5 comments about Trauma Room One: The JFK Medical Coverup Exposed.

1. The frontal wound was one of an EXIT not entry. No support for Dr Crenshaw from me.



2. People who were actually inside or near Trauma Room One that day confirm that Crenshaw was never in position to see what he claims that he witnessed. There is doubt that Crenshaw even entered TR-1. One Parkland doctor I've talked to says Crenshaw simply made it up. The surgeons who attended JFK, Drs. Malcolm Perry and Robert McClelland, had to enlarge the president's throat exit wound for the tracheotomy, and Crenshaw's fabricated account obscures such facts--about events both at Parkland and at Bethesda. See When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963, and JFK: Breaking the News.



3. Dr. Crenshaw was a resident in the Parkland Hospital Emergency Room on the day in 1963 when President Kennedy was brought in mortally wounded. Dr. Crenshaw assisted in providing emergency care to Kennedy and was present when Kennedy was pronounced dead. Crenshaw saw the wounds on Kennedy's body in Dallas and makes a significant contribution to the Kennedy Assassination lore by describing them. Crenshaw saw a bullet entry wound on the front of Kennedy's neck (that was later obliterated by a tracheotomy incision) and also saw a large gaping exit wound on the occipital skull. Those are 'fighting words' to Oswald fans because they were inflicted by shots from the front, and Oswald could have only shot from the rear. Dr. Crenshaw generally provides an excellent first-person account of the goings-on at Parkland Hospital on that terrible day, including the confrontation at gunpoint between the Secret Service Agents who were attempting to leave with the body and the coroner who was attempting to retain possession of the body long enough to perform an autopsy. Needless to say, the Secret Service agents with their drawn weapons won the day and the body was whisked away to Air Force One where new-President Johnson could keep tabs on it on the way back to Washington DC. Crenshaw's account of the confrontation is highly-entertaining readings. This book is a groundbreaking book that is required reading for anyone interested in the historical aspects of the Kennedy Assassination.



4. There is no way Dr. Crenshaw is going to risk his reputation and credibility by lying to make a couple of bucks.his observations have been confirmed by other doctors who were in the trauma room that day!!an exit wound in the back of the head and an entrance wound in the front of the neck!!the only entity that has lost thier credibilty is the WC who lied to the american people



5. 
   This book is a revision of the book by Dr Crenshaw with Jens Hanson and J. Gary Davis;with the title "JFK Conspiracy of Silence".After that book was published in 1992,the authors were slandered both personally and professionally by the Journal of American Medical Association.The authors filed a suit for slander and malice and the court ordered a monetary settlement by JAMA. The revision,"Trauma Room One" covers this suit and the results.
   There have been thousands of books,articles,documentaries, films,investigations,commissions,etc about the killing of President Kennedy. There are countless motives,connections,theories,and conclusions about who did the killing,why,and who was behind it. No murder in the US has received more coverage and few even today believe the whole story has been revealed.
   Many conspiracies have been generated around motives ,but the most important conspiracy of all, is whether or not JFK was hit in the front or both front and back of the head. If he received hits in both the front and back;then there had to be a conspiracy.
   Dr.Crenshaw attended to JFK when he was brought to Parkland Hospital. He ,as well as other attending Doctors,were silent for several reasons about the President's wounds.There was no autopsy done at Parkland Hospital because the body was taken away by Feds and taken back to Washington,where an autopsy was carried out many,many hours later.The whys and wherefores of this is covered in the book and in many other books,etc.
   What is different here is that Dr.Crenshaw,felt he could no longer remain silent about what he saw as wounds as they tried to save his life and what was reported and accepted by the Warren Commission.
   Dr.Crenshaw unequivocally maintains there was one or more bullet entries in the front of the skull and a large section of the right rear of the skull had been destroyed by an exit of the bullet.
   If the skull and other evidence is still available it should still be possible to determine if the Doctor was right. Much has been said about the autopsy in Washington and the state of the evidence.Furthermore ,there has been a 75 year freeze put on access to the evidence and investigations.Dr.Crenshaw died in 2001 .At least he is on record for what wounds he saw to the President.
   One day,it may be resolved,and if Dr.Crenshaws assertations are confirmed to be true;that being there was a frontal bullet entry,then the murder of JFK was a conspiracy;and at the highest level of power in the US Government.
   A very interesting read.

