True Historical Mysteries

As compelling as fiction, The Mystery of Beautiful Nell Cropsey tells the dramatic story of the disappearance of nineteen-year-old Nell Cropsey from her riverside home in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, in November 1901. Bloodhounds, detectives, divers, and even a psychic were brought in to search for her, and the case immediately became a national sensation. Bland Simpson, who first heard the tale as an Elizabeth City schoolboy, weaves this true story into a colorful nonfiction account, told in three first-person voices.

A tale of terrorism, espionage, and an epic struggle for justice in an America on the verge, sparked by a massive and mysterious explosion in New York Harbor in 1916.

That year, while the Allied and Central forces waged war in Europe, a group of German saboteurs blew up Black Tom Island, a spit of land in New York Harbor within earshot of downtown Manhattan. The subsequent hail of missiles and gunpowder devastated much of lower New York City.

Lolly has always known her mum was different. Sometimes Angela Bruce was ill in a quiet sort of way, but other times she roamed the Mansfield estate shouting about whatever had wormed its way into her head that day. Either way, Lolly was on her own, so she learned how to look after herself pretty quickly. Mal Fury has never got over the disappearance of his daughter all those years ago, but there's still hope because the police never found Kay's body.

Eden Chase is head over heels in love with her husband, Tom. He's the sort of man who doesn't give much away, but Eden doesn't mind that - Tom is worth the effort. So when he's accused of a years-old robbery and murder, Eden won't believe it. No, not her Tom - he's not capable of the things they're saying he did. With Tom in prison, it's up to Eden to clear his name. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she uncovers about her husband's past. Does she really know him after all?

This gripping historical crime fiction novel, based on fact, is set in Bradford, England, 1888. It explores the horrific murder of Johnny Gill; a murder and mutilation so gruesome, it stuns a nation. Even hardened detectives are affected by its savagery, swiftly comparing it to the work of Jack the Ripper.

November is usually quiet in Holcomb, Kansas, but in 1959, the town is shattered by the quadruple murder of the Clutter family. Suspicion falls on Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, the last one to see them alive. New Yorker Carly Fleming, new to the small Midwestern town, is an outsider. She tutored Nancy, and (in private, at least) they were close. Carly and Bobby were the only ones who saw that Nancy was always performing, and that she was cracking under the pressure of being Holcomb's golden girl.

Once he was a young, happily married businessman. Then he lost his wife to human madness and that young man was gone, replaced by the Loner, the wandering son of legendary gunfighter Frank Morgan, and now the current occupant of a cell in the brutal and unforgiving Hell Gate prison. The Kid's crime? He looked too much like an outlaw who escaped from this very prison. So the Kid teams up with a fellow inmate with an escape plan, vowing to hunt down a look-alike killer on the loose.

In 1952, in a peaceful corner of Provence, a farmer's son stumbled upon a terrible scene. Three bodies. They were all British. So begins one of the most notorious murder cases in French history. Sir Jack Drummond was a senior advisor to the British government, a household name who was respected and admired. His fame made the case a cause celebre in France and resulted in the swift conviction of a local farmer, but questions about Drummond's life and death remain unanswered.

Abandoned as a child and raised by the Church, young Sebastian works tirelessly in his pursuit of priesthood. But when a shadowy hooded figure serves him with a summons, his careful plans face a turning point. It appears his name has drawn the attention of the Inquisition and his attendance is commanded at once - for retribution, information, or something else, he does not know.

London, 1949: Queenie Osbourne and her best friend Joy are walking through the bustling city streets looking forward to a bright future. The two friends have a striking beauty which draws everyone to them. Queenie dreams of making her fortune as a singer in America and Joy is engaged to wealthy bachelor Charles Gilchrist.

In 1907, the revolutionary Joseph Djugashvili - who would later take the name Joseph Stalin - met with an old friend, a clerk at the Tiflis branch of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, for a glass of milk. Over talk of national pride, the spirit of the new century and Djugashvili's poetry, they agreed on the beginnings of a plan. With the aid of the Outfit, Djugashvili's hardened crew of 'expropriators', they would pull off the biggest, bloodiest and most daring robbery in Georgia's history, and ruthlessly change the direction of the Bolshevik revolution forever.

