In 1988, in rural Illinois, the decapitated body of a man was found in a field not far from several parking lots known to be frequented by gay men. Richard Nitz, a local man with a prison record, a violent past, and a documented hatred... Read More

Readers love the gore and unnerving realism of true crime, and have clamored for the sub-genre for decades, in hopes of glimpsing a gruesome world just beyond their own. True crime promises to shock with its sensationalism, but it also... Read More

Raking over the ashes of a cold case is tantalizing for many detectives and journalists, even though that single, overlooked detail is rarely found. Yet Mardi Link’s look at a 1968 case is a stellar example of how a mystery, when well... Read More

When notorious mob boss Charles “Lucky” Luciano was arrested on vice charges, his first thought was of the hit his “tough-guy” image would take. “Prostitution?” he lamented, “I’d rather be tried for murder.” Despite his... Read More

“Law and rules are made for the average…it is infinitely more difficult to live without rules, but that is what the really honest, sincere thinking man is compelled to do.” With these words, Frank Lloyd Wright summarized what he... Read More

On a late October night in 2001, twenty-five-year-old Amy St. Laurent disappeared from the Old Port section of Portland, Maine during a night out with an acquaintance who was visiting from Florida. He returned to her apartment with her... Read More

Of the 10,000 novels published by legitimate American imprints this year (almost one an hour!), few will greatly profit either their author or publishing house. The book trade is historically poorly paid and genteel. A solitary writer,... Read More

“I want you to kill the bitch! I want you to throw acid in her face and burn her eyes out of her head! I want that woman cold in her grave!” Elizabeth Duncan’s jealousy and outrage became vicious when her son Frank got married.... Read More