In 1573 there occurred a murder which would leave today's tabloid editors salivating. George Saunders, a respected merchant tailor, was killed by his wife's lover. Involved in the conspiracy were Saunders' wife, her best friend, and a servant. All were found guilty and hanged, but not before a suspended clergyman fell in love with Mrs. Saunders and sought to have her pardoned. Murder was relatively rare in Tudor times. When it did occur, especially if it involved a female perpetrator and a love affair, it generated widespread interest. The rise of Protestantism, and its accompanying rise in literacy, had provided a strong impetus to read about crime and to ponder the spiritual consequences of breaking both the civil and the divine law. The English system of criminal justice was open and popular, and familiar elements--detection, investigation, the laying of charges, the trial, verdict, sentence--were all well understood and closely followed in the 16th century. Today, people are riveted by crime and violence. But the obsession is not new, as this book shows in vivid and exciting detail. John Bellamy's new book provides a fascinating view of life in Tudor England and offers a new angle on our love affair with murder as a literary form. It was in the Tudor period, he argues, that popular attention was focused on the crime of murder, for edification as well as entertainment. A 16th-century murder inquiry was in many ways a community affair, capable of arousing the interest of a substantial local audience, with the members of the inquest often collecting evidence and statements for twenty or thirty days. Detection, investigation, the laying of charges, the trial, verdict, sentence--all ofthese familiar elements were established in the 16th century. Strange, Inhuman Deaths describes four well-documented cases that occurred between 1538 and 1573. Each of them is deeply rooted in source material, whether legal records or pamphlets, plays or ballads, giving a rich background and a wealth of local colour. The human stories they contain are powerful and lively, and the motivations and personalities that are revealed speak to us directly across the centuries. Murder most foul, murder most English--the tradition begins.

Five firefighters took off running for cover behind the fire engine and the other gold/black trailer, a few closed their eyes as they ran blindly into the darkness with flames chasing behind them saying one prayer that seems to come to mind at a time like this.... "Our Father Who..."

In Black Dahlia Avenger II, bestselling author and veteran homicide detective Steve Hodel presents his six-year follow-up investigation 2006-2011] into Los Angeles's 1947 Black Dahlia and other serially connected 1940s Lone Woman Murders. After the 2003 publication of his NYT bestseller and MWA Edgar nominated true-fact crime book, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, and receiving a "CASE SOLVED" legal opinion from many of LA's top law enforcement officials-which included a then active Head Deputy District Attorney and LAPD's Chief of Detectives-Hodel didn't stop there. In this investigative sequel he presents his careful deconstruction of the Dahlia Legend-exposing and correcting the Black Dahlia Murder's Three Greatest Urban Myths: Myth No. 1-"It was a standalone murder." Myth No. 2-"There was a 'Missing or Lost Week'" Myth No. 3-"The case was never solved." Some of BDA II's new investigative findings: The obtaining of the killer's full DNA PROFILE which can now be made available for law enforcement testing and comparison to multiple Cold Case unsolved crimes. Discovery of the Hollywood residence where the BLACK DAHLIA MURDER was committed along with physical evidence connecting the killer to the house and to the vacant lot where he later transported and posed the victim's body. Identification of "The Baron," George Hodel's house guest and an accomplice overheard and tape-recorded by detectives discussing "crimes and payoffs" on the 1950 DA/LAPD bugging tapes. New expert medical testimony and evidence photos proving-"A Doctor Did It." Complete original and unabridged 1950 DA-Hodel Black Dahlia Bugging Transcripts. 146 pages.] THE HUSTON LETTERS- Personal correspondence between famed film director, John Huston and his ex-wife, Dorothy Huston Hodel the author's mother] covering the years 1948-1957. In these private letters Dorothy shared with John the day to day personal fear and terror she was experiencing living with George Hodel, as the doctor threatened her and the children with physical harm in the months just prior to his fleeing the country. A World Class Surrealist Photographer reveals his first-hand knowledge of the murders. Over 300 photographs and crime exhibits including the 1969 Sowden House 17-Photo Historical Survey About the Author: STEVE HODEL is a retired LAPD homicide detective and a licensed P.I.and has specialized in criminal investigations for the past 49-years. During his twenty-four years service with LAPD he was assigned to Hollywood Homicide where for eighteen-years he worked on more than three hundred murder cases and achieved one of the highest "solve rates" on the force. He retired as a Detective III the highest attainable rank in the Detective Bureau] and resides in his hometown of Los Angeles. Show less

BABY-PROOF-CHILDPROOF-BULLETPROOF, THE ROLE OF PARENTS HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER. Roaming unabated, a serial pedophile spent every waking moment pacifying his inner demons. Combatting illicit sexual cravings, like self-medicating an incurable disease, required daily heavy doses of hardcore pornography. A chilling account of an eight-year-old child kidnapped and brutally murdered. Rising up from a rural California town and striking back, a world-wide chase ensued for a sociopath gone mad. No respecter of human rights-a child's life. Leaving the United States and spanning half the globe, the hunt would never end until coming face-to-face with every parent's worst nightmare. A harrowing true-crime story grippingly told by a team of detectives left standing. The story of Maria Piceno is a testament of courage and faith-under fire. This special child wouldn't go quietly into the night. Out of life's hardest lessons, comes unforgettable sweet tender moments. Anyone that has loved a child-this is a must read, no one can afford to miss. You'll never be same: WHEN TOUCHED BY A CHILD

