Mugshots of Manhattan


Book Description

Set in the world’s most exciting city, this new cozy mystery promises photo taking fun, New York glamour—and satisfying sleuthing featuring up-and-coming photographer Liv Spyer, a millennial with a keen eye for crime, who is sure to charm readers who are young and young at heart. Liv Spyers hits the big time when she lands a photography assignment with Grammy Award-winning pop star, the one and only Bisa. A huge fan, Liv is extra thrilled that her new boyfriend, Harry, will escort her to the glamorous premiere of Bisa’s debut movie. But when Bisa’s estranged sister, Courtney, threatens to turn the photo-op into a PR disaster, Liv goes after her—only to turn to camera lens on herself when Courtney winds up dead. With all eyes on Liv, her star-studded career is suddenly on the verge of being cancelled . . . Bisa is leaning hard on Liv to catch her sister’s killer—while she and her flirtatious entourage are wreaking havoc on Liv’s relationship with Harry. Now the best Liv can hope for is that her most famous photo doesn’t turn out to be her own mugshot. And that she can save herself—and Harry—before the killer strikes again . . . Praise for the debut Snapshot of NYC Mystery “From F-stops to the F-train, Liv’s expert eye makes her the ultimate cozy detective in Christin Brecher’s Photo Finished. Photographer Liv Spyers and her trusty camera lens charms readers (and the NYC elite) without ever losing focus on the investigation. Expert composition and timing culminates in a portrait of a complex mystery!” —Olivia Blacke, author of the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries




Busted


Book Description

A riveting lineup of the world's most famous and infamous arrests, from Lizzie Borden (double murder) to Lindsay Lohan (DUI) to Roman Polanski (unlawful sexual intercourse) Although the headlines fade, the humiliation, vulnerability, and sometimes chilling smugness of the alleged criminal in the mug shot stands the test of time. Covering 150 years of run-ins with the law, Busted reveals more than 500 of the most famous, disturbing, and just plain pathetic mug shots ever recorded. Subjects from all walks of life face front and turn to the left in this enthralling slice of social history. Among the alleged perpetrators are James Brown (carrying an unlicensed weapon and assaulting a police officer), Lenny Bruce (obscenity), Bill Gates (running a red light, driving without a license), Al Capone (tax evasion), Jeffrey Dahmer (rape, torture, murder, cannibalism), Eminem (assault), Mick Jagger (drugs charges), Malcolm X (burglary), Al Pacino (carrying a concealed weapon), Charles Barkley (disorderly conduct), Frank Sinatra (morals charges), Bernie Madoff (securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, perjury, making false filings with the SEC, theft from an employee benefit plan), Bugsy Siegel (gambling and bootlegging), Tupac Shakur (sexual assault), Roger Clinton (drug dealing), and hundreds more. The date of the arrest is provided, along with the fascinating, shocking, and sometimes ludicrous stories of the circumstance that led to the arrest, as well as occasional details of the trial and punishment (or merely the humble apology) that followed. Impossible to turn away from, Busted is the perfect coffee-table or gift book for our celebrity-obsessed society.




Professional Criminals of America


Book Description

Contained in the item are "36 heliotype plates with photographs of mug shots of criminals (204), and two plates; one of Inspector Byrnes, and the second a tableau of a criminal being held for his picture."--Hanson Collection catalog, p. 85




15 Minutes of Flame


Book Description

As Stella Wright’s Nantucket candle store thrives, her knack for solving mysteries burns equally bright—especially when a Halloween haunted house uncovers evidence of a centuries-old murder . . . When Stella’s friend inherits a creaky, abandoned home in Nantucket, she knows it’s the perfect setting for the town’s annual Halloween fundraiser. A deserted, boarded-up building on the property—once used as a candle-making shop—adds to the creepy ambiance. But as Stella explores the shack’s dilapidated walls, she discovers a terrible secret: the skeleton of a Quaker woman, wrapped in blood-soaked clothing and hidden deep within a stone hearth . . . While police investigate, Stella wastes no time asking for help from friends with long ties to Nantucket’s intricate history. The key to the murder may lie within a scorching 18th century love triangle that pit two best friends against one another over a dubious man. But before the case is solved, another life will be claimed—leaving Stella to wonder who in Nantucket is friend, and who is foe . . . Praise for Murder’s No Votive Confidence “A charming mystery with believable, likeable characters. Check it out.” —Suspense Magazine




Manhattan Street Scenes


Book Description

This richly nostalgic volume highlights some of the most extraordinary periods of New York Citys history, including the first decade of the 20th century, the Roaring Twenties, and the later years that led to the Great Depression and World War II. Abounding with evocative period photography, Manhattan Street Scenes invites readers into an age when no man walked the streets without wearing a hat, when buying liquor was illegal, when vaudeville and Broadway theaters were aglitter with stars and wildly popular songs, and when the citys streets teemed with motorcars such as Packards, Studebackers, and Dusenbergs. Additionally, the inclusion of rare, never before published police and crime photography enhances the charm of this volume. This richly nostalgic volume highlights some of the most extraordinary periods of New York Citys history, including the first decade of the 20th century, the Roaring Twenties, and the later years that led to the Great Depression and World War II. Abounding with evocative period photography, Manhattan Street Scenes invites readers into an age when no man walked the streets without wearing a hat, when buying liquor was illegal, when vaudeville and Broadway theaters were aglitter with stars and wildly popular songs, and when the citys streets teemed with motorcars such as Packards, Studebackers, and Dusenbergs. Additionally, the inclusion of rare, never before published police and crime photography enhances the charm of this volume.




