"The Christmas Killings: 40 Hours to Justice is published on the 25th anniversary of, arguably, Dayton, Ohio’s most shocking murder spree. The crimes were so horrifying that they captured the attention of the national and international press. Known as “The Christmas Killings,” this series of events became a worldwide news story in the print media and early days of cable news. This true-life crime drama opens Christmas week 1992 in a Dayton, Ohio, a declining major industrial U.S. city. The first murder to come to the attention of the four-man Dayton police homicide squad occurs on the evening of December 24, 1992. The ensuing complex criminal acts, including multiple perpetrators, victims, and locations, span 40 consecutive hours until they are resolved only through the tenacity of the detectives and uniformed officers. The full narrative unfolds through the four-day holiday weekend and then presses onward into the weeks and months that follow. Although the story details the atrocities committed by a local gang of teens — the self-proclaimed “Downtown Posse” — who inflict acts of brutality on unsuspecting members of the local community, The Christmas Killings – is a unique portrayal. It is told from the perspective of four homicide investigators – Sgt. Larry Grossnickle and Detectives Wade Lawson, Tom Lawson, and Doyle Burke – both in the way the murders unfold for them in 1992 and in the way these distinguished officers recall the tragic events. Author Dennis Murphy, himself a former Dayton police homicide detective, wanted “The Christmas Killings” told from the point of view of the investigators – the protagonists. He believed there was no better way to recount these tragic events than to tap into the thoughts and feelings of the men who were called out to investigate the homicides over a holiday weekend when most citizens were otherwise engaged in joyous holiday festivities and oblivious to the danger lurking in their city streets. "--Provided by publisher.

In this clever reimagining of Charles Dickens’s life, he and fiancée Kate Hogarth must solve the murder of an old miser, just before Christmas . . . London, December 1835: Charles and Kate are out with friends and family for a chilly night of caroling and good cheer. But their blood truly runs cold when their singing is interrupted by a body plummeting from an upper window of a house. They soon learn the dead man, his neck strangely wrapped in chains, is Jacob Harley, the business partner of the resident of the house, an unpleasant codger who owns a counting house, one Emmanuel Screws. Ever the journalist, Charles dedicates himself to discovering who's behind the diabolical defenestration. But before he can investigate further, Harley's corpse is stolen. Following that, Charles is visited in his quarters by what appears to be Harley's ghost—or is it merely Charles’s overwrought imagination? He continues to suspect Emmanuel, the same penurious penny pincher who denied his father a loan years ago, but Kate insists the old man is too weak to heave a body out a window. Their mutual affection and admiration can accommodate a difference of opinion, but matters are complicated by the unexpected arrival of an infant orphan. Charles must find the child a home while solving a murder, to ensure that the next one in chains is the guilty party . . . Praise for the Dickens of a Crime Mysteries! “Mystery fans and history buffs alike should cheer.” —KirkusSTARRED Review “Sharp, incisive, and delightfully twisty. I’m sure I won't be the only reader exclaiming, ‘What the Dickens?!’” —Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author. “As easy to read as one of Mr. Dickens’ actual novels and as entertaining.” —New York Journal of Books “Fans of Anne Perry will love this one.” —Dianne Freeman, award–winning author

“Exceptional…the perfect holiday entertainment.”— Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW This Christmas season, travel to the North Pole you’ve never seen before—where Santa’s new wife, April Claus, is not only set on creating the perfect holiday—she’s also set on solving the perfect crime… Love is full of surprises—though few compare to realizing that you’re marrying the real-life Santa. April Claus dearly loves her new husband, Nick, but adjusting to life in the North Pole is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous elf named Giblet Hollyberry is killed—felled by a black widow spider in his stocking—shortly after publicly arguing with Nick. Christmastown is hardly a hotbed of crime, aside from mishaps caused by too much eggnog, but April disagrees with Constable Crinkle’s verdict of accidental death. As April sets out to find the culprit, it’ll mean putting the future of Christmas on the line—and hoping her own name isn’t on a lethal naughty list . . .

And recommendations -- Maps -- Background -- Attacks on civilians between September and November 2008 -- The Christmas massacres -- Life with the LRA : the children speak -- Response from the LRA -- Recent international action on the LRA -- Acknowledgements.

Originally published: New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1984.

Some said that the killer couldn't be a local. Others claimed that he was the wealthy son of a prominent Morgantown family. Whispers spread that Mared and Karen were sacrificed by a satanic cult or had been victims of a madman poised to strike again. Then the handwritten letters began to arrive: "You will locate the bodies of the girls covered over with brush--look carefully. The animals are now on the move." Investigators didn't find too few suspects--they had far too many. There was the campus janitor with a fur fetish, the "harmless" deliveryman who beat a woman nearly to death, the nursing home orderly with the bloody broomstick and the bouncer with the "girlish" laugh who threatened to cut off people's heads. Local authors Geoffrey C. Fuller and S. James McLaughlin tell the complete story of the murders for the first time.

Antoine Verlaque, examining magistrate for the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence, doesn't like Christmas. The decorations appear in the shops far too early, festive tourists swarm the streets, and his beloved Cours Mirabeau is lined with chalets selling what he regards as tacky trinkets. But his wife and partner Marine Bonnet is determined to make this a Christmas they can both enjoy, beginning with the carol sing at the Cathedral Saint Sauveur, a beautiful service in a packed church.