CLEWS Your Home for Historic True Crime

Stepping into the shadows of the giant

Truman Capote's book is the only true crime title that ever makes it into any of the the "100 best books" lists.

A new true crime book takes place in the same bucolic setting as the book widely considered the masterpiece of true crime. A COLD-BLOODED BUSINESS (Skyhorse Publishing, 978-1-6023-9477-2540, $24.95) is billed as a true crime thriller by New York Times reporter Marek Fuchs. The book grew out of a series of reports Fuchs did for the NY Times from 2004-2007, on a 20-year-old cold case in Olathe, Kansas. The case was solved recently.

Here is a link to a clip of the author being interviewed - by the killer's defense attorney, no less, and it's famous attorney Mickey Sherman.

Genre news

The genre abounds with summertime fare, including two new books in the theme that both so happen to be Michigan stories. Both are books I think we'll be hearing about. . . .

Seventeen-year-old Robin Adams vanished in 1976. It took the better part of a decade to find her.

A new book about a bizarre and complicated murder case that was eventually solved is earning rave reviews. It sounds particularly interesting to me because the story comes from Caro, Michigan, in the "Thumb" of Michigan, where I was born and raised and where my family has lived since the 19th century.

And, okay, maybe the place has some... quirks. As the author said in a recent interview, “We don’t run out of bizarres here.”

Murder in the Thumb[Amazon; B&N] is by Richard W. Carson, who has the journalism bona fides to recognize an unusual story when he hears one and to tell it well.

The author is a former editorial page editor for the Columbus Dispatch and editor at the Huron Daily Tribune.  And he selected this story, of all the ones he must have heard and worked in a newsroom, as the most book-worthy. That's something.

I think I'll be hearing more about this book, as I've gotten note about it from several people who recommended it.

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I am glad that the University of Michigan press put its impratur on a new book about the Bath school massacre. I know a few dozen journalists who ought to bone up on their history with this title, the ones who failed to reference this crime when covering more recent examples of school violence. School massacres have so often been erroneously declared the "first" or "worst" by journalists who are not familar with the disaster that took place at Bath, Michigan.

It's the true but nearly forgotten story of a madman who killed 45 people -- most of them children -- with a bomb. He blew up the school. There is a lot of bad information about the case out there (Wikipedia is one place to find it), so I hope this new book sets the record straight.

Arnie Bernstein is the author of Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing [Amazon; B&N], and he has a website for the book (and a Facebook page - which I hesitate to link to - is everyone on Facebook? Do I have to learn a new interface? Sigh.)

 

New book news and links

So I knew my boys were spending too much time on my computer when my three-year-old pointed out the Desktop shortcut he made to his favorite Nick Jr. game -- well, that, and I'm three weeks behind on my book deals & news emails!

An amazing number of true crime titles debut this summer, and I'll be posting details here throughout the coming weeks.... Many of my favorite true crime books have beach sand between the pages, too.

Here are some links in the meantime....

Michigan crime historian Mardi Link, whose first true crime book, When Evil Came to Good Hart [see the CLEWS review], has already had more than one print run, has begun a blog (while working on her second book). On her site, Rusty Gun, she "explores cold cases, cockamamie theories, and chicanery." My favorite post so far: The best opening sentences in the true crime genre.

I'm currently reading War of Words by Simon Read, which is a history of the San Francisco Chronicle. Before you think that's dry, the book begins its look at boom-days journalism with a shooting and a hanging, and it recently won the Grand Prize at the inaugural San Francisco Book Festival.

Jack the Ripper - solved again? Why, he was an invention of the tabloid press, per the tabloid press! 

Belle Gunness, the movie? That's the word.

Busy authors, many links

True crime author Aphrodite Jones kinda disappeared for a while, but she's to get her own series on Investigation Discovery.