Photo Finished


Book Description

With biting wit, a young lens, and satisfying sleuthing, the first in Christin Brecher’s brand new Snapshot of NYC Cozy Mystery series introduces aspiring photographer Liv Spyer, as she juggles rent on her postage stamp-sized Manhattan apartment, part time work at her grandparent’s Greenwich Village key shop, her #lovelife with a guy who just might be FBI, posting to her thousands of Instagram fans, AND solving the odd murder! While some people escape into books or music, Liv Spyers escapes through her camera’s lens, which inspires her to jump into things she might otherwise have no business tackling—like moving to New York City. Hustling to make her dreams come true as a portrait photographer, she runs a pocket-sized studio below her grandparents’ West Village brownstone and key shop, where she also lives and works part-time. All of which still has her down to the end of her savings as the holidays approach. Everything changes in a flash, however, when elite events photographer, Regina Montague, invites Liv to shoot with her at New York City’s most exclusive socialite event of the year—the Holiday Debutante Ball! Liv snaps at the opportunity, convinced that a job with Regina will launch her career. But when her fabulous new gig ends with the murder of billionaire Charlie Archibald, her dream job may never develop with Regina framed for murder. Once Liv begins to focus on her photos from the ball, she’s convinced they reveal Charlie Archibald’s real killer. Now, between cracking the world of high society—and the attentions of a handsome stranger—Liv must hustle once again to expose the killer...before she gets cropped from the picture!




Least Wanted


Book Description

Punks, sneaks, mooks and miscreants. Hookers, stooges, grifters and goons. Men and women, elderly and adolescent, rich and poor, but mostly poor. These are the Least Wanted. Their portraits make up a small part of Mark Michaelson's collection of over 10,000 American mugshots from the 1870s to the 1960s. Created as utilitarian instruments, and meant to be destroyed when obsolete, they survive as remnants of a bygone era of hard-copy originals, extraordinary visual windows on the past, and riveting physical artifacts, often accompanied by municipal ephemera. They are glued to cards and manuscripts, typed on and rubber stamped. Each suspect has been measured and fingerprinted, documented and classified. Bored, sheepish, proud, coy, tough, defiant, bounced, bloodied, bruised, broken and innocent faces--innocent until proven guilty--stare back at the camera with unmistakable individuality. This is central casting for the Late Late Show of unvarnished reality, and the lineup is full of small-timers, those who have fallen through the cracks. Each subject, each image, is a person, a portrait, a trace, a crime, a clue, a moment, an expression, a frame, a mustache, a mother, a father, a son or a daughter. Each image is evidence, documentation. A record of people and of stories dismissed by history and rescued here. A century of American souls, filed and forgotten, until now. Contributors include Ian McEwan and New Yorker contributor Malcolm Gladwell.




Murder in the City


Book Description

When night falls on New York, the shadows are everywhere and death wears many faces. How the victims leave their bodies is deeply personal, but the witnesses to their death and the factors that brought it about belong to the public world—a somber world which is encapsulated in this gruesome survey of crime and violence in the 1910s. Parts of the city that are today among its trendiest neighborhoods were once the battlegrounds of evil forces, which left their mark in unforgettable ways. Here, newspaper clippings, police reports and testimonies are placed alongside the scenes that they describe, fleshing them out and giving life to the departed. Complete with an introduction from German actor and writer Joe Bausch, this book is a must for anyone who has ever anxiously imagined how dark an activity like dying can be—and isn’t that everyone?




Mug Shots


Book Description




The Jersey Sting


Book Description

In the summer of 2009 the blog Gawker stated "Everybody in New Jersey Was Arrested Yesterday." Now for the first time, the real story behind the biggest corruption bust in New Jersey's notoriously corrupt history Among the forty-four people arrested in July 2009 were three mayors, five Orthodox rabbis, two state legislators, and the flamboyant deputy mayor of Jersey City, Leona Beldini, once a stripper using the stage name "Hope Diamond." At the center of it all was a dubious character named Solomon Dwek, who perpetrated a $50 million Ponzi scheme before copping a plea and wearing a wire as a secret FBI undercover informant, setting up friends, partners, rabbis, and dozens of politicians. Mr. Dwek played his role like an extra in a mob movie. On surveillance tape, he repeatedly referred to his fraudulent "schnookie deals," which is Yiddish for, well, schnook. Full of impossible-to-make-up detail and fresh revelations from the continuing trials and investigations, this book—the inside, untold account of a federal sting operation that moves from the streets of Brooklyn to the diners of Jersey City, and all the way to Israel—is a wonderful tour de force of investigative journalism by the reporting team that broke this amazing story.