An in-depth look at one of the most shocking and controversial crimes to capture the nation's attention from the New York Times–bestselling author.Praying for a happy ending, friends and family stood by Laci Peterson's grieving husband Scott. Four months later, Laci's decomposed body was found in the murky waters of San Francisco Bay. The body of her child had washed ashore about a mile away, after a possible "coffin birth." It was a sad closure to an exhaustive search, and a grim end to a marriage that by all accounts had appeared to be perfect.Scott Peterson's behavior had cast a mysterious shadow over the death of his pregnant wife: his alibi on the day of the disappearance was questionable; he admitted to an affair with another woman; and when he was finally charged with capital murder, he had altered his appearance. Almost immediately, the media condemned Scott, even though he maintains his innocence. Is Scott Peterson a victim of circumstantial evidence? Despite the state attorney general's claim of a "slam dunk," the case that has gripped the nation is much more complex, and is yielding even more questions, doubts, accusations, and shocking revelations.

In this true crime exposé, a single mother is accused of torturing and murdering her own daughters—and involving their siblings in the coverup.Raising her five kids alone in a rundown section of Sacramento, Theresa Cross Knorr seemed like the ultimate survivor. But her youngest daughter, sixteen-year-old Terry, told police another story: one in which Theresa—no longer the petite brunette she once was—became insanely jealous of her pretty eldest daughters and enlisted the help of her two teenaged sons in a vicious campaign against them.According to Terry, Theresa drugged, handcuffed, and shot sixteen-year-old Suesan, allowing her wounds to fester until the day she ordered her sons to burn their sister alive. Next, Terry said Theresa severely beat twenty-year-old Sheila and then locked her in a broom closet, so that when the girl finally starved to death, her brothers dumped her body in the same desolate mountain range where they had cremated Suesan.It took Terry five agonizing years to convince authorities to investigate her grisly account of a mother so sadistic and deranged that she became her children's own executioner.

This "irresistibly absorbing" true crime investigation uncovers the brutal murder of two Dartmouth professors by a pair of students in 2001 (Publishers Weekly).On a cold night in January 2001, the idyllic community of Dartmouth College was shattered by the discovery that Half and Susanne Zantop, two of its most beloved professors, had been hacked to death in their own home. Investigators searched helplessly for clues linking the victims to their murderers. Weeks later, in the nearby town of Chelsea, Vermont, they sought out a pair of high school seniors for questioning. Then Robert Tulloch and his best friend, Jim Parker, fled. Suddenly, two of Chelsea's brightest and most popular sons had become fugitives, wanted for the murders of Half and Susanne Zantop.Authors Mitchell Zuckoff and Dick Lehr provide a vivid explication of a murder that captivated the nation, as well as dramatic revelations about the forces that turned two popular teenagers into killers. Judgement Ridge conveys the devastating loss of Half and Susanne Zantop, while also providing a clear portrait of the killers, their families, and their community—and, perhaps, a warning to any parent about what evil may lurk in the hearts of boys.

A true crime account of the unsolved murder of a female American tourist on a Caribbean island—and the criminal trial of the four male suspects.On January 15, 2000, the bruised body of thirty-four-year-old Lois McMillan, a Connecticut artist vacationing in the British Virgin Islands, was discovered draped across the rocks of an inlet where she had apparently drowned in the Caribbean waves. Local authorities on the little paradise of Tortola quickly confirmed that it was no accident. The police immediately found their suspects—four young, rich American tourists. Within twenty-four hours, the men were arrested for murder and went from a life of carefree luxury to cold jail cells.Each had an alibi. None of them had a motive. And there was no direct evidence linking any of them to Lois's death. Did authorities even have the right men? Was it a rush to judgment—a desperate attempt to save Tortola's reputation for peace and safety—or were these men hiding a terrible crime. A twisting tale of swift island justice that was just beginning. So was the intricate puzzle of the lives of the four men in question, and the truth of what really happened during Lois McMillen's tragic final hours.

In 1900, Margaret Hossack, the wife of a prominent Iowa farmer, was arrested for bludgeoning her husband to death with an ax while their children slept upstairs. The community was outraged: How could a woman commit such an act of violence? Firsthand accounts describe the victim, John Hossack, as a cruel and unstable man. Perhaps Margaret Hossack was acting out of fear. Or perhaps the story she told was true—that an intruder broke into the house, killed her husband while she slept soundly beside him, and was still on the loose. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and community sentiment was divided over her guilt. At trial, Margaret was convicted of murder, but later was released on appeal. Ultimately, neither her innocence nor her guilt was ever proved. Patricia Bryan and Thomas Wolf examine the harsh realities of farm life at the turn of the century and look at the plight of women—legally, socially, and politically—during that period. What also emerges is the story of early feminist Susan Glaspell, who covered the Hossack case as a young reporter and later used it as the basis for her acclaimed work " A Jury of Her Peers." Midnight Assassin expertly renders the American character and experience: our obsession with crime, how justice is achieved, and the powerful influence of the media.