From Jack Henry Abbott, who stabbed a waiter through the heart for not allowing him to use the toilet, to the ?Zodiac, ? an unknown California serial killer who may have murdered as many as 37 people, this reference work details 280 of the most famous murder cases of the twentieth century. Each entry contains, when applicable, birth and death dates, aliases, occupation, location of the murders, weapons used, number of victims, and the time period when the killings occurred. Films, plays, television shows, videos and audio programs based on or inspired by the case are then cited, followed by a brief overview of the murder case and a bibliography of English-language works related to it.

A companion volume to the author's Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases (2002), this reference work chronicles 298 cases of what can be broadly defined as "celebrity" homicides from the early twentieth century onward. Cases are drawn from the realms of film, theatre, music, dance and other entertainment fields. In each instance, the person was either the actual or suspected perpetrator or the victim of a murder. Included are entries on such well-known personalities as film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, actress Sharon Tate, music producer Phil Spector, rap artist Notorious B.I.G., and superstar Michael Jackson. Each entry covers the crime, its legal disposition, and the subject's personal and professional background, comprehensively documented with notes and a separate bibliography.