3 comments about Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth.

1. All Lincoln scholars will find this book of interest particularly for when and how it was written. Had to have been a "bestseller" in 1908!



2. When Lincoln was killed he was an old man of 56, while Booth was only 27 at the time of the assassination. I really can't figure why this fiction was written, as the travesty was done when John Wilkes Booth was gunned down from a slat in the barn. He had no way to escape!
   
   It's just like the rumors which spun about Elvis Presley that he was an informant for the FBI and did not die of an overdose of drugs in his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, that he was relocated to Germany. Do you think that man could have spent all these years hiding and not singing. No Way!
   
   Just like the fiction that Booth lived to confess years later. Could he have gone on with his life without acting on the stage? Whyever would he confess and link the Vice President to the conspiracy. Andrew Johnson was supposed to have been abducted at the same time as Lincoln, only his assailant got too drunk to do the deed. Now, this little myth maker tries to make us think that he was in on the kill of Lincoln so that he could take over. He had his hands full of the reconstruction and other things which were continually going wrong. He was definitely not like Lincoln in any way, but a man from Tennessee who had been governor of this Volunteer State would never have done that. Now Texas is another matter altogether. Why this was written, I'll never know! It's just not worth the bother to look at, or read trash about an honorable assassin. He had health problems and perhaps though he was dying anyway. Who will ever know? No one who reads this volume in history.



3. This book is great and he did act on stage after the assassination. Why the other person wrote that this book is not worth reading I will never know. It shows two pictures of Booth after the assassination when he was living under an alias. It is filled with evidence. If you would like to know who was killed in the barn instead of Booth you should read "Return of the Assassin John Wilkes Booth". It is filled with new evidence. Both of these books are must reads.

5 comments about The Fortune Hunter (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. Very confusing. The Author does not write in chronological order. The first page starts off about the victim's dogs!! Then back and forth between the shooting and the trial. Nothing much about the backgrounds of the victim & the people involved in the case - just a few sentences. It's hard to keep up with who's who and how they know the victim and his wife who was convicted of having her husband murdered by her lesbian lover. I recommend that if you want to read about this case then buy "She Wanted it all" by Kathryn Casey - she is a great writer and gets to the point - not going on about dogs and the weather. I really don't know how Suzy Spencer got her book published - its just too disorganised.



2. I shouldn't be writing a review of a book I didn't even finish. I could barely get myself to read more than two chapters..such a hard book to follow and I read alot of true crime! Instead of saying "Couldn't put it down", it's more like, "Couldn't wait to put it down"



3. This book about the Steven Beard killing was very difficult to follow, and jumps around frequently so you are never sure if you are reading stuff that happened before the murder or after the murder. The pictures in the middle are interesting, and not in the far superior book on the case All She Wanted by Katherine Casey so that is why I am giving it 2 stars instead of 1.



4. I also can't get past the first few chapters. This book sounds like the author's notes published in stream-of-consciousness. There's no real order to it. It doesn't appear to have been edited, either. If this were the first true-crime book I read, I'd never read another. My problem is that I didn't read the reviews first. This book is going in the trash.



5. I can't even beging to get into how horrible this book was. It jumps all over the place, doen't make any damn sense and she is THE WORST WRITER IN THE HISTORY OF WRITING.

5 comments about Fatal Tryst : Who Killed the Minister and the Choir Singer?.

1. The author writes a clear summery of the case falling prey to repitition in places. However, I cannot be persuaded by the author's conclusions. It seems that the auther should have paid more attention to the "Iago of the Vestry" who had a previous affair with the murdered woman, was bitterly dumped by the murdered woman, just happened to be on the scene the night the murder happened and whose car mysteriously went up in flames shortly thereafter. Also, what happened to Daniel?



2. This newer compilation was written after everyone involved had died. It lacks an index to its many photographs, and complements Kunstler's book. Page 71 mentions the curious phone call from Eleanor; doesn't it sound like a coded message? The posed photo on the cover lacks the letters.

