From the beginnings of big-city police work to the rise of the Mafia, Rogues' Gallery is a colorful and captivating history of crime and punishment in the bustling streets of Old New York. Rogues' Gallery is a sweeping, epic tale of two revolutions, one feeding off the other, that played out on the streets of New York City during an era known as the Gilded Age. For centuries, New York had been a haven of crime. A thief or murderer not caught in the act nearly always got away. But in the early 1870s, an Irish cop by the name of Thomas Byrnes developed new ways to catch criminals. Mug shots and daily lineups helped witnesses point out culprits; the famed rogues' gallery allowed police to track repeat offenders; and the third-degree interrogation method induced recalcitrant crooks to confess. Byrnes worked cases methodically, interviewing witnesses, analyzing crime scenes, and developing theories that helped close the books on previously unsolvable crimes. Yet as policing became ever more specialized and efficient, crime itself began to change. Robberies became bolder and more elaborate, murders grew more ruthless and macabre, and the street gangs of old transformed into hierarchal criminal enterprises, giving birth to organized crime, including the Mafia. As the decades unfolded, corrupt cops and clever criminals at times blurred together, giving way to waves of police reform at the hands of men like Theodore Roosevelt. This is a tale of unforgettable characters: Marm Mandelbaum, a matronly German-immigrant woman who paid off cops and politicians to protect her empire of fencing stolen goods; "Clubber" Williams, a sadistic policeman who wielded a twenty-six-inch club against suspects, whether they were guilty or not; Danny Driscoll, the murderous leader of the Irish Whyos Gang and perhaps the first crime boss of New York; Big Tim Sullivan, the corrupt Tammany Hall politician who shielded the Whyos from the law; the suave Italian Paul Kelly and the thuggish Jewish gang leader Monk Eastman, whose rival crews engaged in brawls and gunfights all over the Lower East Side; and Joe Petrosino, a Sicilian-born detective who brilliantly pursued early Mafioso and Black Hand extortionists until a fateful trip back to his native Italy. Set against the backdrop of New York's Gilded Age, with its extremes of plutocratic wealth, tenement poverty, and rising social unrest, Rogues' Gallery is a fascinating story of the origins of modern policing and organized crime in an eventful era with echoes for our own time.

Brighton has a dark side - it has a well-deserved reputation as a hotbed of crime. Robbery, violence, murder and every type of vice have flourished in this seaside town. In this book, Douglas d'Enno records, in graphic detail, two centuries of this criminal history in all its shocking variety.

Five Women. Five families’ search for justice. All Sarah Chesham wanted was to survive, at a time when crops were poor and money was tight. By the time she died she was branded a merciless child killer. All Emily Swann wanted was the love of a man who wouldn’t abuse her. By the time she died she was depicted as a vengeful, drunken hussy. All Edith Thompson wanted was a romance with a man who adored her. By the time she died she was seen as a scheming and manipulative adulteress. All Louie Calvert wanted was to be heard. Yet when she died she slipped almost immediately into the shadows, like thousands of other women like her. All Charlotte Bryant wanted was a distraction from a dreary life. By the time she died she was deemed a seductress and an arch poisoner. No one wants to believe that their mother, sister or daughter is capable of murder. When a woman is charged with a killing, we judge more harshly and punish more severely than when a man does the same. Murder, Mystery and My Family explores five historical true-crime tales from the hit BBC series, each with a woman at the heart of the story, from a case of ‘poison panic’ in the 19th century to a post-war murder that gripped the nation. Tales of infidelity and greed, corruption and deceit run throughout – but was justice served for all? Descendants of those convicted revisit each case in search of answers. Based on extensive research, including original court records and interviews with descendants, Murder, Mystery and My Family delves deeper into each crime, while also looking at our changing attitudes to women who have found themselves at the centre of our darkest dramas.

Who put Bella in the Wych-Elm? And who was she? Found in a hollow tree in Worcestershire in 1943, nobody knows, except her killer.,Now Alex Merrill makes us the first people to see her face since the day she died, approaching 80 years ago. In doing so, he opens up new leads from- the crime scene which could finally solve this legendary Midlands mystery.

