Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg - The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer

2.The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg (1987) 
Length: 301 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 3 January 2015
Finished: 6 January 2015
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap 
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 3 January 2015
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg are relatively new authors for me.

Charles William Yukl was the eldest of two sons born to Czech parents - pianist and conductor Dorothea Freitag Yukl, and trumpeter Charles W. Yukl. Charles Yukl claimed that his parents were often abusive to him as a child, attributing severe beatings and other random cruelty to his "perfectionist, demanding" parents. As a young child, Charles was fascinated by fire and was accused of setting several fires by the age of nine.

He held a variety of jobs as an adult, and was soon urged by his mother to become a professional ragtime pianist. He was rather successful and played in Manhattan, Union City, New Jersey and in the Catskills, often using the stage name Yogi Freitag. He married a German photography student named Enken in 1961 and subsequently became a voice and piano teacher.

The real Charles Yukl was nothing at all like the facade he portrayed to the world. Behind the well-mannered musical prodigy with the choirboy looks dwelt a twisted psychotic misogynist. A reclusive, eccentric man whose dreams of perverse sexual fulfillment lived - and died - only in his fertile imagination. 

Then on Monday, October 24, 1966, Charles Yukl brought his perverted fantasies to vivid life when he brutally murdered twenty-five year old Suzanne Reynolds. Suzanne was an aspiring actress who had been taking voice lessons for three months from the thirty-one year old ragtime pianist, and she had absolutely no idea of his true nature. Then, eight years later - on Tuesday, August 20, 1974 - due to a shocking series of legal errors that granted him the freedom to kill again, he lured a twenty-three year old aspiring model named Karin Schlegel to a Greenwich Village rooftop and savagely strangled her to death.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I had never heard of Charles Yukl or of the murders he committed. I found this story incredibly sad, and the fact that due to a bureaucratic oversight, he was allowed to kill again really made me angry. I will say that I found this book to be rather slow in places, and I really would have appreciated a deeper investigation of the wife's personality; other than mentioning that she was disturbing, very little else was explained about her, or their strange relationship. I would give The Piano Teacher: The True Story of a Psychotic Killer by Robert K. Tanenbaum and Peter S. Greenberg a B+!

B+! - (89-94%)
  
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

James Ruddick - Death at the Priory: Sex, Love, and Murder in Victorian England

89. Death at the Priory: Sex, Love, and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick (2001)
Length: 209 pages
Genre: True Crime  
Started: 16 September 2014
Finished: 18 September 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 September 2014
Why do I have it? I like true crime and James Ruddick is a new author for me.

In December of 1875, the beautiful widow Florence Ricardo married a handsome and influential young attorney named Charles Bravo. The dissolution of Florence's first marriage as well as the revelation of her affair with prominent doctor James Gully, had led to her becoming a social pariah. However, her marriage to Charles Bravo was Florence's way of escaping the scandals of her past; and she fervently hoped that such a marriage would reopen certain doors which had formerly been closed to her.

As the newlyweds settled into the Priory, Florence's posh mansion outside London, the couple seemed destined to live a charmed life together. But the marriage was far from happy, as Charles proved to be a brutal, vindictive and conniving man. He abused and tormented his wife and antagonized her servants, ultimately dismissing her housekeeper and loyal companion, Mrs. Cox, despite her years of service. 

Then one night while preparing for bed, Charles Bravo suddenly collapsed. Although the greatest English physicians of the era - including the royal physician, Sir William Gull - were summoned to his bedside, they ultimately could do nothing to help him, and three days later Charles died an agonizing death. The doctors were unanimous in their diagnosis of the cause of his death: Charles Bravo had been poisoned.

The graphic and sensational details of the case would eventually capture the public imagination of Victorian England as the investigation dominated the press for weeks, and the list of suspects soon grew to include Florence; her former secret lover, the eminent doctor James Gully; her longtime companion and former housekeeper Mrs. Cox; and a recently dismissed stableman named George Griffiths.

Although press coverage of that era relied heavily on speculation surrounding the details of the case, the subsequent murder investigation was never resolved. No actual motive was ever discovered, and ultimately no murderer could be determined. And despite the efforts of numerous historians, criminologists, and many other esteemed writers since (including Agatha Christie), the case has remained unsolved for over a century.

