Candlelight Killer

In 1927 a young girl was murdered in Manhattan New York. What appeared to be a random killing, in reality, was planned, but contrived. J.P. Fox, a private investigator, is called upon by the police to investigate the crime. At every turn, Fox discovers clue after clue - creating a chain of despair. Something lurks in the shadows, something dark, and sinister. The killer acts alone, but is he? His motivations run deep. Time is running out. Fox must muster all his skills and experiences to find the killer, expose the eugenics movement, and flush out a deadly cult.

In the early nineteenth century, a series of murders took place in and around London which shocked the whole of England. The appalling nature of the crimes—a brutal slaying in the gambling netherworld, the slaughter of two entire households, and the first of the modern lust-murders—was magnified not only by the lurid atmosphere of an age in which candlelight gave way to gaslight, but also by the efforts of some of the keenest minds of the period to uncover the gruesomest details of the killings.These slayings took place against the backdrop of a London in which the splendor of the fashionable world was haunted by the squalor of the slums. Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas De Quincey, Thomas Carlyle, and Percy Bysshe Shelley and others were fascinated by the blood and deviltry of the macabre. In their contemplations of the most notorious murders of their time, they discerned in the act of killing itself a depth of hideousness that we have lost sight of, now living in an age in which murder has been reduced to a problem of social science and skillful detective work. Interweaving these cultural vignettes alongside criminal history, acclaimed author Michael Beran paints a vivid picture of a time when homicide was thought of as the intrusion of the diabolic into ordinary life.

64 true crime cases in California from the early 1950s into the 1980s Inside look at serial killers, assassins, sadistic rapists, bank robbers, kidnappers, Satan worshippers, and more Provides crime overview, parties involved, evidence gathered, and theories for solutions

"As one of Wilmington's most enthusiastic historical preservationists, Ashley Wilkes is thrilled when her Victorian home makes the annual Candlelight Tour. Unfortunately, the glowing romantic perfection of her old Southern gem is spoiled by the dead body sprawled next to the fireplace. The case appears cut-and-dried. The weapon was in the hands of Ashley's friend and father figure, Professor Binkie Higgins. Besides, everybody knows how much Binkie hated the victim-an enmity dating back to a deeper mystery, the Atlantic Coast Line's forty-year-old payroll robbery. But what begins as an effort to clear Binkie's name becomes a dangerous excavation of old motives and newer bodies, each falling close to home. Close enough to tell Ashley that digging up dirt is a surefire way to get one foot-or more-in a grave."--BOOK COVER.

Just in time for graduation, a smart and edgy collection of advice for young people from dozens of the most creative and visionary people on the planet. Contributors include: Camille Paglia • Wayne Koestenbaum • Jonathan Ames • Jennifer Belle • Howard Zinn • Joe Dallesandro • Bruce LaBruce • Dr. Laura Schlessinger • Tom Robbins • Judith Butler • Martha Nussbaum Horst • William S. Burroughs • Larry Niven • Veruschka • Lydia Lunch • Spalding Gray • Eileen Myles • Roger Scruton • Ken Kesey Mary Gaitskill • Richard Powers • Mark Dery • Florence King • Mark Simpson • Bob Shacochis • Joanna Scott • Quentin Crisp • Carolyn Chute • Michael Thomas Ford • Alexander Theroux • George Saunders • Charles Baxter • Ian Shoales • Fay Weldon • Bruce Benderson • Scott Russell Sanders • John Shirley • Dr. John Money • Cindy Sherman • Richard Meltzer • Gene Wolfe • Abbie Hoffman • Diane Wakowski • Richard Taylor • Bette Davis • Arthur Nersesian • Jim Harrison • Martha Gellhorn • Lucius Shepard • Dan Jenkins • Steve Stern • Murray Bookchin • John Zerzan • Maurice Vellekoop • Joel-Peter Witkin • Stewart Home • Maxx Ardman • Katharine Hepburn • Bret Lott • Lynda Barry • Alain de Botton • Mary McCarthy • Hakim Bey • Anita O'Day • Chris Kraus • R. U. Sirius • C. D. Payne W. V. Quine • Rita Dove • Robert Creeley • Valerie Martin • Paul Krassner • Alphonso Lingis • Mark Helprin • John Rechy • Ram Dass • William T. Vollmann • Bettie Page

Originally published: Oscar Wilde and the candlelight murders. London : John Murray, 2007.