5 comments about Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago.

1. Hail! Hail! The gangsters are all here, along with other unsavory characters and scenes from the seamy sides of Chicago.

   Home Boy Richard Lindberg has done a fine job of plotting tours with concise briefings, maps, and photos from Chicago's worst. Sure, there are some errors - but, as other reviews here attest, the True Crime buff knows what they are, for example: the perpetrators of the Brown's Chicken Massacre have been apprehended since the book's publication and this reviewer disagrees with Lindberg's speculation that, were it not for Nicole Brown Simpson's violent death, O.J "would have drifted into permanent obscurity remembered by a handful of autograph chasers at sports memorabilia shows and admirers from his football days." What is OJ doing in this book, you ask? Remember, he was flying out of LA that night? The Chauffeur came to get him at the house in Brentwood to take him to the airport to Chicago. The Hotel where he may or may not have cut his hand on a broken glass is on the Tour, just about a mile north of John Wayne Gacy's former residence.

   In the Grand Scheme, the errors or disagreements are a minor nuisance and the tour just moves on. The book is arranged in geographical groupings, so that a reader could take the walking tour of the Loop and Near Neighborhoods and then continue on by car. The Tours are:
   1. On the Waterfront: Downtown Chicago
   2. The Gold Coast and the Slum: the Near North Side from the Chicago River to Division Street
   3. North Side Pursuits: Lincoln Park to Rogers Park
   4. The Land Approaching O'Hare: Chicago's Northwest Side
   5. North by Northwest: Kenilworth to Barrington
   6. West Side Stories
   7. Residences of Organized Crime: the Western Suburbs
   8. South Side Sinners

   Tour takers will take in the sites of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929, John Dillinger's "bad date" at the Biograph, the office of Eliot Ness and "the Untouchables," Richard Speck's slaying of the Nurses, the "Police Riot" at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and many other "low Lights" in Chicagoland history. All this and Mrs. O'Leary's cow, too! Reviewed by TundraVision, former friend of Garfield Goose, Amazon Reviewer




2. Mr. Lindberg clearly was absent the day that they taught research development and writing classes. His latest book, not unlike all of the previous selections, is sloppy, inaccurate and poorly written. Don't waste your time with this book. It is tedious and disappointing reading.



3. It was a very interesting book, explaining what happened at the sight and then what is there now. It would have been nice to have more pictures for people who would not be able to tour the city. One big disapointment was that the picture on the front cover was never identified anywhere in the book.



4. Rich Lindberg's approach to Chicago history has a powerful similarity to that of Carl Sandburg, who immortalized the city forever in his violently loving poem "Chicago". In "Return to the Scene of the Crime", Lindberg gives specific and mesmerizing instances of the "painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys" and the "gunman (who) kill and then go free to kill again." The impact is the same as the Sandberg poem: dark, honest, and unforgettable.
   
   "Return to the Scene of the Crime" is popular history at its finest. Lindberg has an engaging writing style that grabs reader interest from the beginning, and his liberal use of street maps, crime scene photos, and recent images of historic tragedy sites make this volume equal parts guidebook and True Crime encyclopaedia. The crimes and disasters profiled include the 1889 murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the shooting of John Dillinger outside the Biograph movie house, and the Iroquois Theatre Fire. Some of the cases remain mysteries today, such as the identity of the Haymarket bomber, whereas others, like the Carl Wanderer wife slaying, saw the killer pay the ultimate penalty for his misdeeds.
   