Now James Ruddick retells this gripping story of love, greed, brutality and betrayal among the elite, offering an intimate portrait of Victorian culture and of one woman's struggle to live in this repressive society. Simultaneously a murder mystery, a colorful social history, and a modern-day detective tale, Death at the Priory is a thrilling read and a window into a fascinating time. As Agatha Christie once claimed: "One of the most mysterious poisoning cases ever recorded." 

I really enjoyed reading this book - I found it to be meticulously researched; clearly and precisely written, and I appreciated that James Ruddick's writing was not in any way dry or technical - he had an easy and engaging way of stating the facts of the case. I would be delighted to learn that James Ruddick has written much more, because I thoroughly enjoy his economical writing style. I knew of the Charles Bravo Murder already, as I had read Elizabeth Jenkins' wonderful book, Dr. Gully's Story several years ago.

I give Death at the Priory: Sex, Love, and Murder in Victorian England by James Ruddick a resounding A+! 

A+! - (96-100%)
       
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Lois Duncan - Who Killed my Daughter?

60. Who Killed my Daughter? by Lois Duncan (1992)
Length: 354 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 13 June 2014
Finished: 17 June 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 21 May 2014

Why do I have it? I like true crime and Lois Duncan is a new author for me.

With a promise to see her family later, eighteen-year-old Kaitlyn Arquette rushed out the door into the balmy midsummer evening. Little did Kaitlyn's mother, Lois Duncan realize that those were the last words she would ever hear her daughter speak. On July 16, 1989, Kaitlyn was shot to death as she drove home from a friend's house along a deserted strip of New Mexico highway. The police concluded that it was a random shooting - even though it showed all the earmarks of a professional hit...

Kaitlyn's brutal murder left her family broken-hearted and grieving, and her mother pondering a thousand unanswered questions. Who would put out a contract on a beautiful young honor student? Was it grief that made Kaitlyn's Vietnamese lover try to take his own life? - Or was it not an attempted suicide at all?

Lois Duncan's search for answers would eventually lead her into the seamy underworld of Vietnamese gangs that stretched across three states. It would lead her to an extraordinary psychic and to a courageous journalist determined to expose the devastating truth. And it would send her on a soul-numbing odyssey into Kaitlyn's shocking double life as she desperately sought justice for the daughter she would always love...even in the face of shattering betrayal and threats to her own life.

Today, Lois Duncan's search for her daughter's killer continues. She will never give up. The best-selling young adult novelist has made finding her daughter's killer her life's mission. After all, a mother's blood vow to her deceased daughter is paramount.

I thought this was a truly heartrending book. I completely sympathized with Ms. Duncan's burning desire to discover the entire devastating truth behind her daughter's still unsolved murder. As an author of young adult suspense novels, Ms. Duncan proves that sometimes the most terrifying and suspenseful events are the ones that actually happen.

Understandably, this was perhaps the most difficult book for Lois Duncan to write, because this is a story that involves herself and her family. Her relentless search for justice for Kaitlyn is a quality for which I admire her greatly. I was certainly aware that Ms. Duncan was an author of young adult novels (Mareena read quite a lot of her novels while she was in high school), but I never realized that her youngest daughter was actually murdered, and that Kaitlyn Arquette's murder was still unsolved to this day.

Despite feeling tremendous sympathy for Lois Duncan and her family for their daughter's murder, I must also admit to feeling slightly angry at Kaitlyn herself. She was eighteen-years-old and got involved in an impossibly dangerous situation - one that ultimately cost her her life. While it is certainly true that young people will do anything for love - and teenagers can and do make mistakes - what Kaitlyn did subsequently endangered her entire family.

This book was certainly well-wriitten, but it was so convoluted that I had trouble sorting out the plot of the murder. I give Who Killed my Daughter? by Lois Duncan an A!

A! - (90-95%)
   
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Beryl Bainbridge - Watson's Apology: A Novel

57. Watson's Apology: A Novel by Beryl Bainbridge (1985)
Length: 222 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 25 May 2014
Finished: 31 May 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 16 May 2014

Why do I have it? I like true crime and Beryl Bainbridge is a new author for me. 

