The Edgar Award–winning true crime story of the 1994 murder of a two-year-old Texas girl and her grandmother's pursuit of justice."Carlton Stowers has always been in the top rank of crime journalists. This is his best." —Jack Olsen, author of Hastened to the Grave and I: The Creation of a Serial KillerOn January 22, 1994, two-year old Renee Goode played happily with her sisters and cousin, as the four of them enjoyed an impromptu "slumber party" at the home of her father, Shane Goode. The next day she was dead.The local medical examiner could not determine the cause of little Renee's death. But her mother Annette and grandmother Sharon were convinced she'd been murdered—and that they knew the identity of Renee's killer: her handsome father, Shane Goode, a manipulative, emotionally abusive man who displayed virtually no interest in Renee—until he took out a $50,000 insurance policy on her life.With the help of a courageous female police investigator and Assistant DA, Sharon launched a case against Shane and had Renee's tiny coffin, lovingly filled with her favorite stuffed animals, exhumed from its final resting place. And her small corpse revealed what her grandmother had suspected all along: cold, calculating Shane Goode had murdered his own daughter to cash in on her death."[A] masterful chronicle of a troubling case." —Booklist"Author Stowers knows good material when he sees it. He doesn't pump up his prose with bravado or obvious characterizations, but takes full advantage of the web of coincidence, allowing the players to speak for themselves and the complex plot to spin out. . . . More than enough melodrama for a grade-A movie-of-the-week." —Publishers Weekly

The true crime story of the Texas mother who murdered her two young sons in 1996.Not since the Susan Smith case have two murders so shocked the nation . . . Hush Little Babies is the appalling true story of Darlie Routier, the neighborhood's most wonderful mom, who, one night, coldly, calculatingly and brutally stabbed her two sons and watched them die in a pool of their own blood.Darlie claimed an intruder had come through the window, fatally stabbed her sons, six-year-old Devon and five-year-old Damon, slashed her throat with the same knife, then fled, while her husband and infant sons slept upstairs. At first Darlie's heartfelt testimony evoked fear and sympathy in her safe Dallas community. Then police became suspicious after these troubling questions were raised:· Why, according to a police report, didn't Darlie make any attempt to help her dying sons?· Why, when she called 911, did she tell the dispatcher that her own fingerprints would be on the murderer's knife because she had picked it up?· Why did the trail of blood left behind contradict Darlie's testimony?From the dark forces that drove her to kill her own flesh and blood, to the evidence that snared her in her own twisted web, here is a chilling account of homemaker, loving wife, mother of three, and cold-blooded killer—Darlie Routier.

The horrific, grisly true crime account of a child abuser, kidnapper, and serial killer from the bestselling author of An Almost Perfect Murder.Joseph Duncan had been convicted of raping and torturing a fourteen-year-old boy in Tacoma, Washington. On the Internet he proudly boasted of his perversions. But the system turned Duncan loose, and no one would stop him from committing an even more horrifying act . . .This time, he prepared meticulously. He chose his getaway car. He chose his murder weapon and loaded a video camera. Then, when he saw young Shasta and Dylan Groene playing outside their Idaho home, he struck—killing their mother and her boyfriend, and their older brother . . . and vanishing into the night with Shasta and Dylan.Detectives pored over the bloody murder scene. The FBI scrambled to find the children and the abductor. And even when Duncan was finally located, the story was not yet over: Dylan was still missing—and the depth of one man's evil was still coming horribly to light . . .Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.

"[An] account of the decades-long attempt to solve the murder of Adam Walsh . . . as relentlessly suspenseful as anything I've ever read." —Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no federal databases of crimes against children. The six-year-old's 1981 abduction and murder in Hollywood, Florida—unsolved for more than a quarter of a century—forever changed America. His parents went on to become fierce advocates for missing children, and his father, John Walsh, served as host of America's Most Wanted. From New York Times -bestselling author Les Standiford, Bringing Adam Home is a harrowing account of the terrible crime and its dramatic consequences, the emotional story of a father and mother's efforts to seek justice and resolve the loss of their child, and a compelling portrait of Miami Beach Homicide Detective Joe Matthews, whose unwavering dedication brought the Adam Walsh case to its resolution. "The most significant missing child case since the Lindbergh [kidnapping]. . . . A taut, compelling and often touching book about a long march to justice." —Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent "Compelling." — Miami Herald "[A] page-turner . . . tough to forget." — People "The definitive account." — The Washington Post

On July 16, 1989, Kaitlyn Arquette was shot to death in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The police gave up, but her mother would not . . . In this tragic memoir and investigation, Lois Duncan searches for clues to the murder of her youngest child, eighteen-year-old Kaitlyn Arquette. Duncan begins to suspect that the official police investigation of Kaitlyn's murder is inadequate when detectives ignore her daughter's accidental connection to organized crime in Albuquerque. When Duncan loses faith in the system, she reaches out to anyone that can help, including private investigators, journalists, and even a psychic. Written to inspire other families who have lost loved ones to unsolved crimes, Who Killed My Daughter? is a powerful testament to the tenacity of a mother's love. A heartbreaking personal account by an Edgar Award–winning author known for such books as I Know What You Did Last Summer , this is a true story with "all of the elements of a suspenseful mystery" ( School Library Journal ). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lois Duncan including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection.

Diane Fanning's Through The Window is more than an investigation into a crime spree that stunned a nation. It's an utterly terrifying plunge into the unfathomable dark mind of a serial killer, and the heart-wrenching story of the brave child who finally brought him to justice. Ten-year-old Krystal Surles watched in horror as her best friend was murdered at the hands of an intruder. Then with cold-blooded precision he brought a twelve-inch boning knife to Krystal's throat. With a single, violent slash, he severed her windpipe and left her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and would lead authorities to the arrest of 35-year-old Tommy Lynn Sells, a former truck driver, carnival worker, and cross-country drifter... He aspired to become "The Worst Serial Killer of all Time." With no apparent motive and no common pattern to his inconceivable bloodshed, the elusive Sells had carved his way across the country for two decades slaughtering women, men, transients, entire families, teenagers, and even infants with ghoulish abandon.