   Chapter 12 ridicules the "Pig Woman"; is this just class bias? He says "her story changed"; but is this unusual? I believe her story to be true since it dovetails with other known facts. Tomlinson says her story was made up because of the "Oh Henry" cry; yet this just happened to be her brother's name! (Or was it her version of "Oh Hell"?) You can test if a khaki coat (or pants) looks gray in the moonlight.

   Many times the author questions statements made by the people involved, as reported in the newspapers. Then or now, how reliable are newspaper stories? Page 217 uses the word "katzenjammer". Think of a cat when it wants to go outside: frantic and nervous. Page 226 tells how fingerprints could be forged in the 1920s. On pages 236-7 Tomlinson commits the folly of trying to analyze someone from a long ago newspaper account; it doesn't convince me, and seems like a smear of the chief prosecution witness. Why use the comments of Salome Cerenner when there is no corroboration? His description of psychopaths' "grossly inflated sense of their self-worth and importance" sounds like many managers found in the corporate world. Jane Gibson's story was checked out by the detectives; Kunstler's book explains this. Does her story sound too good to be true? Is it very different from other eyewitness stories?

   Chapter 23 shows Tomlinson doing a better job than Kunstler in analyzing Willie's testimony (p.253), and in the story of the examination of Reverend Hall's checkbook (p.271). His comments on Simpson (p.300) seems to be just a whitewash of the trial. On page 309 Tomlinson rules out the Stevens as not the type to murder to avenge family honor. Were they from South Carolina where that was more common? On page 313 Tomlinson mentions Jeffrey MacDonald; he needs to read "Fatal Justice".

   Chapter 29 provides "One Man's Solution" which makes Willie the sole perpetrator. He talks about the failed marriage of the Mills, but says nothing about the Halls; why not? After earlier rejecting Jane Gibson's story, he adopts it as his solution! His comments as to a blood-stained Apperson and Willie's suit are very good! I believe his solution is wrong because he previously rejected Jan Gibson's testimony but adopted it for Chapter 29. The straw hat covering Reverend Hall's face says somebody wanted to keep the crows from pecking at and disfiguring the face; I think this says Mrs. Hall. The throat cutting and excision of the tongue and larynx suggests jealous hatred; I think this says a woman used to cutting up chickens. Some say the 1926 trial was bungled because of the 'not guilty' verdict. But it also succeeded in preventing the Stevens from ever being prosecuted!




3. What was the cause of those murders? Why did it occur then, when the affair was going on for years? I have a suggested solution.

   It happened a few days after the Halls came back from their New England vacation in the mountains. I think something happened there, where Mrs Hall had a narrow escape from a fatal accident while with the Reverend. She thought about it, and realized that if she had an accident, Reverend Ed would inherit her fortune, and be free to seek another rich wife. Eleanor would be dropped like yesterday's newspaper. Mrs Hall discussed this with her brothers, and they decided to confront the Reverend while he was with Eleanor, so he could not deny the affair, and would be forced to end it. The emotional interaction escalated beyond reason, and the deaths occurred. The best laid plans of mice and men still go astray.

   The case was not solved so justice would triumph over the law. The Reverend Ed messed up his own marriage, and destroyed the Mills' marriage. Alive, he would break up another marriage. It was all for the best. When someone poor falls in love with a rich person, the poor person often comes to an unhappy ending. The rich have many resources to accomplish their ends. This is the moral of "Love Story", that love does not triumph over material facts. No matter how hard you wish it were different. Love conquers all? Forget about it!




4. Tomlinson losses track of his own thoughts very easily dismissing important details. His "suspect" illicts laughs and eye-rolling from most people close to the case and its history. With a focus almost entirely on the sensational, there is a persistence to enforce his reasoning as "sound" and "psychologically based." It is none of those things. It leads to a lot of bias in his assumptions YET it does demonstrate why this case was unsolved: Too many seeking a scandalous resolution to a rather unspectacular murder, were it not for the participants. There are far better treatments of the subject. Kunstler's Minister and the Choir Singer and another difficult to find book, THE GIRL ON LOVER'S LANE, in particular. Ramsland also offers an excellent overview online of the facts of the case with only a few inaccuracies. Her article appears usually appears readily through most search engines.