What is it like to write letters to a serial killer? What tactics does an investigator use to get an interview with a monster? What do these killers, locked behind bars, have to say? See for yourself? Talking with Psychopaths: Letters from Serial Killers is the unique study of criminals in their own words based on bestselling true crime author and criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee’s extensive interviews with convicted serial murderers. Step inside the mind of The Genesee River Killer, The Death Row Teddy, The Ice Queen, The Want-ad Killer, The Moors Murderer, The Amityville Horror, The I-95 Killer, and more. This rare collection has Berry-Dee at his steeliest best, exploring the downright creepy correspondence with murderers, serial killers, and psychopaths, with exclusive scans of letters and eerily decorated envelopes. A must-have for fans of the Talking with Serial Killers and Talking with Psychopaths series, a collection that will be bequeathed to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit at its headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.

"Roland provides a well-balanced overview ... extensively illustrated and with timely coverage of some of the latest theories and research." -Stephen P. Ryder, Editor, Casebook: Jack the Ripper More than a century after he stalked the streets of London's East End, Jack the Ripper continues to exert a macabre fascination on the popular imagination. After scrupulously re-examining official documents of the time, investigative journalist Paul Roland strips away decades of myth and misconceptions to reveal the identity of a brand-new suspect who has never been seriously considered until now. If you are expecting a finger to be pointed at one of the usual suspects, be prepared to have your assumptions turned on their head. If these crimes were being investigated today, what would the authorities consider to be the vital clues? How would their profilers describe England's first serial killer and who would they be looking to convict? As Roland makes clear in this book, nothing about the Whitechapel murders can be taken at face value.

The strangest killer you've never heard of! Jack the Ripper may get all the fame, but his 1960s counterpart, Jack the Stripper, will really send shivers down your spine. At least six women, all prostitutes, were murdered at his hand--possibly more. Most intriguing of all...he was never caught. The crimes, though often forgotten today, inspired the crime novel "Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square," which Alfred Hitchcock turned into the 1972 movie, "Frenzy." Go inside the hunt for this brutal killer in this gripping short biography.

With a hint of philosophy, a dash of insanity, and a woman who could make Gauguin's mouth water, this novel takes the usual ingredients of history and tosses them into the air. Welcome to the beautiful French colony of New Zealand! OK, so it never happened. But it nearly did . . . Welcome to beautiful French New Zealand - a paradise of vineyards, cafes and forest conservation. The year is 1930. Lieutenant Verdier is travelling from Sainte Chapelle in the south to New Lyon in the north to take up a new posting as chauffeur to the Resident Governor. The sun is shining, the war in Morocco is just a distant memory, and although he has doubts about his new employer, at least Verdier can look forward to driving the latest Citroen. The only problem is Wellington, where a few disgruntled English still remain, grumbling that the colony should have been theirs, and charging everyone a fortune for insurance. As soon as Verdier can, he escapes to the glorious scenery and welcoming people of the National Park. Then someone steals his car. And instead of passing through the park, Verdier embarks on a journey up its winding rivers and tortuous tracks to where Titoko and Marama are waiting, as if they always knew he would come. The French language edition of Son of France was awarded the Prix Popai for best foreign novel at the Salon International du Livre Océanien, New Caledonia, in 2005.

For decades, renowned criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee has interviewed imprisoned, infamous serial killers and now he peels back the curtain, engaging with the psychiatrists tasked to understand their deviant minds. As Berry-Dee dives deeper than ever before, he uncovers a disturbing pattern: the utter lack of remorse displayed by these individuals is often more horrifying than the crimes they’ve committed. Even more alarming, psychoanalysts admit that these murderers have an insidious ability to mask their true nature behind a facade of normalcy. Their behavior defies comprehension, even to the professionals who spend their livelihoods studying these aberrant minds. With gripping narrative and a wealth of research, Talking with Psychopaths: A Journey into the Evil Mind analyzes the darkest corners of the human brain. As Berry-Dee recounts his interviews, he exposes each layer of deception, seeking the best path to find the truth behind a psychopath’s mask.