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Books > Fiction > True stories
In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring
order to the city of Paris after the brutal deaths of two
magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic yet fearless, tackles the dirty and
terrifying streets only to discover a tightly knit network of
witches, poisoners and priests whose reach extends all the way to
Versailles. As the chief investigates a growing number of deaths at
court, he learns that no one is safe from their deadly love potions
and "inheritance stews"-not even the Sun King himself. Based on
court transcripts and Reynie's compulsive note-taking, Holly
Tucker's riveting true crime narrative makes the characters breathe
on the page as she follows the police chief into the dark
labyrinths of crime-ridden Paris, the glorious halls of royal
palaces, secret courtrooms and torture chambers in a tale of
deception and murder that reads like fiction.
Murder Along the Cape Fear is the story of Fayetteville and Fort
Bragg, North Carolina, during the twentieth century. Seen through
the eyes of a native son, this is the tale of one - a distinguished
historian - who lived through some of it and heard about much of it
from friends and relatives. In this hundred-year journey the town
was profoundly impacted by the establishment of Fort Bragg 10 miles
to its west. Throughout this hundred-year history, murder seems to
be the scarlet thread that stitched the town into infamy. The book
demonstrates that Fayetteville was by no means innocent prior to
the coming of Fort Bragg. Nor did all of the crime and evil emanate
from Fort Bragg after 1918. As for murder, there was an abundance
of killing that had no connection with Fort Bragg, but the most
sensational murder case of the century involved Jeffrey MacDonald,
a Green Beret Army captain and physician who received three life
terms in federal prison for killing his pregnant wife and two
daughters. While many other Fort Bragg soldiers were involved with
murders along the Cape Fear, murders were also committed by
transient civilians and local citizens like the famous inventor of
the M-1 carbine, Marshall "Carbine" Williams, and Velma Barfield,
who poisoned her mother and three other people. In all, about two
dozen murder cases-some highly publicized and some not-are woven
into this story about a North Carolina town in the twentieth
century. Engagingly told, this book is a wonderful blend of
history, lore, and murder.
We are enamored with stories about cops, but rarely do we get a
chance to walk in the shoes of one while reading about the personal
and spiritual battles waged when one is fighting crime. Jim's
narrative will pull you into the moment of each crisis. These
stories are the material of movies but they happened in real life.
Jim will weave his experiences into the truth taught in Scripture.
Whether or not you are part of the law enforcement community, you
will be entertained by the adventures. Regardless of your
relationship with Christ, you will be challenged to do something
with the claims made by Jesus. There is engaging action in this
book, but the serious purpose is that it will serve as a
challenging devotional guide and bring you closer to Christ.
What goes through the mind of a killer when they commit murder?
Based on the massively successful Netflix documentary series of the
same name, this book features ten of the most compelling cases from
the first two series and is full of exclusive never-seen-before
material. The authors, Ned Parker and Danny Tipping secured
exceptional access to high-security prisons across America. The
majority of the killers will die in prison - either by serving
their sentence of life without parole or they are on Death Row,
waiting to be executed. In each of the cases the inmate speaks
openly about themselves and reflects on their life and their
crimes. To gain a complete picture of the impact of the murders the
authors spoke to both the families of both the perpetrators and the
victims, and those in law enforcement who were involved in the
case, leaving it up to the reader to make up their own mind about
the killers and their crimes. The book draws on handwritten letters
from the inmates and full transcripts of the interviews to tell
each story, and features exclusive material including personal
pictures, crime scene images, and original police and court
documents, this is a fascinating and detailed look at some of
America's most gripping murder cases.
Bestselling true-crime writer Harold Schechter, a leading authority
on serial killers, and coauthor David Everitt offer a guided tour
through the bizarre and blood-chilling world of serial murder.
Through hundreds of detailed entries that span the entire spectrum
-- the shocking crimes, the infamous perpetrators, and much more --
they examine all angles of a gruesome cultural phenomenon that
grips our imagination.
From Art (both by and about serial killers) to Zeitgeist (how
killers past and present embody their times)...from Groupies (even
the most sadistic killer can claim devoted fans) to Marriage (the
perfect domestic disguise for demented killers)...from Homebodies
(psychos who slay in the comfort of their homes) to Plumbing (how
clogged drains have undone the most discreet killer), "THE A TO Z
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SERIAL KILLERS" is the ultimate reference for
anyone compelled by the personalities and pathologies behind the
most disturbing of crimes.