   Tomlinson's self-promotion is admirable, though.




5. I was looking to buy the definitive book on this crime and found, via the "Acute Observer" analytical commentary, that the only way to get the whole story is to buy both the Kuntsler and Tomlinson accounts. That way, whatever one has missed or mixed up, the other has it covered!
   
   However just by reading the massive New York Times' stories and other newspaper accounts of the time, along with modern-day forensics and profiling, I think that I have the answer. Mrs. Hall had the motive, means, and opportunity. Her much-younger "toy-boy" trysting with a tender and lusty "golddigger"? In public, clowning her in front of her peeps? Oh, hell, naw!! She got her possé (2 brothers and a male cousin) together and rode out after her man who was meeting his lover under the crab apple tree 'round midnight.
   
   Mrs. Hall didn't pull the trigger but she sure as hell cut out the young woman's tongue and covered her husband's face after he took one to the head. Text book behavioral traits of a passion killing. Add in the overkill (3 shots to drop Girlfriend), along with the inability to look at the face of your lover. Then the final posing of the bodies was the coup de grâce. In spite of the police failing to secure the integrity of the crime scene, a prosecutor today could have still made a good circumstantial case and won a Murder 2 conviction against all charged. (Yes, we know it was with malice aforethought, but many a case is lost when the defendant is overcharged.) But, this is now and that was then - a whole different way of looking at society crimes existed then. Who could ever imagine the delicate (although very unattractive and dowdy) wife of a clergyman conspiring and carrying out such a premeditated and gruesome act? And, of course, the others were wealthy "gentlemen" of good breeding who would never compromise their values and integrity by involving themselves in such a low deed, even to avenge their sister's honor. That kind of behavior was reserved for the poor and low-born - people of quality would never get their kid gloves dirty - it just wasn't done!!! But WE know that the player-hating rich wife did the dastardly deed. She, nor her brothers, were going to allow the cheating preacher-man to get his hands on their hard-stolen money and then spend it on the lovely and trim Mrs. Mills, who cared nothing of her reputation and was straight dissin' her hubby. (Where was he anyway? Cavorting with the downstairs maid?) Mrs. Mills obviously had an agenda here. I ain't saying she's a golddigger......
   
   Anyway, thanks to many of these excellent reviews and analyses here, I'm going to buy BOTH books to get the real down-low on the preacher-playa and wicked singin' woman! I must know more about Mrs. Jane "The Pig Woman" Gibson, her claim of gunshots, and allegedly hearing a woman exclaim the phrase "Oh, Henry!" in the vicinity of the now infamous crab apple tree. Was it the name of Mrs. Hall's brother, Henry (a retired marksman) who allegedly accompanied his sister to the scene or was someone enjoying the newly-introduced chocolate, nuts and nougat candy bar by the same name? Was the poor doomed Mrs. Mills calling out because she was shocked to see "Ol' Henry" with the .32 caliber pistol that the other brother, Willie, was known to own? (Willie, who was said to have been a "wild & crazy guy" had to have the firing mechanism on his gat filed down so that he wouldn't hurt himself - later, at trial, that screwed up the ballistics tests on the weapon. How convenient!)
   
   With this cast of characters, two books has definitely got to be better than one!

No comments about U.S. Department of Justice Evaluation of the Branch Davidian Stand-off and Siege in Waco Texas.

1 comments about Widow's Web: The True Story of a Little Rock Beauty Whose Deadly Wiles Led to Two Murders and Scandalized the Entire of Arkansas.

1. Being from Arkansas, I'm just struck hard by this story. You sure get a different feeling when it happens in your Frontyard! Literally! We lived in Little Rock, Ar my entire childhood, this happened just north over the river in a SubUrb around McCain Mall.

5 comments about The Power to Harm: Mind, Medicine, and Murder on Trial.

