Lots of new “true crime” books came in recently. As those are replaced with newer titles, “true crime” books are moved upstairs under the call numbers 363 and 364. Feel free to browse through the online catalog (www.pwpl.into) to place a “Hold” on a book. Then schedule Curbside Pickup through the website or by calling 906-226-4311.

“SOUL FULL OF COAL DUST: A Fight for Breath and Justice in Appalachia” by Chris Hamby (363.1196 HA) tracks the progression of legal battles that were required to hold Massey Energy, a West Virginia coal mining company, accountable for miners who contracted health problems on-the-job. A single claim of black lung disease filed by Gary Fox was litigated by small-town attorney, John Cline, sparking a corporate fight that uncovered decades of rejected medical claims and a rigged system of legal and medical experts.

“CULT OF GLORY: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers” by Doug J. Swanson (363.2097 SW) tells the history of an organized militia of volunteers who fought Indians and cattle rustlers to keep the territory safe, as early as 1823. Almost 200 years later, the Texas Rangers have transformed into a distinguished branch of law enforcement recruited from the Texas state highway patrol. Long glorified in books and movies, the Rangers weathered periods of glory and dishonor before arriving at present day status. The story unfolds itself in this well-researched book.

“COLD VANISH: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands” by Jon Billman (363.2336 BI) is a compilation of disappearances that have taken place in the mountains and forests, national parks and public lands across the U.S. and Canada. Sometimes the missing persons reappear; at other times, they turn up as bodies that succumbed to the elements. Join the author, an associate professor in the English Department at Northern Michigan University, as he tries to unravel the mystery of people who vanish into the wilderness. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is featured in Chapter 9.

“18 TINY DEATHS: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee” by Bruce Goldfarb (363.25 GO) is a history of modern forensics, highlighting Lee, who established herself as an expert in legal medicine, later known as forensic science. By 1944, she was training police officers in crime scene investigation through the use of 18 miniature copies of crime scenes, as small as rooms in a dollhouse. Dual stories of crime scene investigation and Frances Glessner Lee’s biography intertwine seamlessly in this well-documented publication.

“THE KIDNAP YEARS: The Astonishing True History of the Forgotten Kidnapping Epidemic That Shook Depression-Era America” by David Stout (364.12 ST) is a far cry from O. Henry’s 1907 humorous short story, THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF where the kidnappers pay the family to take back their badly behaved child. During the 1930’s, there were serious problems with people kidnapping anyone who had the potential to pay a ransom. The Charles Lindbergh, Jr. kidnapping case was high profile, but there were thousands of lesser known abductions that never made it to the front page of a newspaper. Stout, an award-winning journalist, chronicles 47 of those stories here.

“EL JEFE: The Stalking of Chapo Guzman” by Alan Feuer (364.1336 FE) recounts the eight year search for Chapo Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico, that began in 2009. Besides laying out events in chronological order, the author provides a list of relevant police officers and those involved in running the cartel, along with a generous sprinkling of footnotes throughout the book. Learn about this interesting man who grew up on a small farm, built his own drug network, and engineered some daring escapes from incarceration.

“SIX DAYS IN AUGUST: The Story of Stockholm Syndrome” by David King (364.15 KI) is a detailed account of the Aug.t 23, 1973 bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, along with the events that followed. A lone gunman entered the bank, pointed his weapon at the customers and tellers, and took them all hostage for six long days. The relationships formed by the hostages, with each other and their captor, have been studied in-depth and coined, “Stockholm Syndrome.”

“ORGAN THIEVES: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South” by Chip Jones (617.41 JO) is in the medical section of adult non-fiction, illustrating how “true crime” has no boundaries. In May of 1968, two heart surgeons from the Medical College of Virginia transplanted a heart from an African-American patient with life-threatening head injuries to a white businessman with heart disease. Although admitted to the hospital by himself, as he’d been employed away from his hometown, it turns out that the injured Bruce Tucker had a family who cared about him after all. They later brought legal action against the doctors and medical institution for questionable procedures used to declare Tucker brain-dead before harvesting his heart.

By Lynette Suckow

Reference Librarian