Book Description

From a multiple Edgar Award winner: Three gripping accounts of murder, betrayal, and greed that made headlines and shocked the nation. A Pulitzer Prize nominee for his landmark work, The Court-Martial of Lt. Calley, Richard Hammer is a fearless chronicler of the dark side of human nature. Here in one volume are three of his most electrifying true crime accounts. The CBS Murders: On a warm spring evening in New York City, four people were shot in a parking lot near the CBS television studios in Midtown. But detectives soon discovered that only one victim was the intended target; the others were eyewitnesses who tragically stumbled onto the scene of the crime. In this Edgar Award–winning account, the NYPD sets out on the trail of a merciless assassin, uncovering one of the most diabolical criminal conspiracies in the city’s history. “A gripping police procedural.” —Kirkus Reviews Beyond Obsession: Joyce Aparo seemed to be the perfect single mother, doting on her daughter, Karin. But behind closed doors, Joyce had been viciously abusing the sixteen-year-old violin prodigy for years. Then, Karin met the equally troubled Dennis Coleman, and the two fell head-over-heels into lustful infatuation. Soon after, Joyce’s strangled body was found under a bridge. Dennis would eventually confess to the murder, claiming Karin begged him to kill her mother. But Karin had a very different story to tell. Was this really a twisted case of love and obsession, or was Karin now manipulating the police the same way she manipulated her former boyfriend? “This true-crime tale has all the elements of a novel . . . A satisfying read.” —Library Journal The Vatican Connection: Matteo de Lorenzo was one of the New York mob’s top earners when he and his ruthless business partner, Vincent Rizzo, traveled to Europe to discuss a plan to launder millions of dollars worth of phony securities. Their partner in crime? Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the scandal-plagued president of the Vatican Bank. What they didn’t know was that Det. Joseph Coffey was already on their trail. The legendary New York policeman worked tirelessly to trace the fraudulent stocks and bonds around the world and deep into the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Rome. This “explosive” Edgar Award winner has “all the ingredients of a thriller” (San Francisco Chronicle).