Crime is men’s business, isn’t it? Women are responsible for 10 percent of crime in Europe. Yet, if we look at the Dutch Republic in the early modern period, we find that in the towns of Holland women played a much larger role in crime. In a number of early modern towns about half of the criminals convicted in court were women. These women were in vulnerable positions and thus more likely to become involved in crime. They also had a relatively independent status and led remarkably public lives. Manon van der Heijden convincingly shows that it is the very combination of women’s vulnerability and independence that accounts for the high female crime rates in Holland between 1600 and 1800.
THE SEALED TRUTH is based on a heinous crime that occurred in Rhode Island in 1975 when five-year-old freckle faced Justin Doherty (real names and places have been changed) was kidnapped and murdered. After a week long search by Hopeville police and volunteers, Justin’s mother Jane and Detective Rick Thurston began a gut-wrenching, futile crusade to find Justin. In 1982, Norman Stedman, a twenty-three-year old loner and neighbor, was arrested when he tried to strangle the local paperboy, and while interrogated, confessed that he had killed Justin. During the search of Norman’s house, the police found Justin’s skull and bones and a journal that described in grim detail what he had done to the dead boy’s body. In a plea bargain, the trail judge sealed the journal. This action caused a series of despicable rumors that exist to this very day about what Norman actually wrote in his journal. Gary Thomas, a retired school principal, sought answers to a series of questions raised by the crime. What caused the killer, a capable student and considered harmless, to go over the edge and kill an innocent child? What exactly was written in the sealed journal? What long term effect has this brutal crime had on its victims? Update The names of the real killer and victims were changed in the book to protect their privacy, however, after book was completed ,the Rhode Island Departement of Corrections publicly announced intended early release of the actual child killer, Michael Woodmansee, in the summer of 2011. The surprise announcement became a national story that ignited passions and generated new fear as people remembered rumors of cannibalism and other alledged horrible things surrounding the gruesome murder of five-year-old Jason Foreman in Peace Dale, Rhode Island in 1975. The father of the murdered boy publicly stated on national television that he would kill the boy when and if Woodmansee is released. Organized protests have occurred and legislation filed to change a“good time” early release law that allowed a child killer like Woodmansee to serve only 28 years of his 40 year sentence. Because any new law will not be retroactive, state officials are looking instead at civil institutional commitment for Woodmansee, something that will only occur if two independent psychiatrists find him a danger to himself and to the community. Meanvhile, the public remains outraged to think that Woodmansee will be free in the near future to walk their streets again.
A copycat killer stalks the streets of Philadelphia in the fifth crime thriller in the Byrne & Balzano series from “a master storyteller” (James Ellroy). Fall in Philadelphia. A man’s corpse is found in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. It’s unmistakably the work of a killer. But to homicide detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, it feels familiar. Eight years ago, another body was found in the same place, in the same position . . . killed in the same manner. Even the crime-scene photos are identical. That case was never closed. And now more copycat murders are happening. Someone is recreating the city’s most infamous unsolved killings, victim by victim—with more clues for Byrne and Balzano to unravel . . . Taut and suspenseful, The Echo Man is already an international bestseller. Discover what readers around the world already know: Richard Montanari’s novels are “relentlessly suspenseful” (Tess Gerritsen).
Is Carl Andersen innocent of murder, or a very good liar? Detective Chief Inspector Maigret has been interrogating the enigmatic Danish aristocrat for seventeen hours. A diamond merchant was found dead, shot at point-blank range, in the garage of Andersen’s mansion, yet he will not confess to the crime. To get to the truth, Maigret must delve into the secrets of Three Widows Crossroads, the isolated neighbourhood where he lives with his mysterious, reclusive sister Else – and where, it seems, everyone has something to hide.
The incredible true story of a woman who risked everything to put her brother, a murderous psychopath and one of the world's most infamous crime bosses, behind bars. Astrid Holleeder is in hiding because she had the courage to write this book. Her brother Willem Holleeder, best known for his involvement in the 1983 kidnapping of the CEO and chairman of Heineken brewing company, is one of the most notorious criminals in contemporary history. For decades, Wim ruled over his family mafia-style, threatening death if any of them betrayed him. Astrid and her sister, Sonja, watched as their brother eliminated anyone who got in his way, and they lived in terror of inciting his rage, unable to protect even their own young children from his violence. Trained as a lawyer, Astrid served as her brother's unwilling confidante. Now, she's turning the tables on him. Charged for his involvement in multiple assassinations, including that of his former partner and brother-in-law, Holleeder is finally on trial for murder, all due to the shocking testimony of his own family. An international bestseller that has sold more than 500,000 copies in Holland, this stunning, edge-of-your seat memoir chronicles Astrid's terrifying experience working as a double agent, preserving her brother's trust just so that she could get enough information to put him away for life. Judas is the intimate account of Astrid's deeply personal betrayal, set against the backdrop of their haunting family history and the astonishing world of the criminal underground.
In his most autobiographical novel to date, James Lee Burke continues the epic Holland family saga with a writer grieving the death of his daughter while battling earthly and supernatural outlaws. Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight. Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next. Drawn from James Lee Burke’s own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.
When a man traveling abroad is murdered in his hotel room, Inspector Maigret must sift through the misdirection and betrayal to find the truth hidden beneath. A Monsieur Gallet has been found dead—murdered—in his hotel room, in a small town outside of Paris. In Georges Simenon’s The Late Monsieur Gallet, Inspector Maigret sets off to figure out the course of events that led to this grim outcome. But as he delves deeper, the circumstances of the crime become increasingly intriguing: Gallet’s alias, his sickly pallor, his claimed profession, his wife’s and son’s strangely indifferent behavior in the wake of Gallet’s death. Using all his wits and intuition, Maigret must look beyond not-so-random coincidences and layers of deception to uncover the truth of the crime.