   The St. Valentine's Day Massacre garage and other celebrated Chicago crime scenes may be gone now, but Lindberg's book is a literary preservation of the tragedies they witnessed.



5. The often imitated and seldom duplicated Richard C. Lindberg, a Chicago native, has compiled what may well be considered the standard reference book on Chicago's most notorious crime scenes.
   
   Compressing so much information into a single volume, complete with numerous illustrations, photographs and maps had to be a daunting challenge. There are several typographical errors contained in the book, but given the length of the work and the scope of the undertaking that is more than understandable. "Return to the Scene of the Crime" contains brief detailed summaries of many individual crimes that have been the subject of full length books by other writers. There are relatively few major errors or omissions that I could detect, but in a few instances an exact numeric address or street direction was misstated. It should be noted, however, that various Chicago streets have been renamed and addresses renumbered since the time of the original criminal occurrences.
   
   One other reader complaint related to the fact that the directions provided may be better suited for a windshield tour (for safety's sake, I recommend that you keep the motor running if you plan to visit some of the mean streets included in the book!) rather than a walking tour. Well, that's Greater Metropolitan Chicago for you. It is a big city with numerous suburbs that covers a large geographic area. Visiting these infamous places is nothing like following the Patriot Trail in Boston or the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You cannot tackle all of the locations without making multiple excursions.
   
   As Lindberg points out, in many cases vacant lots and urban brown fields occupy the actual crime sites today. You will not find the Everleigh Club, the SMC Cartage, Colosimo's Cafe or the Four Deuces if you drive to the approximate locations now. So you can save yourself the unnecessary trips and enjoy reading about the hot spots in this entertaining volume. If you still want to check out the real estate, the author has provided up to the date information on those buildings that still exist and those which have undergone remodeling or experienced gentrification. Be aware, however, that in the past eight or nine years since the book was published a few of these same sites have been demolished or renovated. You may be disappointed to find a taco stand operating at a former mortuary!
   
   Lindberg recites the conventional descriptions and well accepted accounts of various crimes, some of which have been disputed by revisionist historians or superseded by subsequent research, but most of the information is overwhelmingly on point. Lindberg also unearths some details that escaped other authors. For example, he pointed out that skeletal remains recovered from a shallow grave in suburban Wilmette may well have been left behind by the serial killer H. H. Holmes (a/k/a H.W. Mudgett). The bigamist Holmes abandoned one of his wives in Wilmette when he turned his satanic energies to operating his bizarre Murder Castle hotel in the Englewood section of Chicago. I cannot recall this corpse being referred to in "The Devil in the White City."
   
   If the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, one measure of how well Lindberg has done his homework is to check most of the recent books written on true crime in the Second City. You will lose count of the number of times that Lindberg is cited in the acknowledgements, footnotes and bibliographies.
   
   One portion of the book that I especially enjoyed was the summarized list of books for additional reading. I was especially intrigued by the number of obscure, rare and out of print books that were included by the author. To simplify matters, if you liked this book as much as I did, you may well choose to read its worthy sequel, "Return Again to the Scene of the Crime."

No comments about Up the Creek Without a Paddle: The True Story of John and Anne Darwin: The Man Who 'Died' and the Wife Who Lied.

5 comments about To Kill and Kill Again (Onyx True Crime ; Je 323).

1. Definitly a book for adults only, this is the tale of a furniture delivery man named John Wayne Nance who is confirmed as having killed four and possibly eight people in a twelve year period up until his death in 1986. He attacked a couple in their home who fought back and killed him. My heart went out to the victims and their families, in particular three orphaned children. John Nance must have been SICK to do the revolting crimes he did and to hell he can go!! The book is a moving account of what happened and also very graphic. Two of the victims remain unidentified to this day. May those who died rest in peace.



