Book Description

Five torn-from-the-headlines true crime books from an Edgar Award–nominated author and “one of our best reporters” (John Leonard). Linda Wolfe delves deep into the crimes that defy explanation—and the twisted minds of those who commit them. In these five books, she combines masterful storytelling with brilliant psychological insight. Wasted: On an August night in 1986, Jennifer Levin left a Manhattan bar with Robert Chambers. The next morning, her strangled, battered body was found in Central Park. This New York Times Notable Book provides a “fascinating, horrifying, and heart-breaking” account of the so-called Preppie Murder, the crime that shocked a city and a nation (Ann Rule). The Professor and the Prostitute: The chilling case of a college professor who bludgeoned to death the prostitute he loved—plus eight other true crimes, including the bizarre story of the Marcus brothers, twin gynecologists, that inspired the David Cronenberg film Dead Ringers. Double Life: The riveting story of how the chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals was brought down by his sexual obsession with a stunning socialite. The Murder of Dr. Chapman: Wolfe skillfully weaves court transcripts, love letters, and period recollections into an edge-of-your-seat historical thriller about a notorious crime of passion that rocked pre–Civil War America. Love Me to Death: Wolfe embarks on a search for the serial killer who murdered her friend in this “intriguing insider’s look into the convoluted mind of a killer” (The Plain Dealer).