Calabasas is a quiet, well-to-do California town often referred to as “The Bubble.” But on September 25th, 2007, that bubble burst with the murder of one of its longtime residents—high school math teacher Hadas Winnick. The upscale community was rocked by her gruesome death, but as shocking as the tragedy seemed, the years of abuse she faced that preceded it were more so. Even more devastating still, was the effort and time it took to sentence her murderer to prison, and the power that our systems-in-place allowed him while on his way there. Follow Hadas’s daughter, award-winning blogger Amy Chesler, on her often heart-wrenching—but eventually heart-warming—road to justice.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who tried to write his story. Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members, but with the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative assassinated him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend himself. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante’s trial was Harper Lee, who spent a year in town reporting on the Maxwell case and many more trying to finish the book she called The Reverend. Cep brings this remarkable story to life, from the horrifying murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of our most revered writers.
The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator. Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully. Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.
The mesmerizing basis of the movie starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain—a “stunning book...that should and does bring to mind In Cold Blood”—takes you inside the mind of America's most prolific serial killer, whose 16-year long "nursing" career left as many as 400 dead. (New York Times) Edgar Award Nomination, Mystery Writers of America BBC (Top Ten Books of the Year) “The best books I read this year” (top ten books, EW) —Stephen King “The Best Journalism of the Year.". —The Daily Beast “The most terrifying book published this year. It is also one of the most thoughtful...call it literary true crime...” —Kirkus Reviews ("Best Books of the year") After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, a husband and beloved father, a best friend and a celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as perhaps as many as 400 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history. When, in March of 2006, Charles Cullen was marched from his final sentencing in an Allentown, Pennsylvania, courthouse into a waiting police van, it seemed certain that the chilling secrets of his life, career, and capture would disappear with him. Now, in a riveting piece of investigative journalism nearly ten years in the making, Charles Graeber gives us the unbelievable true story. Based on hundreds of pages of previously unseen police records, wire-tap recordings and videotapes and interviews with whistleblowers and confidential informants, and years of exclusive jailhouse conversations with Cullen himself, the homicide detectives who worked against the clock and administrators to try and finally crack the code on Cullen’s crimes, and Cullen’s fellow nurse Amy, an overworked single mom asked to choose between protecting her friend Charlie and stopping a potential serial killer, THE GOOD NURSE weaves an urgent and terrifying tale of madness, humanity and heroism. Cullen's murderous career in the world's most trusted profession spanned sixteen years and nine hospitals. Time and again he was fired or allowed to resign. But Cullen continued to work and kill, shielded by a hospital system that, by accident or design, successfully protected the institution while failing to protect patients. THE GOOD NURSE is a searing indictment of a crushing and dehumanizing for-profit medical system, and an inspiring human story of the previously unknown individuals who chose to risk their jobs and lives to do the right thing. Mesmerizing and irresistibly paced, this book will make you look at hospitals and the people who work in them in an entirely different way.
Detective Inspector Hillary Greene is due to retire in a matter of weeks. To her dismay her boss, who is determined to get her to change her mind about leaving the force, gives her a murder inquiry to handle. The victim, Michael Ivers, a gambler and a notorious womanizer, had few friends and there is a long list of murder suspects. But unless Hillary wants an unsolved murder as her final case as a police officer, she has just days to find out who killed him. To add to an already complicated case her old foe, ex-Sergeant Frank Ross, is back on the scene—and he is a prime suspect.
Molly Pink is about to discover the joys of crochet. It’s a relaxing escape from her hectic life as a bookstore event manager . . . and from the stress of being Tarzana, California’s latest murder suspect. For Molly, the weekly crochet group at Shedd & Royal Books and More was just another event to manage. Then she stumbled across the body of group leader Ellen Sheridan. Her complicated past with Ellen has made her a prime suspect, and after being cuffed and questioned, she could use a little diversion. Never mind that she doesn’t know how to crochet. Granny squares don’t look that hard to make. But while Molly’s fending off a detective with a grudge and navigating crochet group politics, the real killer is at large. And it’s up to Molly to catch the culprit—before she winds up in a tight knot. Delicious recipe and crochet pattern included! “A gentle and charming novel. . . . Its quirky and likable characters are appealing and real.”—Earlene Fowler, author of Tumbling Blocks
The bestselling author of The Hot House once again combines the facts, the real people, and the location itself into this true story, a wide-ranging portrait of the interplay of race, sex, and justice in the American South, made all the more real because it takes place in the same small Alabama town that was the fictional "Maycomb" in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Optioned for film by MGM. Photos.
He died beneath the Statue of Freedom, clutching a 9-mm pistol in his hand. But as dawn rose, the politician would die again--in a hail of rumor and character assassination. Now one man suspects the shattering truth: that the congressman's suicide was a carefully planned murder. In the heart of the free world, a furious struggle begins: to reclaim a man's innocence, expose a woman's lie, and stop a chilling conspiracy of murder that reaches halfway around the world. . . .
In this exciting and atmospheric second entry of this Cold Case Investigation mystery series Detective Lauren Riley is determined to bring the attacker that left her for dead to justice . . . even if it is a fellow police officer. Cold Case Detectives Lauren Riley and her partner Shane Reese are helping the Homicide Squad after a murder earlier in the day left the department short-staffed. As their shift ends, Reese leaves Lauren alone only for her to be savagely beaten and stabbed from behind minutes later. Lauren didn’t see her attacker, but knows it was a fellow police officer from the city-issued boots she glimpsed as she passed out. Stolen during the attack is the Murder Book, which contains evidence on all active cold cases. Without the book, old homicides became almost impossible to track down. Who in police headquarters would try to kill a fellow officer? Why’d they suddenly want the Murder Book? Although hurt and on enforced leave, nothing will stop Lauren from seeking answers . . . but who on the force can she trust and how safe is she within her own home?