2. I worked at Conlins in 1982-83, and became good friends with Sheila Claxton and Wayne Nance. She was another sales person and Wayne was one of the delivery guys. We spent many hours at work and after together as friends. He was very mysterious to say the least. When he did weird things we just agreed it was just Wayne. After he tried to kill our friends and Manager of the Conlins Store, we knew he had done it and all the other killings, but it was not until I finished the book that it became real to me... and I was truly afraid....

   I had moved to Missoula just as the Ministers wife was killed, and then the children found along the highway, later women, and former clients dying under mysterious circumstances. Then having it all placed in front of you and finding out it is a friend who has done it was almost too much to believe.

   This was a wonderful, suspence filled, truthful book and I thank him for telling the story. Our lives will never be the same. I am sure you will share it with others after you have read it.




3. When I was 5 years old in Missoula, Wayne Nance murdered my best friend. I will never, even all these years later, shake what he did - this book helped me come to grips with a small part of what happened as I was too young then to understand. I'm glad for that, but on the other hand, I'm torn. The victims of his horrific crimes deserve far more attention than he got in the end. My friend deserved better. *ALL* his victims deserved better.



4. I lived in Missoula MT at the time this guy was on his murder spree. My sister went to school with him. I was in school at the time and not even aware of any of this going on. This book is very interesting and certainly would make any reader sharpen their radar for wierdos. Keep your head on a swival and maintain awareness. I could not put the book down, it is very good and very creepy.



5. John Coston has written a rapid-paced true crime thriller about Wayne Nance who killed mostly women and girls for 12 years.
   The actual number of victims is not known.
   
   His childhood was a disturbing one with Nance frequently getting into trouble and in one instance showing a cruel streak directed at some kittens. He also had an acute interest in the occult and sacrificed animals. Nance was definitely a loosely-wrapped head case when he started murdering as a teenager. What made him so dangerous was his ability to earn peoples' trust and come across as almost normal while hiding the fact that he was "a mercurial,seething psycho".
   
   Like a lot of serial killers you read about, Wayne Nance made mistakes and kept a few trophies. He avoided detection in small part by the tunnel vision of the sheriff in one of the cases. What's frustrating about the case was the fact that one of the investigators early on suspected him but couldn't get enough evidence. Things were a lot harder before DNA became a tool for law enforcement and Nance was very lucky.
   
   He was also an anomaly among serial killers, prowling a very small area and avoiding detection for more than a decade.
   
   "To Kill and Kill Again" is a riveting true crime book. Among the best at telling the story not only of the killer and his victims,but also the heroic survivor who ended the killing spree.

5 comments about Bad Boy from Rosebud: The Murderous Life of Kenneth Allen McDuff.

1. In _Bad Boy From Rosebud_, well acclaimed book from the bookfair in Austin Texas, there are some all too typical examples of otherwise well researched, good writing, failing to get a good grade due to the use of poor stereotypes. At one point the author is describing a run down neighborhood of dilapidated trailers: "... a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a bright shiny pickup truck..."

   I cried Foul! Not fair to pick on Harley Davidson and then fail to identify the brand name of the pickup.

   In another paragraph he is writing of the "menial jobs [such people] have as burger flippers in fast food joints and cashiers at convenience stores."

   Likewise--Foul! As long as respected authors characterise such work as "menial" then those who do that work will continue to think little of themselves.

   --ajo




2. Gary Lavergne did an outstanding job in the research and presentation of "The Bad Boy From Rosebud." This book is of the same caliber as Lavergne's previous book, "A Sniper in the Tower." "Rosebud" was well done, with facts well explained and thorough research. If you like true crime, I reccomend this book without reservation.



3. This book about one of the country's worst serial killers is very well written and exceptionally well documented. The middle part of the book reminded me of Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, which is no small compliment! Author Gary Lavergne's other book, The Sniper in the Tower, is an all-time great book in the true crime genre. I eagerly look forward to his next book. (This book has lots of photos throughout the pages of the book as ALL works of non-fiction should have, but so many don't.)



