Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Helter Skelter

The True Story of the Manson Murders

by Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

A national bestseller—7 million copies sold. 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... (more)

Beyond Belief: A Chronicle of Murder and Its Detection

Beyond Belief: A Chronicle of Murder and Its Detection

by Emlyn Williams

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper

by Philip Sugden

Adding more new material for his Complete History of Jack the Ripper, crime writer and historian Philip Sugden already has painstakingly uncovered much new and hitherto neglected material, including a new Ripper sighting, a possible earlier assault, and a potential American connection. As noted Ripperologist Dan Farson observes, "This is indeed the ‘definitive account'," for armchair sleuths of the White Chapel... (more)

Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives- Paperback

Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives- Paperback

by John E. Douglas, Robert K. Ressler

Who are the men committing the rising number of serial homicides in the U.S. -- and why do they kill? The increase in these violent crimes over the past decade has created an urgent need for more and better information about these men: their crime scene patterns, violent acts, and above all, their motivations for committing these shocking and repetitive murders. This authoritative book represents the data,... (more)

The Misbegotten Son

by Jack Olsen

An account of the life and crimes of convicted killer Arthur Shawcross describes how Shawcross, after being found guilty of the murders of two children, was released only to murder eleven prostitutes. Reprint. K. NYT. PW.

Jack the Ripper

by Stephen Knight

Who really was Jack the Ripper? Was he a solitary assassin lurking in the shadows of gaslit London? Or was Jack the Ripper three men: two killers and an accomplice? In this work the author investigates all aspects of this strange case shrouded in mystery and misconception. The discovery of the murders is described by the men who were there, and evidence reveals that the hitherto unsolved Ripper murders were in... (more)

Perfect Victim: The True Story of "The Girl in the Box" by the D.A. That Prosecuted Her Captor

Perfect Victim: The True Story of "The Girl in the Box" by the D.A. That Prosecuted Her Captor

by Christine McGuire

Called the "sex slave," and "the girl in the box" case, this is the story behind Colleen Stan's terrifying, seven-year-long imprisonment by Cameron Hooker as told by the district attorney who tried the case. Too bizarre to be anythin g but true, it is a tale of riveting intensity and gripping courtroom drama. 8 page photo insert. Soon to be a TV miniseries. HC: Arbor House.

Night Stalker (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks))

Night Stalker (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks))

by Clifford L. Linedecker

From the darkest corner of your bedroom a gaunt face suddenly looms over you. You're pulled violently from your bed and a terrifying voice screams, "Swear to Satan!" During a two year rampage, a sadistic serial killer entered the homes of families from El Paso to San Francisco. He raped, mutilated and tortured his unfortunate victims in one of the most vicious crime sprees in California history. This is the... (more)

The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer

by Brian Masters

When Milwaukee police entered Jeffrey Dahmer's North 25th Street apartment in July 1991, they discovered that for some time this quiet, undemonstrative man had been living amidst the debris of an orgy of killing. A severed head lay in the refrigerator. A freezer contained two more heads and a human torso. Two skulls and a complete skeleton were found in a filing cabinet. A styrofoam box concealed two more skulls,... (more)

Profession of Violence: the Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins

Profession of Violence: the Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins

by John Pearson

Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

by Robert K. Ressler, Tom Shachtman

Face-to-face with some of America's most terrifying killers, FBI veteran and ex-Army CID colonel Robert Ressler learned form then how to identify the unknown monsters who walk among us--and put them behind bars. Now the man who coined the phrase "serial killer" and advised Thomas Harris on The Silence of the Lambs shows how is able to track down some of today's most brutal murderers. Just as it happened in The... (more)

Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper

Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper

by Michael Bilton

For over 20 years, the dark secrets of the biggest criminal manhunt in British history have remained a closed book—until now. Wicked Beyond Belief is a powerful indictment of the calamitous investigation that logged two million man-hours of police work. Its revelation of crucial new evidence relating to Sutcliffe’s meticulously planned methods caused newspaper headlines, and it argues convincingly that his crimes... (more)

Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster

Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster

by Harold Schechter

Harold Schechter, who delivers "must reading for true crime buffs" (Ann Rule), unravels one of the most gruesome and historically significant cases of American serial murder in Bestial. Violent crime was on the rise in the Jazz Age, and gangland carnage made flashy headlines. But few could conceive of who -- or what -- orchestrated the acts of barbaric murder and unimaginable defilement that commenced in San... (more)

Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer!

Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer!

by Harold Schechter

In his bestselling book DERANGED, Harold Schechter shatters the myth that violent crime is a modern phenomenon, with this seamless true account of unvarnished horror from the early twentieth century. Journey inside the demented mind of Albert Fish - paedophile, sadist and cannibal killer - and discover that bloodlust knows no time or place...On a warm spring day in 1928, a kindly, white-haired man appeared at the... (more)

Zodiac

by Robert Graysmith

Who was Zodiac? A serial killer who claimed 37 dead. A sexual sadist who taunted police with anonymous notes. A madman who was never apprehended. This is the first, complete account of Zodiac's reign of terror. Is he still out there?

Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago

Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago

by Harold Schechter

The heinous bloodlust of Dr. H.H. Holmes is notorious -- but only Harold Schechter's Depraved tells the complete story of the killer whose evil acts of torture and murder flourished within miles of the Chicago World's Fair. "Destined to be a true crime classic" (Flint Journal, MI), this authoritative account chronicles the methods and madness of a monster who slipped easily into a bright, affluent Midwestern... (more)