“[This] is one of the great crime mysteries of modern times. It took an author of Caitlin Rother’s caliber to bring it into sharp focus. A riveting read.” —Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author“I got a girl, hung herself in the guest house.” The call came on the morning of July 13, 2011, from the historic Spreckels Mansion, a lavish beachfront property in Coronado, California, owned by pharmaceutical tycoon and multimillionaire Jonah Shacknai. When authorities arrived, they found the naked body of Jonah’s girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, gagged, her ankles tied and her wrists bound behind her. Jonah’s brother, Adam, claimed to have found Rebecca hanging by a rope from the second-floor balcony. On a bedroom door in black paint were the cryptic words:   SHE SAVED HIM CAN YOU SAVE HER.   Was this scrawled message a suicide note or a killer’s taunt? Rebecca’s death came two days after Jonah’s six-year-old son, Max, took a devastating fall while in Rebecca’s care. Authorities deemed Rebecca’s death a suicide resulting from her guilt. But who would stage either a suicide ora murder in such a bizarre, elaborate way?   Award-winning investigative journalist Caitlin Rother weaves stunning new details into a personal yet objective examination of the sensational case. She explores its many layers—including the civil suit in which a jury found Adam Shacknai responsible for Rebecca’s death, and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department bombshell decision to reconfirm its original findings. As compelling as it is troubling, this controversial real-life mystery is a classic American tragedy that evokes the same haunting fascination as the JonBenet Ramsey and O.J. Simpson cases.“Rother’s meticulous journalism shines through in this authoritative account of the Rebecca Zahau death incident. If you think you know this case, think again. And read this book.” —Katherine Ramsland, professor of forensic psychology and author of The Psychology of Death Investigations

As daily headlines about bullying and teen violence render it more timely than ever, this shocking true crime tale of a vulnerable small-town girl gruesomely murdered by the peers she called friends is now updated with chilling new details and insights from New York Times bestselling author, investigative journalist, and host of the hit podcast Crossing the Line, M. William Phelps. After leaving her troubled home life in Texas, 16-year-old Adrianne Reynolds hoped for a fresh start as part of her adoptive father’s family in East Moline, Illinois, near the banks of the Mississippi River. Seeking acceptance, she was drawn to a trio of classmates steeped in, and obsessed with, the Juggalo culture—fans of the rap duo Insane Clown Posse. Though they bonded over their feelings of being outcasts, sporting dark clothing, “killer” clown makeup, tattoos, and piercings, Adrianne was ill-prepared to deal with the twisted tangles of jealousy and domination in her new social world. After a brutal murder stunned the community and was traced back to the teens, bonds were severed and loyalties tested . . . as the shocking truth finally emerged. In this updated edition of a true-crime classic, M. William Phelps revisits the alarming and timely saga of a girl who tried to find herself, the youths who befriended and then betrayed her, and the heartbreaking problems of bullying and teen-on-teen violence that continue to shock and bewilder us.

WINNER - PEOPLE'S BOOK PRIZE 2017 This updated edition contains additional material on the Hillsborough disaster. Detective Inspector Richard Venables (QPM, rtd.) has helped identify thousands of bodies all over the world, piecing together fragments from tsunamis, transport and other disasters to return the victims to their loved ones.
A world-renowned expert in Disaster Victim Identification who was a member of the UK Police’s Major Disaster Advisory Team, Richard’s destiny was shaped in part by his presence as a uniformed sergeant at the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster.
In A Life in Death, Richard Venables tells his extraordinary story, of how death came to be a key feature of his personal and professional life, as well as how he coped with the biggest challenge of his career: the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the deadliest event of its kind ever experienced by human civilization, that claimed 230,000 lives.
Praise for A Life in Death: 'It is a sincere reflection of the fate that can befall some unfortunate people but how those dealing with disasters can make such a tremendous difference by the way their loved ones are cared and treated with respect and dignity ... Through his work Richard became a worldwide expert on DVI and is held in the highest esteem by those in the field' - DR N D Chapman DL, Coroner of Nottingham (rtd) & President of BAHID (British Association of Human Identification) Upon his retirement from the Police in 2006, Richard Venables received the Queen’s Police Medal in recognition of his distinguished service.