4. Gary Lavergne graphically details the account of the murderous monster, Kenneth McDuff. The book is a page turner. The writer brings takes the reader so into the mind of McDuff, it is almost scary to read the next page. The book is excellent. If you read true crime, you must read "A Bad Boy from Rosebud".



5. I love to read true-crime stories and books. I've read many. None have disturbed me or un-nerved me the way this book did. It got to be where the book almost seemed evil to me.

   Kenneth McDuff was a cruel, sadistic, evil person. The abduction and torture of Colleen Reed was especially horrible. She was a smart girl. What was a smart girl doing at a car wash by herself at 9 p.m. in the dead of winter?? The author does too good of a job making us feel like we are there.

   Kenneth McDuff is the reason Texas became so intolerant of killers, what some in this world see as Texas being too death-penalty happy.

   This book is not for the faint of heart.

1 comments about The Need to Kill: Inside the World of the Serial Killer.

1. I had heard many myths about serial killers. I have seen the movies. I've read the books.
   
   Serial killers have had horrific upbringing. They have been abused mentally, physically, and mentally. They have tortured little animals. These bad people and mutants from hell but the problem is that they fit in and could be your next door neighbor Bob. He could have a woman in his basement hooked up to wires to shock her every ten minutes while he is outside on a sunny day drinking a beer while he washes his car and talks baseball with you (go Boston go!). You never know. It could be Bob, Dave, Ted, Harold, Greg, Cary, Pat, Jeff, Pedro or any male name. (usually not a Debbi, Ann, Sue, Kathy, Mary)
   
   They have an uncanny ability to elude the police while committing their vile acts. They prey on people they find attractive and weak who cross their path. They're not like us, well, maybe some of you. (if you are a serial killer please email me).
   
   In The Need to Kill, the author is one of the field's leading researchers tells you who the serial killers and really are by name, location, and if they are currently active or inactive. This will allow you to stay away from any serial killers in your neighborhood. This book frightening me and made me scared and shake. I couldn't sleep. I won't even go outside to wash my car anymore.
   
   The doctor draws pictures and 20+ years' of research-including experience as a homicide investigator (not an instigator). He provides clarity and hope to keep us away from these crazy serial killers.
   
   Profiles are included of John Wayne Gacy (poor clown), Ted Bundy (bad teeth - his downfall), Henry Lee Lucas (not the Star Wars guy), me and Jeffrey Dahmer (eater of flesh...human flesh, now dead, someone ate him in prison). You'll go into the serial killers mind and body and you won't like it but you must.
   
   You will be terrifying and really really scarededed. The Need to Kill is the one book that truly illuminates the mind of these bad bad people. Bad people. REDRUM over and over again. Kill, kill, kill, they should get a hobby. Anyway, after you read this book email me at rc97h @ aol.com and let me know if you agree with my review. But above all, do not become a serial killer and come see me.

5 comments about Villisca: The True Account of the Unsolved 1912 Mass Murder That Stunned the Nation.

1. Mr. Marshall has taken cold historical facts and written a book that weaves you into the mindsets and personalities of the investigators and the accused of this unsolved murder. The result is a book that contains enough content to satisfy the analytical historical mind as well as a story line that would delight those readers merely seeking a good mystery.



2. A 'little known' true-crime murder mystery worth dipping into. The author has moments of creative narrative. But not enough to sustain the reader through pages and pages of reprinted document text. One would expect that a book of this kind, one that purports to be a "true account", would have sources listed at the end, or footnotes, or end notes, or any kind of notes to verify that the author didn't just make this stuff up. It is customary in nonfiction to cite sources.



3. Ably researched and deftly written by Roy Marshall, Villisca is the true story of a terrible crime that took place in 1912 America. Eight victims, six of them children, were bludgeoned to death with an axe as they slept. Private investigators dissected the case after inexperienced police detectives failed, and scandals concerning public figures were drawn into the white-hot light of public scrutiny. A thoroughly researched and evenhandedly presented narrative, Villisca is a welcome and recommended addition to personal, and community library True Crime shelves, as well as academic Criminology Studies reference collections.



