The heart-wrenchingly honest new book about life and death from forensic pathologist and bestselling author of UNNATURAL CAUSES, Dr Richard ShepherdA TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR'Deeply insightful. Unflinching' THE TIMES'A finely-crafted detective story' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Enlightening, strangely uplifting' DAILY MAIL'Fascinating' DAILY EXPRESS_________Dr Richard Shepherd, a medical detective and Britain's top forensic pathologist, shares twenty-four of his most intriguing, enlightening and never-before-told cases.These autopsies, spanning the seven ages of human existence, uncover the secrets not only of how a person died, but also of how they lived.From old to young, murder to misadventure, and illness to accidental death, each body has something to reveal - about its owner's life story, how we age, justice, society, the certainty of death.And, above all, the wonderful marvel of life itself._________Praise for Dr Richard Shepherd'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' Observer

A rollicking true story of Bibles and bank robberies in Southern California, from a talented and highly praised gonzo journalist.  NAMED A BEST TRUE CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW   Chas Smith grew up deeply enmeshed in the evangelical Christian world that grew out of Southern California in the late 1960s. His family included famous missionaries and megachurch pastors, but his cousin Daniel Courson was Grandma’s favorite. Smith looked up to Cousin Danny. He was handsome, adventurous, and smart, earned a degree from Bible college, and settled into a family and a stable career.   Needless to say, it was a big surprise when Cousin Danny started robbing banks. Known as the “Floppy Hat Bandit,” Courson robbed 19 of them in a torrid six-week spree before being caught and sentenced to seven years. When he tried to escape, they tacked on another year. And when he finally got out, despite seeming to be back on the straight and narrow, Cousin Danny disappeared. Banks started getting robbed again. It seemed Cousin Danny might be gunning for the record.   Smith’s Blessed Are the Bank Robbers is the wild, and wildly entertaining, story of an all-American antihero. It’s a tale of bank robberies, art and jewel heists, high-speed chases, fake identities, encrypted Swiss email accounts, jilted lovers, and the dark side of an evangelical family (and it wasn’t just Danny; an uncle was mixed up with the mujahideen). It’s a book about what it means to live inside the church and outside the law.

The true story of a bizarre case in Myrtle Beach, and the trials that followed a young woman’s disappearance, by the bestselling author of Better Off Dead.   On a cold Southern night in 2013, under a full moon, twenty-year-old Heather Elvis parked her car at a boat ramp along the Intracoastal Waterway and was never seen again. The disappearance of the beautiful, vivacious hostess at a popular Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, restaurant made international headlines and triggered a sweeping high-stakes investigation that exposed a twisted web of deception, betrayal, sexual obsession, police corruption, and revenge. But Heather’s body was never located. A series of sensational trials involving a handsome restaurant coworker and his Disneyland-obsessed wife resulted in shocking verdicts—but no body—as her family desperately sought closure and fought for justice, and a resort town struggled to regain calm. This is the full compelling story from a renowned author of true crime.

The prize-winning, bestselling journalist provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of “The Happy Face Killer” in the serial murderer’s own words . . .In February 1990, Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovke and Laverne Pavlinac for the vicious rape and murder of Taunja Bennet, a troubled twenty-three-year-old barfly who had a mild intellectual disability since birth. There was just one problem. They had the wrong people.And the real killer wasn’t about to let anyone take credit for his kill. Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long-haul truck driver and the murderer of eight women, including Taunja Bennet. As the case wound through police precincts and courts—ending in life sentences for both Sosnovke and Pavlinac—Jesperson began a twisted one-man campaign to win their release. To the editors of newspapers and on the walls of highway rest stops, Jesperson scribbled out a series of taunting confessions. At the end of each admission, Jesperson drew a happy face, earning for himself the grisly sobriquet “The Happy Face Killer.”Based on access to interviews, diaries, court records, and the criminal himself, I: The Creation of a Serial Killer is Jesperson’s chilling story. It chronicles his evolution from angry child to sociopathic murderer, from tormentor of animals to torturer of women. It is also the story of the fate that befell him after two innocent citizens were imprisoned four years for one of his killings.In I: The Creation of a Serial Killer, Edgar Award winner Jack Olsen lets Jesperson tell his story in his own words, offering unprecedented insight into the twisted thought process of a serial murderer.

The true account of the man who murdered his family in their New Jersey mansion—and eluded a nationwide manhunt for eighteen years. Until 1971, life was good for mild-mannered accountant John List. He was vice president of a Jersey City bank and had moved his mother, wife, and three teenage children into a nineteen-room home in Westfield, New Jersey. But all that changed when he lost his job. Raised by his Lutheran father to believe success meant being a good provider, List saw himself as an utter failure. Straining under financial burdens, the stress of hiding his unemployment, as well as the fear that the free-spirited 1970s would corrupt the souls of his children, List came to a shattering conclusion.   “It was my belief that if you kill yourself, you won’t go to heaven,” List told Connie Chung in a television interview. “So eventually I got to the point where I felt that I could kill them. Hopefully they would go to heaven, and then maybe I would have a chance to later confess my sins to God and get forgiveness.”   List methodically shot his entire family in their home, managing to conceal the deaths for weeks with a carefully orchestrated plan of deception. Then he vanished and started over as Robert P. Clark. Chronicling List’s life before and after the grisly crime, Death Sentence exposes the truth about the accountant-turned-killer, including his revealing letter to his pastor, his years as a fugitive with a new name—and a new wife—his eventual arrest, and the details of his high-profile trial.  Revised and updated, this ebook also includes photos.

The story of a small town football hero whose obsession and steroid rage led to murder is revealed in “this fine true-crime tale” (Publishers Weekly).   A star athlete with a winning smile, Pernell Jefferson had no trouble attracting women. But his charming exterior belied his brutally violent tendencies. After walking away from a football career with the Cleveland Browns, he was addicted to steroids and nearly destitute. That’s when he set his sights on Regina Butkowski.   Pernell obsessively called and showed up to her home unannounced—and he battered her when she turned her attention toward other men. When Regina disappeared, the Butkowski family knew who was responsible. But even after police discovered Regina’s charred remains in a small Virginia town, they refused to question the man most likely linked to the brutal crime.   In Deadly Goals, veteran author Wilt Browning explores the devastating details of Pernell Jefferson’s past, the disturbing nature of his crimes, and the Butkowski family’s pleas for justice that led to his arrest.  Deadly Goals was previously published under the title Where the Wildflowers Grow.