'The emotional pain of failing just felt like it was going to be a
bit worse than the physical pain of carrying on ... ' Attempting to
break long-distance running records used to be an underground
endeavour, until the virus-stricken summer of 2020 came along. Only
a few, such as the Bob Graham Round in the Lake District, had ever
broken into mainstream consciousness. But an absence of running
races thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented
rise in the popularity of attempts at breaking these records. In
Broken, Ally Beaven takes an entertaining look at just why 2020 was
so unusual for long-distance running. With his interest in Fastest
Known Times (FKTs) piqued, Beaven immerses himself in the scene.
His summer becomes one of spending hours in the hills feeding,
cajoling and generally trying to keep safe the runners he is
supporting, as well as following the dots of live trackers in the
middle of the night and endlessly refreshing his Twitter feed as
records tumble around the country. Through the stories of John
Kelly's epic Grand Round, Beth Pascall's record-shattering Bob
Graham Round, Donnie Campbell's mind-bending new mark for bagging
all 282 Munros, Jo Meek's new overall record for the Nigel Jenkins
Dartmoor Round and many others, Beaven brings us an inside look at
the incredible FKT machine. Broken is the story of the summer of
2020, a historic time for running in the UK.
The men and women of Appalachia are strong and self-sufficient. In
Roane County, Tennessee they most often have lived on and between
the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains. Times changed and as
they did in this story, those who had become clearly isolated in
their long-standing culture took change personally. They didn't
like it. Leon and Rocky Houston are two such men, along with a
large group of sympathetic followers. In the end that sympathy
portrayed years of self-styled, anti-government lawsuits as well as
the death of a sheriff's deputy and his retired, disabled
ride-along officer. To believe the fifteen to twenty years of this
rising storm ended in death for two men patrolling the public road
"reserved" for the Houston clan came only as somewhat of a
surprise. To believe that the storm clouds descended due to a
school zone traffic violation five years before the killin's was at
first a mystery. But a deep look at Rocky's 2001 courtroom "ticket
tantrum" unveiled much more: Then and there he reportedly threw
himself on the floor while yelling, "if you remember Waco you
haven't seen anything yet." The comment's starkness unwinds within
the book to explore the "sovereign citizens and militia mania" of
the 90's and where that might have taken the brothers Houstons'
thinking and need to kill "a few cops."
A three-year-old boy dies, having apparently fallen while trying to
reach a bag of sugar on a high shelf. His grandmother stands
accused of second-degree murder. Psychologist Susan Nordin Vinocour
agrees to evaluate the defendant, to determine whether the
impoverished and mentally ill woman is competent to stand trial.
Vinocour soon finds herself pulled headlong into a series of
difficult questions, beginning with: was the defendant legally
insane on the night in question? As she wades deeper into the
story, Vinocour traces the legal definition of insanity back nearly
two hundred years, when our understanding of the human mind was in
its infancy. "Competency" and "insanity", she explains, are
creatures of legal definition, not psychiatric reality, and in
criminal law, "insanity" has become a luxury of the rich and white.
With passion, clarity, and heart, Vinocour examines the troubling
intersection of mental health issues and the law.
'I've a body out the back for you...' Imagine having that sentence
said to you. And then imagine it actually being pertinent. Welcome
to Evie King's world. What happens if you die without family or
money? The answer to this very three-in-the-morning question is
that Evie, or someone like her, will step in and arrange your
funeral. Evie is a local council worker charged with carrying out
Section 46 funerals under the Public Health Act. Or to put it in
less cold, legislative language; funerals for those with nobody
around, willing or able to bury or cremate them. Ashes to Admin
lifts the coffin lid on some moving and unexpected personal life
stories. Sometimes tragic, as with the case of an unidentified
woman found on a beach buried without even a name, but often
uplifting and occasionally hilarious. Ultimately, Evie discovers
that her job is more about life than it is about death, funerals
being for the living and death being merely a trigger to rediscover
a life and celebrate it against the odds.
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