4. I just finished this account of the unsolved mass murders in 1912 in Villisca Iowa after finding out a bit of the historic event in early Iowa on the Web. I found the account pretty well written and engaging though the narrative, at times, took a back seat to lengthy historical documentation. The entire book as a whole might have been improved by some reductions in places but the content was fine as is. I have to admit I was surprised NOT to find the "author's take" at the very end (or somewhere) on who he thought was behind it all, what person(s) committed the actual murders, was there a conspiracy, etc. After plowing through all that text, to not be provided this account might seem to make the book and author more credible, but I distinctly missed such an offering.



5. There are so many players in this true crime story that the reader could get so confused. The author in the beginning gives you a list of the people involved and a brief summary of them so that if you get confused you can go back to the summary. Well written book (alot of typos though) that puts you right into the era of the early 1900's. The author provides details and also uses research documents in telling the story. It gave me a sense of this is what really happened. Interesting characters and definitely well researched. You get involved with so many of the people especially the detective who was so driven by ego he harassed both an innocent man and the who judicial system. Definitely worth reading if you are into a good true crime story without all the sensational cheap thrills and gory details of crime books that fill the bookshelves today.

5 comments about BAD: The Autobiography of James Carr (NABAT).

1. The book is very well written and not at all dated. Best Prison book I've read. Extremely honest. Deals with race wars, sexual predators, murder...This guy doesn't make excuses, he just tells it how it is. He admits that he was a guy who didn't want to work so he did liquor store robberies. Every time he got out of prison, the first thing he did was get caught for something & sent back. He was in prision during the time that the Mexican Mafia was starting and has some interesting insight on that. Very involved in race wars and riots. It's interesting how he moves from institution to institution (San Quentin, Tracy, LA County, among others) and always runs into cons that he knows. This guy was so bad that he got moved from a juvenile facility to San Quentin at the age of 16. An all around bad guy. Great read.



2. I read this book when it was first published and until recently had always wondered why Carr was killed. I always felt that it was a contract murder but didnt have a clue as to why the contract on carr was carried out. Mr carr was it seems a very bright, well versed man. It" interseting to note that despite all the violence and mayhem. of which Carr contributed was a very itelligent man who was never able to seperate his inate intelligence from his penchant for violence. Mr carr was a victim of his past deeds and very much a product of the era in which he lived. A good read, disturbing because conditions in California State Prisons remain for the most very much the same today as they did in Carr"s time.



3. It's a fascinating book. Incredible actually when you discover that Carr began his preparing for his career as an inmate when he was 9 yrs old. Note: he committed robberies etc. inside and outside of jail, but he was not a professional criminal. He was a professional inmate; and as such, he was cunning, devious, and diabolical. He was also - although he'd deny it - assexual. The only sex he had outside of prison occurred during gang rapes or trains just as if he was in prison. Sex was mechanical; simply a way of displaying power. Be that as it was, it is even more incredible that he was studying and enjoying calculas. What a wasted life.



4. Prison ain't a picnic now, but it was much worse in Carr's time. Much of Bad recounts his sadistic brutality (in and out of the joint) with transparent pride. Carr is the "wolf" archetype, thriving inside by taking advantage of anyone dumber or weaker. He's a unique, powerful storyteller - for better or worse, depending how hard your belly is. Before he starts to reflect (which he only does, in earnest, in the conclusion-cum-manifesto), he regails us on his murders and rapes, sparing nothing but any remorse he might feel. Only Jim Goad and Iceberg Slim paint prison life in starker colors, or glean deeper philosophical insight from the experience... but don't get offended by Bad and claim you weren't warned.



