Twenty-three-year-old Judd Nix, an unpaid intern at the most prestigious personal management firm in country music, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when his boss and mentor, Simon Stills, offers him a temporary position--an opportunity that may just cost Judd his life.

This collection uncovers the fascinating past of Tennessee’s legendary Music City from true tall tales to larger than life characters and much more. Perched on the banks of the Cumberland River, Nashville is best known for its role in the civil rights movement, world-class education and, of course, country music. In this unique collection of columns written for The Tennessean, journalist and longtime Tennessee native George Zepp illuminates a less familiar side of the city’s history. Here, readers will learn the secrets of Timothy Demonbreun, one of the city's first residents, who lived with his family in a cliff-top cave; Cortelia Clark, the blind bluesman who continued to perform on street corners after winning a Grammy award; and Nashville's own Cinderella story, which involved legendary radio personality Edgar Bergen and his ventriloquist protegee. Based on questions from readers across the nation, these little-known tales abound with Music City mystery and charm.

From post–Civil War political feuds to Depression-era mass murder—explore the criminally fascinating secret history of Music City, USA. Nashville is known for its bold, progressive flair, but few are aware of its malevolent past. Now, historian Brian Allison sheds light on some of Nashville’s darkest deeds in this compulsively readable chronicle of turn-of-the-century bad behavior. Included here are tales of infamous bar brawls, escaped fugitives, and deadly duels instigated (and won) by legendary hothead Andrew Jackson; a tour of the notorious red-light district of Smokey Row, where one of the largest congregations of prostitutes in the country was at the service of 1000s of beleaguered boys in gray; a killer temptress with a penchant for poison who strolled the city streets looking for victims; a grisly—and true—local legend known as the Headless Horror; the facts behind the macabre 1938 Marrowbone Creek cabin murders; and much more. Vividly capturing the outlandish mischief, shocking crimes, and political powder kegs of an era, Murder and Mayhem in Nashville lifts the veil on a great city’s sordid secrets.

The never-before-told true account of the serial killers who terrorized Nashville's music scene for decades--and the cold-case Murder Squad determined to bring an end to their sadistic sprees. Nashville--a haven for aspiring musicians and a magnet for country-music fans. By the time Pat Postiglione arrived there in 1980, it was also the scene of an unsolved series of vicious sex slayings that served as a harbinger of worse to come. As Postiglione was promoted from street-beat Metro cop to detective sergeant heading Music City's elite cold-case Murder Squad, some of America's most bizarre, elusive, and savage serial killers were calling Nashville home. And during the next two decades, the body count climbed. From Vanderbilt University to dive bars and out-of-the-way motels, Postiglione followed the bloody tracks of these ever-escalating crimes--each enacted by a different psychopath with the same intent: to murder without motive or remorse. But of all the investigations, of all the monsters Postiglione chased, few were as chilling, or as game changing, as the Rest Stop Killer: a homicidal trucker who turned the interstates into his trolling ground. Next stop, Nashville. But Postiglione was waiting.

The True Story of Murder on Music Row through the eyes of the sole survivor, Sammy Sadler. “A story of survival. A story of revival. A story that had to be told. An incredible read that will keep you on the edge of your seat!” - Country Music Star Deborah Allen In 1989, country newcomer Sammy Sadler had already charted several critically-acclaimed singles and was ready to release his first album when he was shot during the assassination of then Cash Box chart-manager, Kevin Hughes, an incident known around the world as the “Murder on Music Row.” The police had no suspects, and even though Sammy suffered a nearly fatal bullet wound, the officers kept him under suspicion during the 13-year investigation. Eventually, the investigation would reveal an elaborate web of corruption, chart-rigging and payola, a clear motive and suspect for the murder. An ending that rocked the music industry for many years to come. In this first-hand account, Sadler recounts his personal and sensational journey from wide-eyed, promising, Top-40 newcomer to “person of interest” and survivor of one of the most infamous killings in the music business. From his struggle to recover from his nearly-fatal injuries to the turmoil endured during the 13-year career-throttling investigation, this autobiographical account is a demonstration of his faith and his resilient passion for music that would allow him to move forward and continue to pursue his dreams. As featured on CMN, FOX 17 WZTV Nashville, FIRST COAST ABC News, Nashville.com, This Week America, WSM 650AM and Good Morning Texas.

A Funeral in New OrleansJessica Fletcher has a writer’s conference in New Orleans and can’t resist staying an extra week for the annual Jazz Festival. In her short time there, she gets a chance to sample everything the city has to offer— its delectable food, its wonderful music and, of course, its unique brand of murder and corruption… Arts critic Wayne Copely is desperately searching for the fabled recordings of New Orleans jazz legend Little Red LeCoeur. But when he hears that his old friend Jessica Fletcher is in town, he’s more than happy to take a break from work and give her an insider’s view of the festival. Unfortunately, her jazz lesson and his search are tragically cut short when he turns up dead next to the grave of an old voodoo queen. And when the cops pass off the bizarre event as a mere ‘accidental death’, it’s up to Jessica to get to the bottom of it...

A chilling account of the murders of two hunters in rural Michigan—a mystery that haunted a community and baffled the police for two decades. In the bitter cold of 1985, two buddies from Detroit embark on a hunting trip to the Michigan wilderness, unaware they will soon become the hunted. The eerie silence surrounding their sudden disappearance is broken after nearly two decades when a relentless investigator inspires a terrified witness to break her silence. The witness narrates a haunting scene that had unfolded years back, pointing fingers at the prime suspects—the Duvall brothers. With no bodies unearthed, the justice system is riveted by the startling revelations during an electrifying trial in 2003. The brothers, Raymond and Donald Duvall, had bragged about the murders, evocatively explaining how they dismembered their victims and fed them to pigs. Despite the shocking confession, the case holds its ground purely on a single witness’s account, taking the courtroom through a labyrinth of dark secrets and sinister acts. This gripping thriller presents a vivid tale of crime that reveals the devastating power of evil.