1. With the lawsuit mania that exists today, it's not unusual to find big corporations dragged into lawsuits for no other reason than their deep pockets. Lawyers go to extreme lengths to assign fault for even the most tangential involvement. A casual observer to the lawsuit covered in "The Power to Harm" might perceive it as just another baseless attempt of going after the guy with the most money. After all, how could anyone blame a drug for causing someone to shoot twenty coworkers? If you read this book, you'll know the answer.

   John Cornwell covers the behind-the-scene details of the trial with great skill and frugality. Nothing is wasted. The facts concerning the drug Prozac are fascinating. I'm truly amazed that the drug ever received FDA approval. Prozac is currently being sold in over seventy countries. If you are taking this drug or are considering taking it, please read this book.

   This is a first rate legal thriller where the story and characters are real, and so too are the victims.




2. It figures that Emilio below only bought the paperback. He doesn't disclose his agenda (scientologist, or just someone who NEEDS a shrink) but he obviously has no idea what he is talking about. If Emilio lives near you watch out, because he may go postal or try to poison the water supply. (He probably moved his lips while reading the book, and he clearly needed help typing his review). Take a pill Emilio. Cornwell hasn't a clue. Oh yea, it is all a conspiracy.



3. Every book you are forced to read tends to give you a negative outlook but all in all I learned a different side to Prozac



4. Interesting court case. Not very well explained. Enough to get the crux of the argument but not presented in a very, skillful, well-written manner. A better writer and editor could have produced a much more interesting read.

   However, some interesting insights do get raised about how corporations large and small abuse their employees and the courts. Shows some of the clear flaws in the so-called American justice system and how those with enough cash can influence those with high self-interest and low morals.

   As for some of the supposed commentary below the comments by the goof who entitles his diatribe the Establishment just show how narrow minded and ignorant some folks are, when commenting about others they disagree with but don't have a solid rationale to critique. Buddy has spent too much time watching what passes for entertainment on television these days or reading The National Enquirer, both which are as credible as his uninformed, snide comments.

   I am no Scientologist and I'm no fool, however comments from buddy indicate that he falls into the latter camp, which is a charitable description of someone who thinks they are a wit but is only half right.




5. The author makes a complicated tale understandable and very very interesting. You couldn't ask for a better introduction to issues like the psychological drug approval process, 'the drug made me do it' thinking, and free will vs. brain chemistry determinism vs. community, company and co-worker responsibility. Very well written and very fair-minded!

No comments about Northern Connecticut Tales: True Tales of Murder, Hauntings, Scandal, Mystery..

5 comments about The Private Diary of Lyle Menendez: In His Own Words!.

1. This book consists of transcripts of some phone conversations between Lyle Menendez and the author before and during the brothers' first trial. You really need to be up on the case to know what's being said. If you know who everyone was in the trial (Dr. Oziel, Judalon Smyth, etc.) then the book can be of some use to you. Don't look here for a compelling description of the crime, the planning, or even life at home with the Menendez'. What you will get is an insight into the character we know as Lyle - confirming the intelligent, cunning, cold hearted manipulator we knew gratis Court TV. The book is historically important as a trial supplement and reading is recommended to those familiar with the case.



2. A great book into understanding the mind of Lyle Menendez. Like another reviewer said, you really should be up on the case, otherwise you won't understand it. The problem with the book, the author puts too much of her opinion in it. She makes it obvious she does not believe Lyle from the beginning. If you're interested in the case, and are up on all of your information on the trial, you'll love it. If you know nothing, you won't understand a word.



3. The back cover of this book advertises that the reader will be enabled to "peek into the mind of a fascinating criminal," but after having read this book, there's very little that is fascinating about this man or this crime. In fact, there's nothing in here that I hadn't already heard on the news plenty of times before.

   The book consists of a series of conversations between Lyle Menendez and Norma Novelli, the publisher of some newsletter that no one's ever heard of. The conversations give you a narrative of the Menendez trial through the eyes of Lyle Menendez. In them, you'll find Lyle to be extremely arrogant, but also fairly educated and mild-mannered.

