Books for the Armchair Detective in Your Life

Author Alan Brown leads readers on a stomach-churning turn through Florida's dark side .

Florida sunshine beckons, but in can be unrelenting, too. And in the shadows, tragedy strikes. Ted Bundy leads a cast of serial killers who wrought havoc on the state. Storms spin onto its shores with landscape altering fury. Sharks lurk in the sea, and snakes and alligators lie wait in the swamps. Gangsters like Al Capone hit Miami Beach for a respite, but gangsters like Al Capone take no breaks from their trade. A woman spontaneously bursts into flames in St. Petersburg. Anthrax claims a life in Palm Beach. The Bermuda Triangle disappears vessels off the coast. Indeed, Florida knows boundless leisure, but it's just as familiar with catastrophe .

Did her rival for a man's love get away with murder? It was a story of violence, bigamy, race and a quest for justice. The strange but true story of James and Susan Watkins.

A drama played out in the mountains of southwestern Virginia in 1891 that attracted nationwide attention and held the citizens of the Roanoke Valley spellbound. The tale of the trial of Charles Watkins for the murder of his wife was marked by threats of lynching, a fugitive manhunt, a disappearing witness, mistaken identities, claims of insanity and finally a secret letter to break the case wide open. In its day, the story was as closely followed as a modern televised murder trial. Despite the rapt attention of the public then, it has entirely faded from the history books - until now. Historian John Long resurrects the truth of who killed Susan Watkins.

Join author Denise Parkinson for an intimate look at a Depression-era tragedy.

The once-thriving houseboat communities along Arkansas' White River are long gone, and few remember the sensational murder story that set local darling Helen Spence on a tragic path. In 1931, Spence shocked Arkansas when she avenged her father's murder in a DeWitt courtroom. The state soon discovered that no prison could hold her. For the first time, prison records are unveiled to provide an essential portrait. The legend of Helen Spence refuses to be forgotten--despite her unmarked grave.

A startling rise and retreat

In the 1920s, a reborn Ku Klux Klan slithered into South Dakota. Bold at times, the group intimidated citizens in every county. KKK anti-Catholicism sentiment resulted in the murder of Father Arthur Belknap of Lead. Idealized Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, operated as a white supremacist and KKK leader. In 1925, animosity between the KKK and Fort Meade soldiers came to a clash one night in Sturgis. The clatter of two borrowed .30 caliber Browning cooled machine guns split the air over the heads of a Klan gathering across the valley. Author Arley Fadness follows the Klan’s trail throughout the Rushmore state.

Before Las Vegas, there was Phenix City, Alabama--the original sin city.

Once the sprawling capital of the Muscogee Indian Empire, the region took a sinister turn when a holy war engulfed the southern territories in 1812, leading to the murder of the infamous Chief William McIntosh. Later, atrocities continued at Fort Mitchell, the killing grounds for early Georgia politicians who fought to the death over rival politics and bitter feuds. By the 1950s, Phenix City was home to the "Dixie Mafia," and crime and corruption ruled over the little riverfront city. Take a walk with author Faith Serafin as she travels through the darkest recesses of Phenix City's past.

Author Dale Richard Perelman tells the tragic story of the 1978 murders and the mystery surrounding them.

In the summer of 1978, a mother and her four-year-old were stabbed to death in the quiet town of New Castle. Police suspected the husband, Lou Kadunce, but were unable to find either a weapon or a motive. Sitting in a Lawrence County jail in 1981, convicted serial killer Michael Atkinson accused Frank Costal - a carny, petty thief and Satanist - of having an affair with the Kadunce husband and participating in the murder. A series of intense trials ensued as Costal was convicted of the homicides and a jury found the husband not guilty. Questions surrounding the case gripped the region and grabbed headlines in the Pittsburgh Press.

While known for the twang of its country music, Nashville is also home to a colorful and salacious past. A must-read for Nashville history enthusiasts.

The earliest settlers to lay claim to the land surrounding Nashville brought with them betrayal, murder and thievery.

As the city grew, authorities unsuccessfully attempted to outlaw and remove vice. During the Civil War, the number of soiled doves

in Nashville forced the army to legalize and regulate prostitution. The death of outspoken politician Edward Carmack triggered the state to outlaw booze for nearly thirty years, but that did not stop alcohol from flowing in the city. One local mayor even bragged about his patronage of saloons.

Elizabeth Goetsch dives into Nashville's wicked past and explores some of Music City'smore tantalizing history.

In 1868, with Iowa fast outgrowing its only prison in Fort Madison, state lawmakers began thinking about building a new penitentiary. Several cities around the state vied for the prestige and economic benefits the new prison would provide. Anamosa, a rapidly growing town of 2,000 in east-central Iowa, was ultimately awarded the prize, in no small measure because of its proximity to some of the largest and finest dolomite limestone deposits in the world, coveted as the perfect building material for the massive institution. From 1873 until major construction ended in 1943, inmate workers literally built walls around themselves, slowly erecting a structure from the Iowa prairie whose imposing and magnificent architecture would continue to command respect and awe even to the present day. From Wild West bad man Polk Wells and boy-murderer Wesley Elkins to heinous mass murderer John Wayne Gacy, many have passed through Anamosa's iron gates and, with the quietly dedicated men and women who managed them, have contributed to the rich tapestry of Anamosa prison history.