In 1844 a middle-aged Irish spinster by the name of Anne Armstrong, gets the unexpected chance to escape her life of genteel poverty. An English schoolmaster, the Reverend John Selby Watson, a man whom she met briefly more than seven years before, and whom Anne has long since forgotten, appears suddenly with a proposal. While the Reverend Watson is certainly no Prince Charming, and his home is in no way a castle, life with him is seemingly so much more preferable to Anne's current living situation - that she accepts John's proposal. Thus begins a marriage that should never have been - where frustrations pile upon disillusionments until everything collapses in hatred and bloody violence. 

For, after nearly thirty years of marriage, the quiet, staid, rather ordinary Reverend Watson bludgeons his wife to death one Sunday after church. The seemingly customary history of the Watsons' unhappy marriage unfolds until it culminates in a sudden brutal act and a headline-grabbing trial. Staying as true to the documented facts of this historical case as she does to the workings of her singular imagination, Ms. Bainbridge artfully reveals what history withholds: the motives, the feelings, and the insanity that drive the Watsons to their domestic tragedy.

I did enjoy reading this book; although it seemed to me to be a little disjointed in places. Perhaps this was the impression that the author wanted to give the reader, I'm not really sure. However, I found this story to be incredibly sad - and although I usually enjoy reading tear-jerking stories - I think that the knowledge that this book was based on an actual murder case, was something that made this story almost too sad for me to read. I just felt incredibly sorry for all the characters involved, and the grinding hopelessness of the Watsons situation, as well as the historical period itself, really came through to me. I give Watson's Apology: A Novel by Beryl Bainbridge a definite A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Fred Rosen - When Satan Wore a Cross: The Shocking True Story of a Killer Priest

54. When Satan Wore a Cross: The Shocking True Story of a Killer Priest by Fred Rosen (2007)
Length: 260 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 12 May 2014
Finished: 13 May 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 May 2014
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Fred Rosen is a new author for me.

On Saturday, April 5, 1980 in Toledo, Ohio - on one of the holiest days of the Church calendar - the body of a nun was discovered in the sacristy of the hospital chapel. Seventy-one year old Sister Margaret Ann Pahl had been brutally murdered - strangled and stabbed, her body arranged in a shocking and shameful pose. But the police's most likely suspect was inexplicably released from custody and the investigation was quietly buried. Despite damning evidence, Father Gerald Robinson went free.

Twenty-three years later the priest's name resurfaced in connection with a bizarre case of satanic ritual and abuse. This prompted investigators to exhume the remains of Sister Margaret Ann to search for the incontrovertible proof that would indelibly mark Father Robinson as Sister Margaret Ann's killer: the sign of the Devil.

When Satan Wore a Cross is the shocking true story of official cover-ups, madness, murder and lies - and of an unholy human monster who disguised himself in holy garb.

I loved this book. The case was shocking to begin with, and I actually do remember when Gerald Robinson finally went on trial for Sister Margaret Ann's murder. Although, the television coverage that I watched certainly tamped down the satanic ritualistic element of the crime. This book was very clearly written, and I enjoyed the author's writing style - it was just detailed enough to be interesting, and not cluttered too much with technical jargon. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Abby Haight and J. E. Vader and the Staff of The Oregonian - Fire on Ice: The Exclusive Inside Story of Tonya Harding

51. Fire on Ice: The Exclusive Inside Story of Tonya Harding by Abby Haight and J. E. Vader and the Staff of The Oregonian (1994)
Length: 227 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 1 May 2014
Finished: 3 May 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 21 November 2013
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Abby Haight and J. E. Vader are new authors for me.

Championship figure skating, despite its glamorous facade of elegance, is a fiercely competitive sport beneath the surface - full of bitter rivalry and personal antagonism. For so many, Olympic glory means everything: fame, money, and the admiration of millions.

Every skater who goes for the gold certainly has the desire to win and a tremendous competitive spirit, but few more so than Tonya Harding. In Fire on Ice, you will learn about Tonya's hardscrabble childhood - a childhood racked by abuse, money problems, and unceasing pressure and constant belittlement by her mother. And you will learn how Tonya Harding made herself into one of America's best skaters.

This is the story of a young woman for whom ambition may, in the end, be her downfall. Her story is a tale of sacrifice and overcoming obstacles, of the strength of competition and the blindness of ambition. On the thinning ice over which Tonya Harding now glides - and perhaps has always glided - we cannot help but see an 'American Dream' type of story, and all of America is watching it.