   I grew up in a city close to Beverly Hills, and I'd have to say that Lyle Menendez is no different from most people who live there. He was raised in wealth and comfort and he knows no other way of life, and that explains his pompous attitude. Lyle Menendez isn't the "brilliant criminal mind" that they build him up to be. The only difference between Lyle and normal people is that he and his brother killed their parents. The prosecution in his trial argued that the brothers killed their parents in order to receive their inheritance and collect from their parents' life insurance policies. The brothers claim that the murders resulted from years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse by their father. After reading this book, I'm inclined to believe that it was probably a combination of both reasons.

   Aside from the fact that this book offers very little new information, I also didn't like the way in which Norma Novelli claimed to have been manipulated by Lyle Menendez. Menendez does about 99% of the talking in these conversations. He tells Novelli almost everything, and all she does is sit there listening and recording the conversations. She clearly knew that she could profit from this line of communication she had with Lyle, and that's exactly what she did by writing this book. In fact, she's the real manipulator for taking advantage of the trust and confidence that Lyle had in her. She isn't a victim at all, and it seems absurd for her to make such a claim.

   There are plenty of other more useful books and websites that one can look to for information on the Menendez case. This book isn't worth it.




4. I thought this was a fairly boring view into this case....I was so excited to read it from the jacket- and then found out it was of little interest at all. The beginning was especially hard to get "into"....It turns out that Lyle doesn't really have very much to say, after all.



5. Wow, who would have thought. For a different side of the story (and there is always another side)this is a good read. Whether or not you buy the information being told is another thing. I found it a good read and a sad story.

4 comments about The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes.

1. In light of the recent trend on televison and in movies to whet our appetite for crime scene investigation methods, I found "The Dollhouse Murders" to be just what the M.E. ordered. I discovered there's still much to be learned, and the dollhouse scenarios, so cleverly contrived, are full of details which the other mediums of delivery simply don't have time to explore. Mr. Mauriello and Miss Darby have wedded their talents admirably and with seamless success.

   A great read!




2. The epidemic of doll-on-doll crime is a fading memory, as real in America's collective memory as the crack epidemic and the O.J. Simpson trials, and all that's left is for the books to come out, letting us look back at those terrible tragedies that riveted the nation. Books like Ann Rule's "The Vinyl-Coated Killer" and Joe McGinnis' "How, Now, Mistress Doll" were excellent contributions to the genre. Now, "The Dollhouse Murders" adds a different perspective by telling the story of six deaths through the eyes of the investigators.

   Author Thomas P. Mauriello has taken pains to disguise the names and locations of these crimes, to the point of changing the detective's name to "the Detective." But no matter, these stories retain their dark edge of madness and tragedy, and the plethora of crime-scene photos adds a visceral kick in the gut to even the most jaded true-crime aficionado.

   Doll-on-doll crime may occur on a smaller scale, but that doesn't make them any less horrific. There's the attempted robbery at the family store. Amid the cash register and grocery shelves, two men lay dead. We follow the detective as he works the scene, attempting to deduce the chain of events that led to the tragedy: a cracked pane in the pastry case; the pattern of money thrown from the till; the splatter of blood-like paint by the corpses. These are the red threads that must be knitted together to create a satisfying narrative.

   Readers interested in learning step-by-step how a scene is "processed" will see that there is no one right method of working, and explains why some crimes don't get solved, how guilt cannot be proven. Clues are gathered using observation, intuition and an intimate knowledge of forensics, such as the way blood gathers where the body meets the floor, or what the size of the entry wound implies. Miss a clue, and the narrative will still be created, but it won't be accurate. Fail to look around at the right time, or fail to keep an open mind as to suspects, and you have another JonBenet Ramsey case on your hand.

   Murder freezes a moment in time and the detective is its archivist. "The Dollhouse Murders" opens a window into the lives of dolls, seeing them at work and at home, in places we never see. By placing their deaths in the context of their lives, Mauriello is also issuing a plea for empathy and tolerance, in effect, putting a human face on the vinyl victims. But even more, these are taut, grim tales of violence and death, told with an eye for observation and an ear for detail that recall the best of Joseph Waumbaugh, Ed McBain and Elmore Leonard. These stories pack a punch. And Judy.