5. to quote richard pryor"thank god we got penitentiaries"a very well writen and imformative book of the california prison system of the late 50s early 60s. a fairly accurate account of the start of the california prison system race war that raged into the 70s and is still felt today.
   this book fails in the same way that 99% of the other books about the black prison experience fail,no responsibility(see monster).it's always the same refrain,it`s not my fault. the system or whitey made me do it.thats bull.i had relatives in the same prisons at the same time as carr and i have never heard them blame anyone but themselves.
   at the end i did`nt buy the idea that carr turned his life around.people who turn their life around don`t usually get gunned down in their own driveway

2 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spies and Espionage (The Complete Idiot's Guide).

1. A pretty good brief history with a good lesson in terms and trade craft.
   Has some good event history.



2. The "Idiot's Guide" books have the worst name ever. If anyone spots you reading one of these bright orange tomes, they more than likely think you are an idiot.
   That's really not the case with this book. The guide to Spies and Espionage is an amazing intro to the field of espionage and international spying. Everything is presented clearly and with proper writing style (not too playful, not too stiff). For those looking for tons of gadgets and movie-like action, you may be disappointed, as the book focuses more on the history of spying rather than the procedures and rules of the game. Thrilling missions and incidents are retold with detail, yet also they are very brief. The book seems to strike a perfect balance without getting bogged down at all. You can breeze through a few chapters in an hour and still learn a great deal.
   Again, as I said, a great jumping off point for anyone interested in the field

5 comments about Classic Crimes (New York Review Books Classics).

1. Simply put, William Roughead was and is the greatest true crime writer of them all. Combining a supple prose style with an inimitable, pawky sense of humor, he remains the best prose stylist chronicling human depravity since, well, the authors of the King James Bible. A Scot by birth, Roughead became a Writer to the Signet, a privileged position which allowed him to attend and write up the great murder trials of his era (1870-1952). His works are shamefully out of print and are well worth searching out in used book stores: both his commercial collections and his contributions to the "Notable British Trials" series. Henry James was one of his many devoted fans and even the briefest sample of his prose makes it obvious why true-crime buffs consider him the master. "Classic Crimes"(which includes chapters on Deacon Brodie, Burke and Hare, Madeleine Smith, Dr. Pritchard, William Palmer, etc.) is the best collection of his work in print and I would be remiss if I did not mention that I owe my introduction to this peerless writer to Toni Morrison, who confessed her own idolatrous admiration in a New York Times Book Review piece more than 20 years ago. If you like his stuff you'll never be able to get enough of it. (Also worth securing are the works of Roughead's friend, the American Edmund Pearson, whose "Studies in Murder" was reprinted last last by the Ohio State University Press.) As Roughead so eloquently put it: "Murder has a magic of its own, its peculiar alchemy. Touched by that crimson wand, things base and sordid, things ugly and of ill report, are transformed into matters wondrous, weird and tragical. Dull streets become fraught with mystery, commonplace dwellings assume sinister aspects, everyone concerned, howsoever plain and ordinary, is invested with a new value and importance as the red light falls upon each."



2. Simply put, William Roughead was and is the greatest true crime writer of them all. Combining unusually supple storytelling talents with an inimitable, pawky sense of humor, he remains the best prose stylist chronicling human depravity since, well, the compilers of the King James Bible. A Scot by birth, Roughead became a Writer to the Signet at the turn of the last century, a privileged position which allowed him to attend and write up the great murder trials of his day and his favorites from Great Britain's colorfully criminous past. Almost all of his works are shamefully out of print but are well worth searching out in used book stores: both his own popular accounts and his contributions to the more formally edited "Notable British Trials" series. Henry James was one of his many besotted fans, and even the briefest sample of his work makes it obvious why true crime buffs consider him the Master. "Classic Crimes" (which includes chapters on Deacon Brodie, Burke and Hare, Madeleine Smith, Dr. Pritchard and other irresistible villains) is the best collection of his work, and I would be remiss if I did not own that my introduction to his peerless work came via Toni Morrison, who confessed her own idolatrous admiration in the New York Times Book Review some two decades ago. If you like Roughead, you'll never be able to get enough. As Luc Sante writers in his perceptive introduction to this latest reprint, Roughead repeatedly creates narratives which contain "in full that collision of placid, well-furnished pedantry with savage howling atavism" that was the keynote of his fascination with evil--and Roughead did believe in evil--people. More of his genius is avalable on display in "Twelve Scots Trials," available from Amazon. co.uk. As Roughead so eloquently put it: "Murder has a magic of its own, its peculair alchemy. Touched by that crimson wand, things base and sordid, things ugly and of ill report, are transformed into matters wondrous, weird and tragical. Dull streets become fraught with mystery, commonplace dwellings assume sinister aspects, everyone concerned, howsoever plain and ordinary, is invested with a new value and importance as the red light fall upon each."