This was an excellent book, in my opinion, I was also pleasantly surprised that the book portrayed Tonya Harding in a more sympathetic and vulnerable light than most of the news coverage of the Nancy Kerrigan knee-clubbing scandal in 1994. Not that Fire on Ice seeks to exonerate Tonya in any way for her actions, but this book does illuminate Tonya's health, marriage and financial difficulties.

By delving into Tonya Harding's background, the story portrays her as more of a flawed woman, blinded by her ambition, instead of a ruthless monster who orchestrated the destruction of her rival's career. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

James Patterson and Martin Dugard - The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King

47. The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard (2009)
Length: 357 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 16 April 2014
Finished: 18 April 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 27 October 2012
Why do I have it? I like true crime and since Mareena also knows how much I'm fascinated by ancient Egypt (particularly the life and death of King Tut), she got this book for me in October of 2012.

Ascending to Egypt's most powerful throne at the tender age of nine, King Tutankhamen's reign sparked debate from the very outset. Behind the palace's veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousies raged among the Boy King's most trusted advisers, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name effectively purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy - a secret buried for centuries.

Enthralled by the ruler's tragic story and hoping to unlock answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard Carter - an English archaeologist and Egyptologist - made it his life's mission to discover the pharaoh's tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered numerous setbacks and countless dead-ends, before he finally, finally uncovered the long-lost crypt and ultimately found the keys to an unsolved mystery.

In The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard reveal the clues that point to murder. Digging through all the evidence - X-rays, Howard Carter's files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages - the authors reveal their own account of King Tut's life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion and betrayal that shines a bright light on the most ancient mystery of all.

I've always had an interest in Egyptology, and specifically in King Tutankhamen himself, so reading this book was absolutely fascinating for me. I found all three sections of the book - King Tut's story, Howard Carter's story, and the present-day story of how the book was written - extremely interesting in their own right. I learned so much more about each individual and their own personal histories, as well as the various periods of history, than I already knew before I read this book. I give The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard a definite A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Andy Hoffman - Love Kills: The Stalking of Diane Newton King

19. Love Kills: The Stalking of Diane Newton King by Andy Hoffman (1994)
Length: 258 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 19 February 2014
Finished: 21 February 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 29 January 2014
Why do I have it? I like true crime and have read and enjoyed Family Affairs by the same author in the past.

On February 9, 1991 - outside her Marshall, Michigan home - a popular television newscaster was shot to death in front of her two young children. At the time of her murder, Diane Newton King had been working for the Battle Creek television station, WOTV, for two years as the morning news anchor. To everyone who watched her on television, it appeared that Diane Newton King was living an idyllic life. She had a fulfilling career, a beautiful family, and a devoted ex-cop husband who simply adored her.

However, Diane's fame also brought with it an equal amount of terror into her life. She began receiving anonymous phone calls and mysterious notes - at first fawning, then insistent...then threatening. Finally, on a winter's day in 1991, the pretty, personable broadcast journalist was gunned down in her own driveway, as her children sat buckled in their carseats.

Diane Newton King was dead - the apparent victim of an obsessed fan-turned-stalker's twisted infatuation. But the investigation that followed soon revealed a shocking truth the police feared they could never prove: the real killer was waiting for her at home...as close to Diane as 'Till Death do we Part'.

I must say that I'd never heard of Diane Newton King's murder, although I also read Family Affairs - another book by Andy Hoffman - last month. One element of Andy Hoffman's writing that I really appreciate, is that he writes about the crime and subsequent court case very simply. He doesn't become enmeshed with the various peripheral issues of a case. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Andy Hoffman - Family Affairs

10. Family Affairs by Andy Hoffman (1992)
Length: 310 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 25 January 2014
Finished: 27 January 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 August 2008
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Andy Hoffman is a new author for me.

In Overland Park, Kansas on April 17, 1980, seventeen-year-old James Crumm and his sixteen-year-old friend Paul Sorentino picked up Jimmy's thirteen-year-old stepbrother, Christian Hobson and drove him out to the creek. The older teenagers, smoking dope and drinking, forced Chris to dig a shallow grave on the creek bank, told him to climb in and lie down, then proceeded to shoot the boy three times. Christian's body was found a month later by two boys digging for worms.