3. Did you ever buy a book that absolutely exceeded your expectations? Well, you won't get that feeling from this book.

   Although the introductory material was quite interesting (i.e., how the dollhouse-crime scene technique is used in training forensic science students), the remainder of the book is slow-paced dribble with scant references to actual photos of the dollhouse crime scenes. I just expected so much more; the introductory page to each of the scenarios shows the actual dollhouse scene that accompanies the vignette, but they are too amateurish, and anyone who has ever watched a complete 60-minute episode of any prime-time cop and/or court show would be able to describe the scene and investigation, perhaps with even more vivid detail and creativity than the author of these drab tales. C+ at best.




4. The photos in this book are wonderful sharp. Each murder scene has a full photo of the room in which the murder took place with plenty of photos of clues. The format for each model contains a "story line" and goes into detail re the clues & evidence with accompanying details. I enjoy the story lines as they make the scenes more real - kind of like CSI but without finding out who-dun-it. The dioramas were made by the author as a teaching device for crime lab students. Because the aim of these dioramas is help his students "peel" a crime scene, the stories do not contain the answers to the mysteries.

5 comments about Lobster Boy.

1. Through extensive interviews with nearly all parties involved, both family and police, Fred Rosen reconstructs the events surrounding the life and death of Grady Stiles Jr, the "Lobster Boy." Following a profitable sideshow career, capitalizing on the congenital defect known as ectrodactyly (fingers and toes are fused to form claws), Stiles was murdered in his own living room, victim of a hit man hired by members of his own family.

   Was Stiles a man who had tried to make the most of his handicap and live the American dream only to be taken advantage of by his spouse, or did he use his deformity to hide years of abusive behavior, verbal and physical violence that eventually drove his own family to take steps to protect themselves?

   A fascinating true account of life being stranger than fiction. Comes with a dozen photo pages so you can see the strangeness for yourself.




2. This is the book if you want to one up your co-workers with bizarre carnie folklore! I heard about Lobsterboy on a camping trip soon after I stumbled upon the book. This is some trivial knowledge that will get heads turning for sure. I have a friend that still doesn't believe he's real. Definately good for a few laughs -

   Grady Stiles Lives!!




3. Lobster Boy! The story may shock you and leave you forever changed. This book rocked! I bought it because the cover was so freaking hilarious. He is a sight to behold. I sat out in the sun reading this two summers ago and couldn't put it down, I looked a bit Lobsterish by the time I was done. Find out all you need to know about The Fat Man, The Migdet Man, and of course, Lobster boy, in this wonderful book. It is a true story, which only makes it that much greater!



4. Lobster Boy! The story may shock you and leave you forever changed. This book rocked! I bought it because the cover was so freaking hilarious. He is a sight to behold. I sat out in the sun reading this two summers ago and couldn't put it down, I looked a bit Lobsterish by the time I was done. Find out all you need to know about The Fat Man, The Migdet Man, and of course, Lobster boy, in this wonderful book. It is a true story, which only makes it that much greater!



5. The book really wasn't that well-written and it wasn't as interesting as I thought it'd be when I bought it. I don't understand three things:

   (1) Why would the Stiles family continue to bring children that they KNOW are going to be deformed into the world ("If a child was born a freak, it was the child's problem...and God's" ?? How SICK is THAT?) How selfish!

   (2) Why would Theresa Stiles leave her third husband, a good, respectful man who never raised a hand to her or her children, divorce him and go back to Grady Stiles for more of what she'd put up with her first time around? Sociopaths do NOT change...and Grady Stiles had already gotten away with the murder of his daughter's boyfriend. He had shown himself capable of murder. WHY would she chuck a quiet, stable life and make a return trip into hell?

   (3) Why did Fred Rosen get involved with the case by giving the prosecution a copy of the wrestling videotape with sound? Isn't an author supposed to be unbiased? Rosen had no right to interject himself into this case while it was still being tried.

   And why didn't he condemn the so-called "victim" for his treatment of his wives and children over the years? Why did he make Teresa and her son Glenn sound like evil incarnate when Grady, as much as I hate to say it, asked for it?