Wahres Verbrechen aus Argentinien: Die Geschichte, die Rodolfo Walsh in diesem Hörbuch erzählt, ereignete sich in einem Land, das in weiterer Ferne zu liegen scheint als das Jahr 1966, in dem sich die Ereignisse tatsächlich zugetragen haben. Deshalb kann man ohne Schwierigkeit den Vorschlag des Autors akzeptieren und seinen Text als einfachen Kriminalroman betrachten. Im Vordergrund des Hörbuches steht der Tod eines sympathischen Schlägers und Glücksspiel-Unternehmers mit dem Namen Rosendo García.

In the village of Great Wyrley near Birmingham, someone is mutilating horses. Someone is also sending threatening letters to the vicarage, where the vicar, Shahpur Edalji, is a Parsi convert to Christianity and the first Indian to have a parish in England. His son George - quiet, socially awkward and the only boy at school with distinctly Indian features - grows up into a successful barrister, till he is improbably linked to and then prosecuted for the above crimes in a case that left many convinced that justice hadn’t been served.

Edgar, Anthony, and Gumshoe finalist Craig McDonald takes listeners to 1924 Paris for this riveting tale. Someone is murdering literary magazine editors, so Gertrude Stein assigns Hector Lassiter, fellow mystery writer Brinke Devlin, and Hector’s dear friend Papa Hemingway to track down the killer. While the romance smolders between Hector and Brinke, their investigation takes them down a path that grows stranger by the minute.

First published in 1924, Charles E. Pearce’s account of some of the most gruesome and intriguing unsolved murders of the 19th century continues to captivate amateur sleuths to this day. Pearce guides us through a fascinating world of wicked assassinations, missed clues, ingenious stratagems, and cunning deceits in one last attempt to track down historical villains who evaded justice. It is impossible to establish the truth beyond reasonable doubt in any of the cases at this distance, but the light which Pearce sheds on the investigations and contemporary testimony, encourages us to evaluate the evidence anew.

Maxwell Smart tenía solo once años cuando toda su familia fue asesinada. Pudo haber muerto también, pero su madre le ordenó salvarse. Huyó al bosque, cavó un hoyo para refugiarse y buscó comida en las granjas cercanas. Con la ropa hecha harapos y al borde de la inanición, escapó repetidamente de la muerte a manos de los nazis. Después de meses en soledad, Maxwell se encontró con otro niño que deambulaba por el bosque en busca de comida. Janek, al igual que Maxwell, era huérfano y los dos se hicieron amigos.

A dark and riveting thriller that reimagines the life and mission of the Spanish nationalist enlisted to murder Leon Trotsky: Based on a true chapter of world history and ten years of research, here is the story of the real-life reluctant soldier and killer, Ramn Mercader—the obedient assassin. Ramn Mercader was plucked from the front of the Spanish Civil War by the Soviets and conscripted to murder the great intellectual Leon Trotsky, a leader of the Bolshevik Revolution who was exiled in the 1920s for opposing Joseph Stalin.

A 14-year-old boy disappears from his home without a trace - almost forever. Ninety years later, a series of chance DNA matches reveals what became of him. John had to grow up quickly - changing his identity, earning a living, and navigating love, friendship, and death during some of the toughest times in American history. With nothing more than an eighth-grade education, his journey takes us through Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, the gold mines of Colorado, and the Second World War to eventually become a success in his own right.

Nicholas Nicastro revisits a haunting mystery that still fascinates a nation a century later. His masterly re-imagining of these tragic events sees beyond the prejudices that destroys families and taints small communities but corrodes civilization itself. Nicastro’s simple storytelling style with its kaleidoscopic perspectives is moving, beautiful, and profound.

What dark secrets lie hidden within the heart of America's Dairyland? From the shadows of Milwaukee's urban landscape to the quiet forests of the Northwoods, this captivating true-story anthology explores the more sinister sides of Wisconsin's history. Uncover the twisted tales of notorious killers, delve into the unsolved mysteries of vanished souls, and journey through the haunted halls of some historical landmarks, where restless spirits linger and ghostly apparitions roam.