3. William Roughead's accounts of great crimes from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scotland and England are about the most delicious mind candy I can think of; I opened this new edition from NYRB and almost couldn't put it down. While his vocabulary and style at times go a bit overboard in terms of their purpleness, he still presents very readable and exciting accounts of some incredible crimes which still haunt the popular imagination today (such as his account of the West Port murders of Burke and Hare, the body snatchers).

   Re-issuing Roughead's work is really a feather in NYRB's cap, and yet I can't help wishing they had taken more pains with this edition. (Because of this, I felt I could not really offer it the five stars it otherwise would've deserved.) The introduction by Luc Sante is interesting, but not without errors: he notes that all of the crimes excepting those of Burke and Hare "are discoveries [on the part of Roughead]"; yet Roughead himself admits that Deacon Brodie's case has been dramatized many times, and inspired Stevenson's "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Madeleine Smith's trial inspired a film, "Madeleine," directed by David Lean in the 1950s. Similarly, no editor seems to have taken the time to annotate some of Roughead's more bizarre (or anachronistic, or peculiarly Scottish) terms: "douce" is used repeatedly for "sweet", and "lands" (apparently a term for the highrise towers in Edinburgh) recurs often too, yet there's nary a word of explanation. This lack of editorial interference is not welcome, especially since Roughead often refers repeatedly to other writings of his which his original audience would have recognized but which remain obscure to a contemporary reader.

   Still, this book is a real treasure--and, as with all NYRB books, it comes on beautiful paper and with a gorgeous cover.




4. This is a truly enjoyable read of murders and a recounting of the trials associated with them.-Roughead is an inimitable Scottish stylist and, as Luc Sante points out in the introduction, his "musical" use of abstruse Scottishisms is a joy in and of itself to read.
   
   The only thing in literature to which one can really compare it is Sherlock Holmes-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle makes an appearance in one of these cases, btw.-I don't mean to do Roughead a disservice in this comparison-Certainly, these are as true to the actual facts as Roughead could make them (and he goes to great lengths to do so), and several of the cases remain unsolved or "Not Proven"-a verdict in Scots law with which you shall become all too familiar if you read this book. - But, the same Victorian atmospherics are present as in Doyle, the Victorian moralisms, the eerie descriptions, the bumbling Dogberries of police constables. It's actually refreshing to know that these things existed just as Doyle wrote of them....except these cases are REAL!
   
   Of course, there's the question the contemplative reader asks himself from time to time as to why he is interested in the macabre and the details thereof.-An interesting question.-I know not the answer.-But we all are, it would seem, to one ghoulish extent or the other.
   
   5 Macabre, Scottish Stars!



5. I find many of the reviews "right on".
   
   However, many comments are off-base, and as His Cousin, I find inappropriate. Ask, and you may find Truth!
   
   "No disrespect..." ..."but"... there is that word again... don't listen to what I just said, just what I am about to say...
   
   Amazing how the critics, nearly a Century later, have criticisms that sting, but couldn't find the gumption to face Him... or me!
   
   Let's get it on!