When Jimmy and Paul were arrested, they finally confessed to the crime, but also implicated the one person that police never suspected would want Chris dead - Jimmy's mother and Chris' stepmother - Sueanne Hobson. Promising her son and his friend a new car, as well as motorcycle repairs, Sueanne contracted the hit on Chris because she just plain disliked her stepson, seeing him as a rival for his father's - her new husband's - affections. Chris Hobson was also a special education student who had adjustment problems at school, and acted out at home.

It was one of the most notorious murders in Kansas history, as well as one of the most closely followed murder trials - when it was tried two years later. James Crumm was convicted of first-degree murder, Paul Sorrentino was convicted of aiding and abetting Jimmy. Both boys received life sentences, but were later paroled. Jimmy was paroled on January 4, 1999; Paul was paroled on April 21, 2000. 

Although Sueanne Hobson has always maintained her innocence, she was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was paroled on February 25, 2011. Despite having divorced Sueanne twice - and subsequently remarried her - her husband, Ed Hobson, has continued to stand by her.

I must say that I'd never heard of this murder before reading this book - which I give a definite A+! In my personal opinion, both James Crumm and Paul Sorrentino - while they committed a truly terrible murder - were ultimately pawns in Sueanne Hobson's plans. It seemed fitting to me that both 'boys' were paroled long before Sueanne Hobson. 

In this case, I believe there were many victims deeply affected by this murder: Christian Hobson, his father Ed, James Crumm and his sister Suzanne, and Paul Sorrentino - all were severely impacted by this murder - a murder that never would have occurred if Sueanne Hobson hadn't orchestrated it - using a twisted ploy against a son desperate for her love and approval.  

A+! - (96-100%) 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anne Bird - Blood Brother: 33 Reasons my Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty

48. Blood Brother: 33 Reasons my Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty by Anne Bird (2005)
Length: 211 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 7 June 2013
Finished: 8 June 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2013
Why do I have it? I like true crime and had heard that Scott Peterson's half sister had written a book, and I wanted to read it.

The story no one else can tell...except perhaps a family member. What happens if, after being given up for adoption as a child, you reestablish contact with your biological family - only to discover that your true brother is a killer? Anne Bird, the sister of Scott Peterson, knows firsthand. She gives her account of her brother's marriage and his disturbing behavior - and tells how she realized that her brother was capable of murder.

Soon after her birth in 1965, Anne was given up for adoption by her mother, Jackie Latham. Welcomed into the well-adjusted Grady family, she lived a happy life. Then, in the late 1990s, she got back in contact with her birth mother - now married - and her family, including Jackie's son, Scott Peterson, and his wife, Laci. Anne was welcomed into the family, and over the next several years she grew close to Scott and especially Laci.

Together they shared holidays, family reunions, trips to Disneyland. Anne and Laci even became pregnant at roughly the same time, and the two quickly became confidantes. On Christmas Eve 2002, Laci Peterson went missing, and the happy facade of the Peterson family began to crumble. Anne immediately rushed to the family's aid, joining in the search for Laci, even allowing Scott to stay in her home while the police attempted to find his pregnant wife. Yet Scott's behavior grew increasingly more bizarre as the search for Laci intensified, and Anne grew suspicious that her brother knew more about the situation than he was telling. She began keeping a list of Scott's disturbing quirks. And by the time Laci's body - and that of her unborn son, Conner - were found, Anne was becoming convinced: Her brother Scott Peterson had murdered his wife and unborn child in cold blood.

Filled with news-making revelations as well as intimate glimpses of Scott and Laci, the Peterson family, and the investigation that followed the murder, Blood Brother: 33 Reasons my Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty is a provocative account of how long-dormant family ties dragged one woman into one of the most notorious crimes of our time.

I have to say that while I generally enjoy reading about true crime, I prefer reading books about certain crimes told from the family's perspective - about the personal effects of that specific crime on them as members of the family, or of the search for justice for their loved one. I give this book a definite A+! It was well-written and easy for me to read and I truly sympathized with Anne and the difficult position that she found herself in.

