FRIENDS UNTIL DEATH Every year, the Morris Avenue Boys--chums since childhood--gather for a Father's Day reunion dinner. Now late in middle age, these men can bask in the rewards of honest success. So which of them seizes the opportunity that fateful evening to pull out an ice pick and stab to death the group's most celebrated member, novelist Arthur Wein? As investigator (and former nun) Christine Bennett peels back the layers of the past, forty years' worth of secrets emerge from the shadows--and the web of lies, theft, adultery, and blackmail woven by the once-innocent Bronx playmates rivals even the darkest plot of the dead man's novels. But in real life, this flesh-and-blood villain may never be caught. . . .

Because his dog, Lady, has been shot to death, Dr. Luke Riley sinks into depression. He wonders who could have had such a terrible grudge against him and visits his ex-wife, Nora, and his ex-girl friend Julie to confront them. Anyone could have hired a hopped-up punk to do the job. Three days later, Helen, his estranged wife, (They live together but lead separate live) is shot to death in their Brooklyn Heights townhouse. At this point Inspector Harry Franks becomes involved the case. And Luke, who found her body, is the prime suspect. A few weeks later Luke's ex-girlfriend, Julie, is wounded as she returns home late at night from her bartending job. Luke, who has just spoken to her at the bar, is again the prime suspect. Harry Franks thinks Riley has all the motives in the world. Will Luke be arrested? Witness the fine work of the police and Riley, himself, to clear his name in this riveting thriller, what was the real motive? Will the Brooklyn Heights Murder Case be solved?

Vivid and intriguing, Murder Maps plots the nineteenth century’s most dramatic murders from around the world onto meticulous diagrams and period maps, and recounts the brilliant detective work that solved the cases. Elegant period maps and compelling crime analysis illuminate this disquieting volume, which reexamines the most captivating and intriguing homicides of the nineteenth century. Organized geographically, the elements of each murder—from the prior movements of both killer and victim to the eventual location of the body—are meticulously replotted using archival maps and bespoke plans, taking readers on a perilous journey around the murder hot spots of the world. From the “French Ripper,” Joseph Vacher, who roamed the French countryside brutally mutilating and murdering at least eleven people, to H. H. Holmes and his “Murder Castle” in Chicago, crime expert Dr. Drew Gray recounts the details of each case. His forensic examination uncovers both the horrifying details of the crimes themselves and the ingenious detective work that led to the capture of the murderers. Throughout the book, Gray highlights the development of police methods and technology, from the introduction of the police whistle to the standardization of the mug shot to the use of fingerprinting and radiotelegraphy in apprehending criminals. Vividly recreating over one hundred individual murder cases through historic maps, photographs, newspaper excerpts, court papers, and police reports, Murder Maps is perfect for everyone interested in criminal history, forensics, or the macabre.

Queens Village was a picture-perfect postcard New York suburb. But in March 1927 the façade of respectability was stripped away to reveal an underside of greed, lust, and crime. Few incidents in crime history have been so notorious as the murder of Albert Snyder by his wife and her lover. Resonant of the footloose Jazz Age, it made persistent headlines and led to a sensational trial. The crime spawned a 1920s Broadway play and inspired the classic noir film of the 1940s, Double Indemnity. This book assesses the entire case, from grisly slaying and shabby cover-up to sharp police work and aftermath. Moreover, it explores sociocultural questions that beg to be answered: what effect does news reportage exert upon high profile cases, and why did such a transparent crime earn such an enduring place in the popular psyche?

It was a sad generation that limped past 1865. Almost every family had been touched by death, and many had been torn apart as sons, brothers, and fathers chose different sides in the Civil War. Murder at Fords Theatre is a history of an assassination with the Civil War as its tragic backdrop and with characters to match this tragedy. There was Lewis Paine, the devoted follower and David Herold who wanted desperately to belong and lose his reputation as an untrustworthy loafer. There are tragic failures of Mary Surratt and Dr. Samuel Mudd, as well as Abraham Lincoln, unappreciated by the public until his martyrdom. Lincoln refused security and put himself in harms way. Harm came in the form of John Wilkes Booth, an acclaimed actor, who wanted to save his beloved South and believed there was only one way to accomplish his goal. Booth had grown up with his own demons--depression and odd behavior were part of his family background. His darker side was hate. When the war broke out, Booth took up the southern cause -- the rest of the family sided with the North. Lincoln was a perfect object for Booths hatred. He suspended Habeas Corpus, put many anti-war advocates in jail, continued the war with its grisly pile of human deaths, refused to negotiate a treaty, and wrote Emancipation Proclamation. Booth, who had spent the war in a noncombat position at the behest of his mother, received news of the end of the war with increased anger. Soon it would be too late to become a hero. His hasty and disorganized plan to assassinate Lincoln went awry. Booth did shoot Lincoln, but during his escape he broke his ankle, an injury that slowed him and led to his capture and death. Only the Bible has been written about more than the Civil War, and the assassination of Lincoln is a part of that story. This is that story.

This inspiring-and sometimes shocking-TRUE story is about love, trust, incest, murder and, yes, an actual miracle. The producer of the 2017 Discovery ID TV episode featuring Cheryl Cuccio says, " I laud Cheryl Pierson Cuccio and Rob Cuccio for blazoning their traumatic pasts and valiant love story so that others who suffer in silence might be emboldened to seek help. Like so many, I was first drawn to their story for its spectacle, but have come through it deeply humbled and indebted."In 1986 Cheryl Pierson was a sixteen year old abuse and incest victim. Day after day her father placed the fear in her no one would believe her if she revealed their dirty secret. But Cheryl had made a promise to her mother, as she lay in her coffin, to protect her eight year old sister from the monster Cheryl's father had become. To honor this promise and end the daily hell she endured, the distraught teenager hired a classmate to murder her father. The name Cheryl Pierson was in the national media for years, filled with assumptions and fabrications surrounding the murder, but her side of the story was never truly covered from her perspective. The one interview she did give to a reporter was while she was still in shock from what had transpired.Now, after thirty years, Cheryl has come out of the shadows to tell her true story--what really happened behind the doors at 293 Magnolia Drive, and what the life she and Rob have shared has been like. She is a strong survivor and hopes to inspire courage in those who walk in her shoes, and to promote abuse and incest awareness with this book. That strength was called into action in 2012 and the result was a miracle!