Jeff Kaye, a former police sergeant from Reno, pulls no punches in his first true crime book. Beware of the Cable Guy: From Cop to Serial Killer involves the case of serial killer David Middleton - and the author does not spare his brothers in blue as he explained in a recent interview.

Bonnie and Clyde redux: Jeff Guinn, a journalist from Fort Worth, wrote Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde and earned a nice review in the Dallas Morning News.

True crime author Tom Basinski had a chance to talk about his latest book, Cross Country Evil, with a local station.

Ann Rule's book Too Late to Say Goodbye is coming to the small screen, to star Rob Lowe as Bobby Corbin. Meanwhile, a new author explains why"I So Admire Ann Rule!"

Seventeen Magazine issued a true crime compendium for its readers, proving that we do indeed get hooked on this stuff at an early age.

A CNN producer thinks that having bloggers attend murder trials is "actually good for our justice system." I think so too, but I don't think it matters in the end. No amount of press or blog coverage seems to have had any impact on a series of scientifically indefensible murder cases in Illinois, as I'm posting about later today at Women in Crime Ink.

10% off B&N and a review of Father of the Year

10% off coupon If any of the books mentioned here are too appealing to resist, and if you order them from Barnes & Noble, here's a 10% off code that gives you a discount on one item. Barnes & Noble gave me permission to share the coupon code: N3K4N8W. It expires soon; details are here.

A Review of 'Father of the Year'

The city of Las Vegas thought so highly of resident Bill Rundle that, at one point, he was actually named Father of the Year. The irony was not lost on the women in his life. One by one, he treated them to abuse and abandonment, and before he was done, he managed to be charged for a couple of deaths.

A new book out from Berkley about the Rundle case, Father of the Year [Amazon; B&N], contains an extraordinary level of detail because the Father of the Year eventually gave a confession - partly, anyway.

As the author describes the defendant:

Bill Rundle was a mean, coldhearted son of a bitch by the age of twenty-nine, and the tragedy of his life so far was that it hadn't had to be this way. Unlike a lot of criminals, Rundle had been given a pretty great shot at succeeding in life. He'd been born into a loving family, and showered with affection and care. [His parents] had tried to groom him for college and gave him every opportunity to succeed in North Hollywood. But Rundle preferred lying and gambling and chasing girls and drinking....

This book had me thinking again of the criminology theories developed by Cotton Mather, strange as that may sound. Harold Schechter's True Crime: An American Anthology included some of the Puritan minister's gallows sermons.  Mather also made careful note of the lamentations of condemned men and women as they went to the gallows. Of one doomed criminal, Mather noted,

And one of them, said, That his Disobedience to his Parents, had brought this misery upon him. His Father, he said, gave him Good Instructions, when he was a Child; but he Regarded them not. He would not go to a School, when his Father would have sent him to it. He would not go to a Trade, when his Father would have put him to one. After his Father was Dead, he would not be Subject unto them that had the Charge of him; he ran away from Them; and after that, he ran away from several Masters. Thus he Ran into the Jaws of Death.

And back to our modern example. Given the fact that Bill Rundle admitted being a chronic liar, a cheater, a leech, a self-confessed specialist in "flim-flam" who started early by fudging his school report cards, faking his entire college career for his unsuspecting parents, doing "a little collecting" for the mob, doling out "brutal" treatment to the many women in his life, and confessed in detail to what he did to his last wife, one has to marvel that, after all that, he stopped short.

Though the book does not solve every riddle presented by this man, it certainly held my attention for the day-and-a-half it took me to devour it. The author is Glenn Puit, a journalist who found several marvels in the criminal courts of Vegas before moving recently to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This is his third book, and a fourth is coming out in the fall. I was particularly impressed by the first strange tale he told [see the CLEWS Q&A with the author], while at the same time I half-hope he finds the U.P. a tad less exciting a place for a true crime writer with a knack for finding such unusual stories.