Anne Bird went through so much due to her initial support of the Peterson family and her preliminary belief in Scott Peterson's innocence. Her marriage suffered, but as the police investigation revealed more and more inconsistencies in Scott's alibi, Anne eventually had to choose between her burgeoning loyalty to the Peterson family and her lasting loyalty to her husband and two sons - knowing that as her own sons grew up, they deserved to know their mother's thoughts on such a infamous crime.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jack Olsen - Salt of the Earth: One Family's Journey Through the Violent American Landscape

42. Salt of the Earth: One Family's Journey Through the Violent American Landscape by Jack Olsen (1996)
Length: 376 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 16 May 2013
Finished: 20 May 2013
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 13 May 2013
Why do I have it? I like true crime and had read and enjoyed Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by the same author in the past. I have never actually heard of the Brenda Sue Gere case.

One day in September of 1985, 12-year-old Brenda Sue Gere was abducted from her family's home in Clearview, Washington. Her parents, Joe and Elaine Gere, were understandably devastated by the little girl's disappearance, and Joe said he effectively died on the day that Brenda was taken. It was left to Brenda's mother, Elaine to sustain her stricken family, search for her missing child, and pressure the authorities for justice.

From the first minutes of the investigation, suspicion fell on Michael Kay Green - a steroid-abusing "Mr. Universe" hopeful - but there was no proof of a crime, leaving police and prosecutors stymied. Tips and sightings poured in as lawmen and volunteers commenced searching the Cascade forest in a search which would become the largest in Northwest history. Years passed with no sign of blue-eyed Brenda or the bright clothing she had worn on the day she had disappeared. Yet Elaine remained undaunted in her quest.

Salt of the Earth: One Family's Journey Through a Violent American Landscape by Jack Olsen, tells the true story of a simple family thrust into overwhelming grief and the unyielding spotlight by a senseless crime. This story traces the background of the Gere family, the seven-year long crime drama and the effects of tragedy on a family.

I must say that I enjoyed this book very much. It was well-written, easy to follow and the plot had a poignancy about it that I appreciated. I give this book an A+! and look forward to reading more books by Jack Olsen in the future.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Gus Pelagatti - The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story

7. The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti (2011)
Length: 296 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 24 January 2013
Finished: 25 January 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Gus for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 January 2013
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Gus Pelagatti is a new author for me. I also had never heard of the actual 1938 Philadelphia murder scandals that this book is based on.

The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story is a story set in Depression-Era Philadelphia and filled with murder, corruption, treachery, love and lust written about in vivid detail. 

Giorgio DiSipio - a local tailor known as the 'Don Juan of Passyunk Avenue' - preyed upon disenchanted and unfaithful wives - eventually convincing twelve of them to kill their spouses for the insurance money. The murder conspiracy is very successful, until one lone assistant District Attorney, Tom Rossi, uncovers the plot and brings the perpetrators to justice.

All in all, seventeen wives were arrested and charged with the murders of their husbands. First among them being Lillian Stoner, who murders her husband Reggie and depends on her lover Giorgio to feed her opium habit. There was Eva Bell Fitzpatrick, a risque redhead who loves sex and gambling, and whose gambling debts lead her in to the worst kind of trouble - murder. Rose Grady was known as the 'Kiss of Death Widow' - married four times, she was thrice a widow - looking for affection and support for herself and her two young daughters, she finds both in Giorgio DiSipio. Joanna Napoli was the full-figured gift shop owner - the only 'Wicked Wife' to be 'blinded by love' - and her obsession with Giorgio leads her to do the unthinkable.

Assigned to arrest and prosecute all the conspirators including the wives for the poison murders, assistant District Attorney Tom Rossi incurs the wrath of the corrupt Deputy Mayor Bill Evans after he refuses to protect Bill Evans' niece Lillan Stoner from murder charges. The Deputy Mayor sets the political machinery in motion to get Tom Rossi disbarred, using the only ammunition he is able to find, Tom's relationship with nurse Hope Daniels. Part Negro, Hope has successfully lived her life as a white woman, but Bill Evans uses the bigotry of Philadelphia voters to derail Tom Rossi's campaign to be elected District Attorney.

To be completely honest, while I enjoyed the underlying murder mystery, and appreciated how well-researched the book was, there were so many characters involved that I had trouble keeping them all straight in my mind. The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti was gritty, violent and incredibly realistic. I certainly don't recommend this book for 'faint-of-heart' or squeamish readers. I give The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti an A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jack Olsen - Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love

97. Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen (1987)
Length: 391 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 4 November 2012
Finished: 7 November 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 November 2007
Why do I have it? I like true crime but had never heard of the Cindy Campbell Ray and David West murder case.

