When Henry Debosnys arrived in Essex, New York, the sleepy town was unprepared for the string of dark events that trailed the exotic European stranger. Within weeks of his appearance, he had romanced wealthy widow Betsey Wells, charming her friends and children and presenting the picture of an ideal new family at their spur-of-the-moment wedding. Yet when authorities discovered Betsey's mangled body in a nearby forest, Debosnys's image as a caring family man began to unravel. During his incarceration, Debosnys slowly revealed himself to be a genius fluent in six languages, a master cryptographer and the murderer of at least two previous wives. As the scrutiny on Debosnys intensified, he began producing coded messages, allegedly confessions to a lifetime of villainy. Author Cheri Farnsworth reveals never-before-seen evidence of this Upstate tragedy, including reproductions of the legendary, unsolved Debosnys cryptograms, in an effort to finally uncover the truth about this depraved con man. The only question that remains is who will be the first to crack the "Debosnys Code"?

"In 1953, a man was found dead from cyanide poisoning near the Philadelphia airport with a picture of a Nazi aircraft in his wallet. Taped to his abdomen was an enciphered message. In 1912, a book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich came into possession of an illuminated cipher manuscript once belonging to Emperor Rudolf II, who was obsessed with alchemy and the occult. Wartime codebreakers tried--and failed--to unlock the book's secrets, and it remains an enigma to this day. In this lively and entertaining book, Craig Bauer examines these and other vexing ciphers yet to be cracked. Some may reveal the identity of a spy or serial killer, provide the location of buried treasure, or expose a secret society--while others may be elaborate hoaxes. Unsolved! begins by explaining the basics of cryptology, and then explores the history behind an array of unsolved ciphers. It looks at ancient ciphers, ciphers created by artists and composers, ciphers left by killers and victims, Cold War ciphers, and many others. Some are infamous, like the ciphers in the Zodiac letters, while others were created purely as intellectual challenges by figures such as Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. Bauer lays out the evidence surrounding each cipher, describes the efforts of geniuses and eccentrics--in some cases both--to decipher it, and invites readers to try their hand at puzzles that have stymied so many others. Unsolved! takes readers from the ancient world to the digital age, providing an amazing tour of many of history's greatest unsolved ciphers"--

Local author and historian Niki Kourofsky exposes the North Country’s shadowy past of crime and dark deeds. Her wry, lively storytelling puts readers right in the thick of shootouts, jewel heists, bank robberies, manhunts, and unsolved murders. Spanning eight decades of Adirondack history and ranging from Glens Falls to the Canadian border, Adirondack Outlaws is a rollicking page-turner, rich in chilling details and amply illustrated with historical photographs.

Advance praise for Enigma, The Grand Inquisitor Redux: A Literary Fable

If you liked Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code—or want to solve similarly baffling cyphers yourself—this is the book for you! A thrilling exploration of history’s most vexing codes and ciphers that uses hands-on exercises to teach you the most popular historical encryption schemes and techniques for breaking them. Solve history’s most hidden secrets alongside expert codebreakers Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh, as they guide you through the world of encrypted texts. With a focus on cracking real-world document encryptions—including some crime-based coded mysteries that remain unsolved—you’ll be introduced to the free computer software that professional cryptographers use, helping you build your skills with state-of-the art tools. You’ll also be inspired by thrilling success stories, like how the first three parts of Kryptos were broken. Each chapter introduces you to a specific cryptanalysis technique, and presents factual examples of text encrypted using that scheme—from modern postcards to 19-century newspaper ads, war-time telegrams, notes smuggled into prisons, and even entire books written in code. Along the way, you’ll work on NSA-developed challenges, detect and break a Caesar cipher, crack an encrypted journal from the movie The Prestige, and much more. You’ll learn: How to crack simple substitution, polyalphabetic, and transposition ciphers How to use free online cryptanalysis software, like CrypTool 2, to aid your analysis How to identify clues and patterns to figure out what encryption scheme is being used How to encrypt your own emails and secret messages Codebreaking is the most up-to-date resource on cryptanalysis published since World War II—essential for modern forensic codebreakers, and designed to help amateurs unlock some of history’s greatest mysteries.

In the early 1970s, three young girls were slain near Rochester, NY, in the so-called Alphabet murders. The first book fully devoted to the case explores the crime and its investigation.

There is a tragic history in New York's North Country of human folly, natural disasters, deadly explosions, terrible train wrecks and other calamities. The famous Barnum & Bailey Circus suffered deeply after its train crashed between Norwood and Potsdam in 1889 and many animals died. Beloved Thousand Island Park was almost entirely destroyed by a devastating fire in 1912, leveling hotels and businesses, and the once-thriving park never fully recovered. The great Massena earthquake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale in 1944 and caused tremendous structural damage, including destroying nearly all chimneys in the area. Author Cheri L. Farnsworth compiles both the man-made and natural disasters that shocked the North Country in the hundred years between 1850 and 1950.