Wicked

Local author Brendan Kirby revives Mobile's history of gangsters, gambling, theft and arson.

Since its founding in 1702 as the first capital of the French colony of Louisiana, Mobile has witnessed all manner of salacious scandals. An 1847 murder resulted in the hanging of Charles Boyington, who maintained his innocence to the very end, and a great oak tree near his grave site seems to support him. Many believe the notorious Copeland gang started one of the city's worst fires as cover to escape with stolen loot. A 1932 murder case involved a slaying at the landmark Battle House Hotel and proved that Mobile juries could not always be trusted.

Even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in.

Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and Southern hospitality, but there's a darker side to the state's history. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother-in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fish pond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green--all of these stories are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.

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.