In June of 1982, wealthy Houston attorney, James Campbell, and his wife Virginia were shot to death in their bed while their grandsons, ages seven and eight, camped out in sleeping bags at the foot of the Campbells' bed. The frustrated police shelve the case after about 30 months of investigation, claiming the case has gone cold. The murder victims' daughter and her husband hire a private investigator to continue the investigation.

Kim Paris, a young, free-spirited private investigator on her first major case, opens up a whole new area of investigation into the formerly cold case - turning up the heat on the prime suspect, Cindy Campbell Ray, James and Virginia's younger daughter. Close to two years after the murders, Kim locates and befriends David West, an ex-Marine and Cindy Campbell Ray's lover. He confesses to shooting Cindy's parents at her behest, mistakenly believing that James Campbell had been sexually molesting Cindy throughout her childhood, and that Virginia Campbell was physically abusing Cindy as well.

Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen is a somewhat unusual true-crime study, not because the case is ultimately solved by a private detective rather than the police, and not because the final disposition of the case is not included, but, rather, because of its searching psychological depiction of the killers. I also have Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case by Clifford Irving, which is another book about this case which covers the murder trial. However, I give Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)
 
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona - Coroner

92. Coroner by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona (1983)
Coroner Series Book 1
Length: 252 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 25 October 2012
Finished: 28 October 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 18 October 2012
Why do I have it? I like true crime and had read and enjoyed Coroner at Large by the same authors.

In Thomas T. Noguchi's memoir, Coroner, the former Chief Medical Examiner of Los Angeles County and the "coroner to the stars", reveals the full evidence behind the headline-making deaths of Robert F. Kennedy, Janis Joplin, Sharon Tate, Marilyn Monroe and others - the shocking and surprising facts can now be released in this stunning memoir.

I had wanted to read this book ever since reading the sequel back in September and was excited when I received this book in the mail last week. It was very interesting reading certainly, but I'm glad to have finished it when I did - I think that it was just a tad too long for me. Definitely not boring at all, just longer and a little more involved than I had expected the book would be when I first started it. I would certainly recommend Coroner to anyone who likes to read about true crime and give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona - Coroner at Large

82. Coroner at Large by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona (1985)
The Coroner Series Book 2
Length: 249 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 24 September 2012
Finished: 28 September 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 October 2007
Why do I have it? I like true crime and have always been curious about the cases mentioned in this book.

In this sequel to Coroner, Thomas T. Noguchi, the former Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles from 1967 to 1982, delves into some of the history of forensic science as well as a number of the curious or unusual celebrity deaths throughout the years. From the influential Claus von Bulow case to the murder of Dorothy Stratten; from modern-day murder cases to forensic puzzles throughout history, Dr. Noguchi offers his own professional interpretation and expertise in each case.

I have had this book sitting on my downstairs bookshelf for almost five years and have to say that I never even picked it up until Tuesday night. I had brought this book upstairs about a week ago, as I hoped to read it sometime within the next month. I really enjoyed this book and wish I hadn't waited so long to read it. It was really very good and I have put Thomas T. Noguchi's memoir, Coroner, on my Wish List. I give Coroner at Large an A+! and am definitely looking forward to perhaps reading Coroner some time very soon as well.

A+! - (96-100%)
   
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona - Coroner at Large

82. Coroner at Large by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona (1985)
Coroner Series Book 2
Length: 249 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 24 September 2012
Finished: 28 September 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 October 2007
Why do I have it? I like true crime and have always been curious about the cases mentioned in this book.

In this sequel to Coroner, Thomas T. Noguchi, the former Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles from 1967 to 1982, delves into some of the history of forensic science as well as a number of the curious or unusual celebrity deaths throughout the years. From the influential Claus von Bulow case to the murder of Dorothy Stratten; from modern-day murder cases to forensic puzzles throughout history, Dr. Noguchi offers his own professional interpretation and expertise in each case.

I have had this book sitting on my downstairs bookshelf for almost five years and have to say that I never even picked it up until Tuesday night. I had brought this book upstairs about a week ago, as I hoped to read it sometime within the next month. I really enjoyed this book and wish I hadn't waited so long to read it. It was really very good and I have put Thomas T. Noguchi's memoir, Coroner, on my Wish List. I give Coroner at Large an A+! and am definitely looking forward to perhaps reading Coroner some time very soon as well.