This pocket-sized companion is filled with stuff every American should know.   Who played the first game of baseball? What's a bicameral congress? Where did Mount Rushmore come from? Who is Geronimo and who do we yell his name when we jump?   Stuff Every American Should Know answers these questions plus great information on the Declaration of Independence, fireworks, the first Thanksgiving, "The Star-Spangled Banner," assassination attempts on U.S. presidents, buffalo nickels, the Statue of Liberty, how to bake the perfect apple pie, and much, much more.  From the Hardcover edition.Are the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence important to you?Then you'll want to check out two other books by the authors:Signing Their RIGHTS Away: The Fame & Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the U.S. Constitution"An extraordinarily fascinating study of America's lesser-known founding fathers alongside the more well-known ones, Signing Their Rights Today is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended contribution to public and college library shelves." -- Midwest Book Review (Reviewer's Choice)"[The authors]...maintain a refreshing reverence for the Constitution itself. Rather than ask readers to believe that an 'assembly of demigods' (Jefferson's words) wrote the Constitution, Ms. Kiernan and Mr. D'Agnese challenge the notion that the group that crafted this document of enduring genius was uniquely brilliant or visionary. If this raises the question of how exactly the miracle was accomplished, it should at least give readers some hope for our own seemingly uninspired political era." -- The Wall Street JournalSigning Their LIVES Away: The Fame & Misfortune of the Men Who Signed the Declaration of IndependenceIn the summer of 1776, fifty-six men risked their lives and livelihood to defy King George III and sign the Declaration of Independence--yet how many of them do we actually remember?Signing Their Lives Away introduces readers to the eclectic group of statesmen, soldiers, slaveholders, and scoundrels who signed this historic document--and the many strange fates that awaited them. Some prospered and rose to the highest levels of United States government, while others had their homes and farms seized by British soldiers.Featured history title in Reader's Digest's, "Best of America" issue, 2009."Kiernan and D'Agnese...succeed in stripping away preconceived notions of the more famous signers, and bringing out something of interest about the other, less well known ones..."--Library Journal * "Kiernan and D'Agnese present astonishing individual portraits of all the signers" -- School Library Journal, starred review

A love triangle leads to a daycare center murder in this gripping true crime account from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Black Widower.A loving fatherA typical morning in the Atlanta suburbs: Businessman Rusty Sneiderman drops his beloved son off at the Dunwoody Prep nursery. In the parking lot, a minivan pulls up next to his car. The driver pulls out a gun—and shoots Rusty four times in the chest.A heartbroken wifeSneiderman’s devoted wife, Andrea, is devastated by the crime. Who could have done this? She is shocked when police trace the shooting to a man named Hemy Neuman—who happens to be Andrea’s adoring boss.A deadly obsessionThe prosecution accuses Andrea and Hemy of having a “forbidden relationship,” and of conspiring to collect $2 million in her husband’s life insurance. But Andrea swears she never intended to kill Rusty—and that it is Hemy who’s “delusional” and obsessed. With the charges against her dropped, and the insurance money frozen, Andrea remains a mysterious character. Only one other person—the man who pulled the trigger—knows the truth about what really happened . . . With eight pages of dramatic photos!

When prosperous lawyer Ernest Brendel mysteriously disappeared, along with his wife Alice, and their 8-year-old daughter Emily, friends in the close-knit Rhode Island neighborhood worried that family had been kidnapped. It would be agonizing months in a massive FBI search before they would know the heartbreaking truth.The shaken community began to lose hope that the family would ever be found alive. Their worst fears were confirmed when heavy rains from a tropical storm uncovered Alice and Ernest Brendel's badly decomposed bodies--shot with a giant crossbow, strangled, and buried in the quiet woods of the town. Lying under her mother's corpse was little Emily's lifeless body, now a silent witness to her killer's shocking identity.Like a hand pointing from the grave, the evidence led authorities to one of Ernest Brendel's closest and most trusted friends. What Ernest couldn't have known was that Christopher Hightower--a Sunday school teacher and respected member of the community--was a psychotic liar obsessed with greed, jealousy, and murderous revenge.