a crime solving group to try to bring closure to the families and friends of missing loved ones.  There are about 40,000 sets of unidentified human remains in the U.S. - I want to restore the names to those missing loved ones.

The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

Monday, June 24, 2019

The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley makes history fun and entertaining!  This is her study of the evolution of the English murder mystery, starting with the popularity of true crime in the 18^th century (public hangings were like festivals, with thousands attending and bringing the family and a picnic along), through the development of formal police departments and the birth of the murder mystery.  She explores the continuing popularity of mysteries from Sherlock Holmes through the Golden Age, up to thrillers and the serial killer trends of the present day.

  

I love just about anything Lucy Worsley does on PBS, so I really enjoyed her exploration of the popularity of true crime and mystery writing.  I listened to the audio version of this book, and even though Lucy didn’t read the book, the reader caught the tone perfectly.

Furious Hours by Casey Cep

Friday, June 14, 2019

Furious Hours by Casey Cep

When she was 35, Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird and didn’t publish anything else for decades, refusing to publish anything that wasn’t perfect.  She helped her friend Truman Capote with the research for the book that became In Cold Blood, but she wasn’t happy with the idea of a “nonfiction novel.”  Lee became obsessed with the idea of writing an account of a true-crime case that was completely factual, when she heard the tale of Reverend Willie Maxwell, suspected of murdering five of his own family members for insurance money, before being killed himself at a funeral.

Written in three parts (The Reverend, The Lawyer, The Writer), this is an engrossing work of narrative nonfiction that blends true crime with biographical information about the reclusive author of one of the most famous American novels.