True Crime

Hardcover. NY, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2nd pr., 1944, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 247 pages, black cloth, no dust jacket. True stories of murder cases circa mid-1940s, Bookplate inside front cover, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. London, Arco Publishers Limited, 1st, 1953, Book: Good, Hardcover, red cloth, 232 pages. Gilt title on spine faded, Tanning to endpapers, book is tight and clean throughout.

Hardcover. NY, Random House, 1st, 1965, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in an edgeworn dust jacket with "1/66" code on front flap, $5.95 on the dust jacket. Stated First Printing on copyright page. Maroon cloth covers with gilt stamping. Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved.

Hardcover. Boston, Atlantic Little Brown, 1st, 1968, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Retells the crime, and the making of de Mille's ballet "Fall River Legend," illustrated throughout with b/w photographs. De Mille was a dancer and choreographer, niece of directors William C. DeMille and Cecil B. DeMille. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, David McKay Company, 1st US, 1959, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth covers with gilt lettering on spine. Autobiography of Britain's noted forensic examiner, highlighting his work in Egypt before & after WWI, work as professor of forensic medicine at Edinburgh University, & court battles with the renowned Sir Bernard Spilsbury. Foreword by Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason author). In 318 pgs + Index, with lots of black & white crime scene photos. Orig. published in Britain, this is the FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, same year (1959). Clean copy.

Softcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, reprint, 1956, Softcover, 257 pages. This monograph by a professional thief--with the aid of Edwin H. Sutherland's expert comments and analyses--is a revealing sociological document that goes far to explain the genesis, development, and patterns of criminal behavior. "Chic Conwell," as the author was known in the underworld, gives a candid and forthright account of the highly organized society in which the professional thief lives. He tells how he learned to steal, survive, succeed, and ultimately to pay his debt to society and prepare himself for full and useful citizenship. The Professional Thief presents in amazing detail the hard, cold facts about the private lives and professional habits of pickpockets, shoplifters, and conmen, and brings into focus the essential psychological and sociological situations that beget and support professional crime. Coversworn with small tape repair, name blacked out on title page. Otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Random House, 1st Book Club, 1965, Book: Near Fine, Dust Jacket: Near Fine, Hardcover in an excellent dust jacket with "1/66" code on front flap, no price on the unclipped dust jacket. Stated First Printing on copyright page. Maroon cloth covers with gilt stamping. Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the effect it had on those involved. Clean, tight copy. Believed to be a book club edition although the usual emboss to rear cover not visible to yours truly.

Softcover. NY, WW Norton & Co., reprint, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 687 pages. Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Here is the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. The Woodlands TX, New Century Books, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 585 pages. INSCRIBED BY EDITOR to fellow publisher Paul Erikkson and his wife. The kidnapping of the first son of aviator Charles Lindbergh became the crime of the century and defined 'media circus.' As much as the world in the 1930's loved 'Lucky Lindy' for his flight from New York to Paris, so the world despised the kidnapper of the Lindbergh's child. Although the crime occurred in New Jersey, the FBI maintained complete files on the case, because ransom money crossed state lines. These are the complete, never-published, FBI files on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. The files end with the single word PENDING, as the case was still in progress. This is time stopped in 1934.

New York, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 351 pages. Black & white photography.

Hardcover. NY, W. W. Norton & Company, 1st, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A delectable true-crime story of scandal and murder at America's most celebrated university. On November 23rd of 1849, in the heart of Boston, one of the city's richest men simply vanished. Dr. George Parkman, a Brahmin who owned much of Boston's West End, was last seen that afternoon visiting his alma mater, Harvard Medical School. Police scoured city tenements and the harbor, and offered hefty rewards as leads put the elusive Dr. Parkman at sea or hiding in Manhattan. But one Harvard janitor held a much darker suspicion: that their ruthless benefactor had never left the Medical School building alive.His shocking discoveries in a chemistry professor's laboratory engulfed America in one of its most infamous trials: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. John White Webster. A baffling case of red herrings, grave robbery, and dismemberment-of Harvard's greatest doctors investigating one of their own, for a murder hidden in a building full of cadavers-it became a landmark case in the use of medical forensics and the meaning of reasonable doubt. Paul Collins brings nineteenth-century Boston back to life in vivid detail, weaving together newspaper accounts, letters, journals, court transcripts, and memoirs from this groundbreaking case.

Hardcover. New York, Free Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 346 pages, b&w photographs. Remainder mark to top edge. Small tear to dust jacket. Else a very clean, tight copy. Documents the story of the luxury liner that burned off the coast of New Jersey in 1934, drawing on previously classified FBI reports and first-person survivor interviews to reveal how the Morro Castle's captain died under mysterious circumstances seven hours before the ship caught fire and how many of the crew abandoned ship, leaving passengers to fend for themselves.

Hardcover. NY, E. P. Dutton, 2nd pr., 1931, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth covers with gilt lettering (now partially faded). 320 pages, b&w plates. Chapters include: The Scientific detective; Human Monsters; Famous bandits; Crimes of the insane; Political crime; Some famous women criminals; The case of a spy - Mata Hari; The Death Penalty. Spine faded, otherwise, clean copy.

Hardcover. Spokane, WA, Arthur H. Clark Company, 1st, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 343 pages. Hardcover. B/w illustrations throughout. Covers bound in red, gilt title on spine. Binding tight. Dust jacket unclipped. Dust jacket has a touch of fading, otherwise no rips, in very good condition. Very clean inside and out.

Hardcover. London, Arthur Baker, 1st UK, 1953, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth, 232 pages. Spine with fading to gilt lettering, otherwise a clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 335 pages. In a society where trust is in short supply and democracy weak, the Mafia sells protection, a guarantee of safe conduct for parties to commercial transactions. Drawing on the confessions of eight Mafiosi, Diego Gambetta develops an elegant analysis of the economic and political role of the Sicilian Mafia. Clean copy.