This book contains actual 911 emergency and non-emergency calls that came into the San Diego Police Department Communications Division during my 19 years as a Police 911 Dispatcher. This book represents the calls received as accurately as possible. I did not embellish them to make the calls funnier or more exciting. These are actual calls, often unbelievable, but they are real calls. This book is a way for me to portray the "real world" of a 911 dispatcher. As you read through the book, I hope you can get a sense of the many emotions that I felt during the course of my shift. The Dark Side is the chapter I devoted to the more serious, violent type of calls we get on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy the book.

July 8, 1932, 11 PM. East Austin, an African-American district in Jim Crow Texas. Sixty-year-old Charles Johnson is driving home from Bible study when a car full of young white men swerves in front of him. A brief altercation ensues. Convinced that his life is threatened, Johnson fires his pistol and drives away. Johnson's shot kills the unarmed, eighteen-year-old son of Albert Allison, a prominent cotton landlord, influential in politics, and an advocate for racial justice. Although devastated, Allison personally thwarts a lynch mob and then insists that Austin's courts treat Johnson fairly. Nonetheless, Allison expects fairness to execute his son's killer. Johnson himself expects to be lynched, either by the mob or by the court. "To Defy the Monster" shows how the confluence of unique cultural and historical factors determines Johnson's fate and why Allison orders his family never to speak of the matter.

28 November 2000 was the day when the foundations of a young and fragile Ukrainian democracy were fundamentally shaken. The national deputies and the entirety of the Ukrainian population became aware of the records made by the former officer of the State Security Service, Mykola Melnichenko, which implicated the then President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, in being involved in the murder of an independent journalist Georgiy Gongadze. The tape affair, or as it became known in the West, the 'Kuchmagate', was an unprecedented event in the history of modern Ukraine. Kuchmagate and the collapse of the Orange idea is a story told by Volodymyr Tsvil, a close associate of the main characters involved in the scandal, who himself was directly involved in the affair. Tsvil provides a unique insight into the events that followed immediately after the outbreak of the Kuchmagate and reveals a web of complex relationships between major Melnychenko and a plethora of politicians, journalists, governments and NGOs who were keen to obtain the contents of these records and use them for their own purposes. The story of Kuchmagate and the collapse of the Orange idea, however, is not merely a description of events which inspired the Orange revolution in 2004. Many Ukrainians entertained the hope that new people in the government could deliver their promises for a just and free society. These hopes were shattered by the same politicians' insincerity and personal interest in political expediency demonstrated during the Kuchmagate. The hopes of ordinary Ukrainians that justice would prevail were sidelined and largely forgotten. Today, the Orange coalition and its leaders are forgotten, marginalised or even imprisoned. In contrast, the Kuchmagate affair is alive and to the present day is far from being solved. The main question of who ordered the murder of Georgiy Gongadze remains unanswered. In order to find an answer to this and many other questions, more details about the Kuchmagate should be revealed to the public. Tsvil's book makes one the first contributions to this cause, providing first-hand information about the development of the scandal in a clear and objective manner.

Principally an abridgement of the transcript of the trial as published in: The Sacco-Vanzetti case. 2nd ed. Mamaroneck, N.Y.: P. P. Appel, 1969; followed by a collection of remarks over the past 80 years about the trial and its significance.

On May 5, 1993, second-graders Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore disappeared from their West Memphis, Arkansas, homes. The following afternoon, their nude, beaten, and bound bodies were discovered in a drainage ditch less than a mile away.

After a troublesome confession, three local teenagers, later dubbed the "West Memphis Three," were arrested, tried, and convicted in early 1994. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley received life sentences, while ringleader Damien Echols went to death row. Three years later, the documentary film "Paradise Lost" premiered on HBO, and the effect on viewers was dramatic. Many became skeptical of the verdicts and also felt one of the fathers of the victims was a better suspect-John Mark Byers.

In "Untying the Knot," author Greg Day tells the true story of John Mark Byers and the about-face he made to free the men convicted of the crime. Day exposes the propaganda campaign used to convince a gullible public that Byers was complicit in the deaths of his wife and son. Based on court transcripts and hours of personal interviews, "Untying the Knot" explores all the case evidence while interweaving dialogues and statements. It traces the life of Byers from his roots in rural Arkansas, to his son's murder and the death of his wife, to his ultimate imprisonment in 1999. It reveals a man redeemed by prison and whose change of heart changed his life.

"Day has captured the essence of a towering personality engulfed by an impossible situation. John Mark Byers is an immensely complex character, and Untying the Knot pulls no punches in revealing the man in all his seeming contradictions."

-John Douglas, "Mindhunter"