Genre news and a review of The Crimes of Paris

War of Words

I am very much looking forward to a new book coming out this week by established historical true crime author Simon Read (read the CLEWS interview with the author). His latest book is War of Words: A True Tale of Newsprint and Murder[Amazon; B&N].

It concerns a feud between a California newspaperman and a politician that took a deadly twist when someone dared to insult someone's mother. Its combination of history, journalism, law, and murder hits all the right notes for me, and to top it off, there is the incredible use of the English language as a weapon.

Who can lay down an insult like a two-fisted Nineteenth Century journalist? I've had a sneak peek at some of the gems that turn up in this tale, and here is a sampling:

The journalist on a minister:

"A review of his record shows most clearly that he is not only utterly destitute of honor and honesty, but that under the cloak of religion he engages in the most scandalous amours with young girls and married women; that he is as lacking in truth as he is modesty, pompous as a peacock and salacious as a satyr."

The minister on the journalist:

"Charles de Young is the wickedest man in the world. He will be without a rival in hell. When I told him to 'go to hell,' he thought it was profane for a preacher. It might have been, but it was the only locality to which he could be appropriately commended. If he does not go to hell, the institution may as well be abolished—the object of its establishment is frustrated."

The Crimes of Paris Reviewed Parisians have, at least historically, been "fascinated with evil." A new look at Paris's seamier side explores the intersection of crime and culture in what has long been regarded as the most sin-soaked city in the world. It's The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection [Amazon; B&N].  

The book begins and ends with a study of the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. As the authors explain, "For Parisians, who loved both crime and art, it was an all-consuming event." The authors relay the tale of the painting's disappearance in a series of quotes, a string of pearls inspired by the painting and its theft. (This is a clever way of avoiding the New York Times prose police, which recently blew their shrill whistle on another book about the same theft, Vanished Smile by R. A. Scotti).

Though this famous theft is both entre and denouement for the book, the authors also touch on the most famous crimes and criminalists of 19th and early 20th century France -- including some names recognizable to students of historical crimes: Albert Dreyfus, Marguerite Steinheil, Henriette Caillaux, Vidocq, Bertillon, Marie LaFarge, the French Ripper Vacher, the Bonnot Gang, and more. There is a chapter here for everyone. My favorite anecdote concerns a monkey trained in jewel theft who was identified by finger- um, monkeyprints.

This book demonstrates that the French as as sophisticated in their understanding and appreciation of great crimes as they are in just about everything else. The French have given us several terms to describe important concepts in criminology -- the crime passionel, the cause celebre, and my favorite, cerchez la femme. Authors Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler have given us a rundown of the cases that inspired these pretty phrases in a book that is worthy of La Gioconda's smile.

For authors, the skinny on Amazon used books

After moaning on Dorothy-L and here about the fact that “used” copies of my book have appeared on Amazon before the book has even been released, I received some interesting responses from authors and experts. It seems I have touched a raw nerve.  

Another author friend was also wondering how it is that his book is now offered on Kindle. To help other authors who may Google these questions, or who are struggling with Amazon issues, here are the collected replies. (I deleted the authors’ names since they did not give me permission to use their names.) There are quite a few theories on how this happens and no clear answers, because Amazon is as impenetrable as its Brazilian namesake.

Don’t Worry

"Don't be too concerned over the used books. There are only four listed right now, and one is for pre order. This is a common practice and there is nothing you can do, nor should you worry about it. Truthfully it give potential readers another option to buy your book, and if it means getting more readers, it's a good thing. It's a safe bet that at least 10% of the copies of your book will end up used somewhere. Don't worry about lost sales, it will drive you crazy and really doesn't mean anything. Especially with a first book what you want are readers. Lots of readers. The more readers you have, the more future book sales you will have. Careers are not made on sales of one book, they are a long term and always growing."

You’re Not Alone

"I just noticed the same thing. My new book is only in hardback and Kindle at the moment, yet there are "used" paperback versions for sale. I am wondering if these "used" copies are actually ARCS sent by the publisher to reviewers who then sell them?"

Me Too

"It appears you and I have the same gripe regarding Amazon.  They have book dealers listed selling new and used copies of [my newest book], which isn't supposed to be out until May 5.  I've e-mailed the individual dealers but have yet to hear back.  Amazon has also, apparently, started shipping my book.  I ordered five copies of it back in September, and I just received an e-mail saying my order has shipped."

Discounted

"They're not used books, they're discounted books. Some booksellers set themselves up to order new books, sell them at a discount, and make their money on the shipping charges. I don't get it but it happens all the time. And it has no impact on an author's sales since it's just another form of new-book sales. There are, of course, actual used copies of out of print books being sold on Amazon, but when it's a new title or a not yet released title, the "used" books are really just discounted books."

Dirt Cheap

"Yet another dirty deal for the author is what it looks like from where I sit. Your own publisher selling you out. What you get out of the deal is nothing. When I do work for people in my editing biz they get what they paid for and I don't do dishonest thing although my motto is Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap."

Various Possiblities

"It is possible they're advertising books they expect to have but don't have their hands on. It's also possible these are publisher ARCs--which say Not for Sale all over them, of course--or possibly book club editions. Some of the publisher book club members get their copies well in advance of store on-sale dates, and those show up used before the new copies are available. Unfortunately these sales are all too common.

"The good news is that these copies are usually limited in number, and not likely to affect your royalties to any extent."

Expect Anything from Amazon

"Ah, Amazon. I just received a one star review on my last book. Why? Because the reviewer ordered it used and hasn't received it after 5 weeks. Um ... and exactly what does this have to do with reviewing the book? And why take it out on me? I asked Amazon to remove this as inappropriate, but of course it's still there. Expect anything and everything from Amazon.

"As for Kindle, my publisher has the digital rights and they contract for Kindle. Yes, the author gets royalties for Kindle downloads. Let's hope Amazon is honest about that!"

Lower Margin

"I looked at the Amazon site. All the sellers listed are selling new copies of your books which would mean they bought them from the distributor, or from other bookstores going out of business, and are selling them through Amazon at a lower margin than is Amazon."

Rather Odd

"I post revews to Amazon. As a reviewer I get books prior to the release date. Often when I have written a review I have to diarise to post the review to Amazon,as if the book has not been officially relased I have found that there is no option on Amazon to post a review of a book. However, I too have noticed that even though I cannot post a review, there are used books of that title offered for sale. I have always found that rather odd!"

Pre-release books Sold by the Unscrupulous

"No doubt these are ARCs sent out by the publisher, which were subsequently dumped by the recipients into the murky waters of the Used Book Sales world. Happens all the time, sadly enough. That's why when I publish a book, I always make the ARC as ugly and/or drab as possible, as well as neglecting to put the real ISBN on it. No self-respecting bookseller would want to sell it that way, and the lack of an ISBN means it can't very well tie into the real listing on Amazon."

Invisible books

"The used bookstores working with Amazon post these "invisible" books much as preorders are done for "invisible" books not yet published (imagine how many numbers of these exist for Stephen King on a book he has not yet pubbed). It's part of the sideshow and you should not let it get to you. Grin and bear it.

"Amazon is not author friendly or flexible in any area concerning you or me--authors or publlishers for that matter. I have a publisher friend who is pulling his hair out right now over them. As for reviews on a book on Amazon, again, you can't do a damn thing about them or get anything removed. Even one that is obviously vindictive and phony.

"As for your friend with the Kindle question. Amazon has to contract with the publisher of said book. My publisher at HarperCollins sent a separate contract to sign on for going Kindle. Your friend ought to go direct to his publisher (and if he is self-pubbed, maybe he can sue the bastards). But if he has published say with Dell or Five Star, then his argument is with his publisher who must have cut a deal with Kindle/Amazon -- Amazon is owner of Kindle."

AUTHOR PROBLEMS WITH AMAZON? OH HE** YES!

"I have been going round and round with Amazon FOR MONTHS, on several different issues. One of the latest was when they had the cover art of my book set up with the "Search Inside" feature, which neither the publisher or I authorized, and when you clicked on it, something else entirely was displayed!

"You see, there are really TWO Amazon's these days. The one located in Seattle that's filled with attorneys and management who are worried about being=sued (and rightly so), and the "other" Amazon which is in Bombay...or as t hey now call it, Mumbai, INDIA. Amazon has to be absolutely the BEST/WORST example of a company who has used outsourcing to the detriment of their business. Only they are either too stupid or too arrogant or both to realize it.

"When you get these "answers" back from Amazon that really don't say or resolve anything, check the electronic signature at the very bottom of the email. I think the last one I got, on Monday, was from someone named "Preethi." Preethi? Not John, or Steve, or Michael. Preethi.

"Amazon should not be selling advanced copies of your book from cut rate online booksellers and they definitely should NOT have your book as a Kindle title! Only your publisher is supposed to be able to authorize and set this up and any payments from sales of Kindle titles go directly to the publisher's bank account via  electronic deposit.

"The simple fact of the matter is that Amazon lies...a lot. If they are conducting some sort of practice on your book's listing site which is injurious, or potentially injurious to the commerce...the sales or potential sales of your book...your publisher needs to first notify them, and then if the issue isn't resolved, threaten legal action. THIS, they seem to understand quite clearly....  

"Oh, and if your book is listed on Barnes and Noble and you have any issues or questions? Be prepared for a completely different experience from these folks. Barnes and Noble is GREAT to work with! They are very responsive, very "one on one" in their delivery of customer services to authors and publishers, and when they say they are going to do something, they do it, and quickly. They make Amazon and their claim as being the world's most "Customer Centric" company look like a bunch of pikers."

My Dark Theory!

"I think there's a few things going on here, most of them bad for the author. Specifically! Not infrequently, they'll offer a used novel for a penny, and charge $3.99 for shipping charges that will cost them perhaps $1.50. And why buy a new book for, whatever, $7.99, plus $3.99 shipping, if the used one is going to cost you $4? I think that the advantage of this to Amazon (which, I believe, gets a percentage of the selling price) is that it depreciates the value of a printed book; by contrast, an ebook can only be sold once, and read exclusively by the ebook buyer (unless she or he lends her ebook reader, which, since serious readers usually have a constant stream of ebooks going) seems unlikely.

"This model basically cuts short the period of revenue from a given novel kills off the "long tail" model of printed book merchandising, and kills off the "long tail" model of printed book merchandising (I think novels are probably different from, say, coffee table books), and in the process makes publishing an eBook seem more attractive.

"I know that'll seem a bit delusional, but I think it's pretty clear that Amazon has set its sights on monopolizing the future of publishing, and are moving aggressively to cut the competition off at the knee. In the short run (myself included - I'm a very very VERY happy Kindle 2 owner), the reader will do well (myself included - I'm a very very VERY happy Kindle 2 owner), but this will cause tremendous suffering in publishing houses, and they'll wring their hands as they pass the pain on to writers. I absolutely think that the future of reading is inevitably digital - it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out!"

'Amazon is stupid, stupid, stupid'

John Kremer, a respected expert in book promotion, recently caught my attention by remarking: "How stupid can they be! How really, really stupid.... Amazon is stupid. Amazon is stupid. I want them to know that I think they are stupid. I hope they read this post. I think Amazon is incredibly stupid, stupid, stupid.... Amazon is stupid. The people at Amazon.com are imbeciles.... Start sending your customers to BN.com today."

Wow! What could Amazon have done that so irritated this prominent book promoter? Well, Amazon deleted 85 book reviews written by author Cheryl Tardiff -- not because the reviews were unhelpful, not because they were unfair, not because of their content at all -- but because the signature line on her reviews contained a link to her own book.

Is there something per se wrong with listing your own title at the bottom of a review? John Kremer doesn't think so. As he puts it, "Why in the world would Amazon limit the ability of authors to give their credentials — which provides potential customers with a good reason to give more credence to such reviews? If Stephen King reviews a novel, I know it's going to be great. But how will I know if the reviewer on Amazon is the noted horror novelist or one of thousands of other Stephen Kings around the world? Even Stephen King won't be able to give his credentials."

I think John Kremer has an excellent point. You don't have to go very far to find a stupid review on Amazon that is unfair to the author - and good luck to an author who tries to talk Amazon into deleting an off-point or utterly unfair review. Check out these reviews - scroll down and wonder with me why Amazon leaves this garbage on its website while deciding that reviews that list or link to the reviewer's own titles are always inappropriate.

Eight New Books in the Theme

I'm starting to think that publishers really do notice the widespread fascination with true crime stories.... And all of these recent releases sound interesting.

1. Mortal Justice: A True Story of Murder and Vindication  [Amazon; B&N]

By Jeanette Popp and Wanda Evans

A tragic, brutal murder leads to a pair of tragic convictions in the case of two men sent to prison for a murder they did not commit. The victim’s mother is the co-author of the book.

What they’re saying: “Be prepared to squirm as the police, district attorney, defense and even the accused blunder through an investigation and murder trial that is worse than anything Russian author Franz Kafka might have dreamed for his ill-fated characters.”

2. After Etan: The Missing Child Case that Held America Captive [Amazon; B&N]

by Lisa Cohen

What they’re saying: “As true crime, this tragic tale is a standout.”

3. A Cold-Blooded Business: Love, Adultery, and Murder in a Small Kansas Town [Amazon; B&N]

by Marek Fuchs

What they’re saying: “If you crave the sensational or desire a weekend page-turner, look no further than this book.”

4. Bold and Brassy

by M.E. Cooper

An account of a 1908 love triangle murder and the sensational trial that scandalized the USA and Canada.

 5. A Question of Murder [Amazon; B&N]

by Cyril H. Wecht

A look at more weird cases from the famous medical examiner, including a close look at a famous gold digger and her tragic death.

6.  Bluegrass: A True Story of Murder in Kentucky [Amazon; B&N]

by William Van Meter

 What they’re saying: “simple, compelling reporting.” 

7. Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates [Amazon; B&N]

by Stewart P. Evans and Donald Rumbelow

Says the publisher: “Drawing on their unparalleled knowledge of the Jack the Ripper murders and their professional experience as police officers, the two doyens of serious Ripper writing join forces for the first time to write the definitive book on the case from the perspective of the police investigation. As the title declares, this is the complete investigation and is full of new insights and information on the murders and who might have committed them.”

8. I Am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing That Shocked a New Nation [Amazon; B&N]

 What they’re saying: “Equal parts PBS documentary and ‘CSI: Richmond.’” 

Some bestseller predictions

I haven't seen this much early buzz about a true crime book since Vincent Bugliosi's Kennedy book, and his publicists won an award for their online campaign. I predict that Columbine: A True Crime Story [Amazon; B&N]by Jeff Kass will be a bestseller.

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Meanwhile, another book just caught my eye, and it sounds like one that's right up our alley. It's a spousal murder story set in turn-of-the-century Iowa. The murder case was a particular inspiration for journalist Susan Glaspell, who would later go on to write the still-famous short story "A Jury of Her Peers," which is psychologically insightful and powerful. For all those reasons I look forward to reading Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland[Amazon; B&N] and hoping it's as good as the reviews and warrants great sales. A local paper recently wrote a feature on the book and the authors' website has more details.

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The latest definition of a true crime fan: “Disturbing chap going through the True Crime titles like it’s the How-To section.”   Via