A+! - (96-100%)
   
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Donald Delano Wright - To Die is Not Enough: A True Account of Murder and Retribution

75. To Die is Not Enough: A True Account of Murder and Retribution by Donald Delano Wright (1974)
Length: 238 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 3 September 2012
Finished: 6 September 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 October 2007
Why do I have it? I like true crime and had actually never heard of the Don Anthony White case.

On Christmas Eve, 1959, Don White, a 22-year-old mentally disturbed black man, brutally murdered two people - a white great-grandmother and a black longshoreman. At his trial, his lawyers introduced evidence of an intolerable childhood spent with an unbalanced foster mother and in various institutions, attempting to prove diminished responsibility for his acts. Don White was convicted of one count of First Degree Murder and one count of Second Degree Murder on May 27, 1960, and sentenced to death in Walla Walla Washington. By 1968, his conviction was commuted to life in prison.

Donald Delano Wright first learned of Don White's case as a court reporter for the Seattle Times. Through a series of newspaper articles that eventually resulted in To Die is Not Enough: A True Account of Murder and Retribution, the author became friends with Don White and would visit him consistently in the penitentiary. Donald Delano Wright passed away in November of 2007 at the age of 72.

I enjoyed this book although I thought it was rather dry in parts. It was also very sad and depressing to think about how Don White was so badly mistreated in his childhood. I give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Vincent Bugliosi and William Stadiem - Lullaby and Good Night

44. Lullaby and Good Night by Vincent Bugliosi and William Stadiem (1987)
Length: 405 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 23 May 2012
Finished: 29 May 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 26 April 2012
Why do I have it? I like true crime and had read Helter Skelter many, many years ago.

Loosely based around the life and times of Vivian Gordon - the convicted prostitute who tried to fight the corruption of Tammany Hall and lost - Lullaby and Good Night introduces us to Emily Stanton - a beautiful 17-year-old chorus girl who meets up-and-coming Tammany businessman, Warren Matthews. Vivacious Emily is ultimately swept off her feet and into marriage to Warren, but the marriage eventually turns sour as Warren forbids Emily's return to the stage. He violently squelches her attempts to disobey and she leaves him. Warren immediately has Emily jailed for prostitution, thus gaining custody of their daughter and grounds for a divorce in one fell swoop.

After serving time, her reputation in ruins, Emily becomes a hostess at a raucous, glittering speakeasy; a high-priced call girl who "dated" many of the men who ran New York. The case which she built against Tammany Hall backfires when Warren is murdered and she is set up to take the fall. In a murder trial that rocks New York, Emily finds a platform to reveal her inside knowledge of corruption.

As I said before, I had read Helter Skelter many, many years ago and disliked it. In my opinion, Helter Skelter was incredibly long and detailed. Because of this, I was slightly wary of reading another Vincent Bugliosi book. I was extremely surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this book. I give this book an A+! I perhaps wouldn't recommend every book by Vincent Bugliosi, however I do recommend Lullaby and Good Night and I have high hopes for another Vincent Bugliosi book which I have on my bookshelf, And the Sea Will Tell.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jack Kneece - Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case

14. Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece (1986)
Length: 240 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 11 February 2012
Finished: 13 February 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Jack Kneece is a new author for me.


This book chronicles the life of John Walker, a former Navy warrant officer who was the mastermind behind a family spy ring that included his son and brother. He and his family was directly responsible for jeopardizing American security throughout the 17 years that they were actively spying for the Russians. I really enjoyed this book even though I don't usually like books about espionage. I found that it got extremely technical towards the end of the book and I have to say that I was shocked by the outcome of the Walker case. I give this book an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Lionel Dahmer - A Father's Story

6. A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer (1994)
Length: 255 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 14 January 2012
Finished: 16 January 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2009
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Lionel Dahmer is a new author for me.


Lionel Dahmer delves into his own life and psyche and tries to explain to the public and himself how his son Jeffrey Dahmer - the notorious serial killer who was caught and imprisoned in 1991 - turned from loving son to gruesome murderer. He psychoanalyzes himself and tries to pinpoint the traits in himself that turned so wrong in his son. This is the second time that I've read this book and I give it an A+! 


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight