Pipestone County Star 10-10-2013
Most people enjoy a good mystery novel. For most of those readers, part of the charm
is that it is fictional and the story didn’t really happen. But some mystery and crime readers prefer to
read the true accounts of murders and crimes that are found in the non-fiction
section of the library. Here are a few
true crime novels that might spark your interest.
Safe Harbor: A
Murder in Nantucket, by Brian McDonald
Elizabeth Lochtefeld thought she had found Mr.
Right. Thomas Toolan III was a Wall
Street mogul, handsome, rich, and devoted.
Supposedly. As it turns out, Tom
had lost his job after trying to steal a very valuable piece of art from an
antiques show and that was only the tip of his bad behavior. As she began to notice the downward spiral,
Beth made the decision to end the affair and two days later, she disappeared,
never to be seen alive again. But who
did it?
Cruel Doubt,
by Joe McGinniss
On a hot summer night in 1988, Bonnie Von Stein and her
husband were brutally attacked in bed.
The husband died and Bonnie herself was stabbed and beaten, left for
dead. McGinniss set out to work on the
crime at the request of Bonnie, and discovered a whole world of information she
wanted to hold in denial. Bonnie had
defended her 21 year old son, a student at North Carolina State even when the
evidence began to mount against him and pointed toward a bizarre attempt to
recreate a Dungeons and Dragons adventure.
But was it really him? Could it
have been one of his friends or someone who coveted her 19 year old daughter
and the fortune she might stand to inherit?
While They
Slept: An Inquiry Into the Murder of a Family, by Kathryn Harrison
It was a lovely April morning when Billy Gilley Jr
murdered his sleeping parents. When his
little sister Becky walked in on him, he killed her as well, then went upstairs
to wake his sister Jody and tell her the good news. They were free from a life of abuse – but could
two people ever be free from such an act of violence? Harrison writes a compelling narrative based
on interviews with Billy and Jody, friends, police, and social workers to
determine the true story of what really drove the young man to land himself in
jail and make his sister an orphan.
A Cold-Blooded
Business, by Marek Fuchs
Olathe, Kansas was made famous by Truman Capote when he
wrote In Cold Blood about murders that happened in 1959. But in
1982, another murder happened – David Harmon was bludgeoned to death while
sleeping. Suspicion fell on his wife and
his best friend, but the church protected both and the case was quickly
dropped. Twenty years later, new evidence
came to light and the two suspects, now leading law-abiding lives, suddenly
found themselves once more in the spotlight.
Would the detectives be able to close the case once and for all?
Too Late To Say
Goodbye, by Ann Rule
Ann Rule is rather famous for her true crime novels – we have
more than 10 written by her alone. This
particular story centers around Jenn and Bart Corbin, a loving wife and a
successful dentist, with two beautiful boys, a nice home, a houseboat, and
everything a family could want. But what
was idyllic on the outside was dark on the inside. Just before Christmas, 2004, Jenn is found
dead, a bullet in her brain and a gun on the floor. Suicide?
Ann untangles the story with interviews and evidence until the reader is
left reeling with information and a stunning conclusion that involves another “suicide”
years before…
The Devil in
the White City, by Erik Larson
The World’s Fair is supposed to be the pinnacle of society
– a place to showcase the talents of the famous minds of the day. In 1893, the man in charge was Daniel Hudson
Burnham, a brilliant architect who was responsible for the Flatiron building in
New York and union Station in DC. He
brought the best minds of the decade together to build the White City, transforming
Jackson Swamp into a thing of beauty.
Little did he know that a serial killer, Henry Holmes, would use the
Fair to attract his victims and lure scores of young women to their deaths in
his nearby “World’s Fair Hotel,” complete with a gas chamber and crematorium. This story is peopled with famous figures,
all of whom attended the fair, and a story that will glue you to your seat.
These stories are disturbingly chilling – they really
happened and, in most cases, very little is made up (they are all found in the
non-fiction section 364.1). The crimes
that were committed were committed by real people and the story reads like a
train wreck – you can’t stop reading, can’t look away, no matter how disturbing
it is for you. Excellent reads for this
spooky time of year.
PAFL Update: Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is
looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to
join! The Friends group works hard to
promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book
sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the
year. Call us for the date of the next
meeting!
Pipestone Area Friends of the Library will be having a
fundraiser at the Pipestone Pizza Ranch on Wednesday, October 30th,
from 4:30 until 8:00 PM. From 4:30 until
5:00, the library will be having a craft activity for any interested children
to celebrate the season. Come join us
for great food and a spooky fun craft to take home with you!
Book Club
Reminder: The book club meets the fourth Thursday (my apologies that the
past few months have said Tuesday) of the month and the next meeting will be
October 24th. The next book
is In The Woods by Tana French. If
you don’t have a copy, let the library know and we would be happy to order one
for you. Everyone is welcome!!
If you have questions or have a book you’d like to
reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507)
825-6714. The hours for Meinders Library
are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10
AM to 5 PM. Meinders Community Library
is located at 1401 7th Street SW, on the south side of the high
school.
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