Halloween Freebie - I don't read horror books because nothing is scarier to me than the horrible things real people can do to each other, and I'm interested in ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and murder year-round. I chose novels based on real-life crimes ; some novels feature a real-life protagonist directly involved in the crime, other books use real crimes as the basis for a fictional story...
ABOUT - Canadian murders from 1843
TRIVIA TIDBIT - The mini-series was written by Sarah Polley, who played legendary kid lit heroine Ramona Quimby
ABOUT - The murder of party girl Starr Faithfull
TRIVIA TIDBIT - Elizabeth Taylor did not want to appear in the film. She won a Best Actress Academy Award for the role.
ABOUT - Two novels by the same author about the same case
TRIVIA TIDBIT - Both films are two classics of film noir and are two of the best examples of that genre
ABOUT - The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh jr., one of the most famous crimes in history from the perspective of his nanny, Betty Gow
Trivia Tidbit - The Lindbergh kidnapping inspired the plot of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express
ABOUT - Winnie Ruth Judd, The "Trunk Murderess" (be advised this one is gruesome)
TRIVIA TIDBIT - Judd escaped the asylum where she was incarcerated several times, and was found after several years working as a maid for a family
ABOUT ~ Elma Sands (The Manhattan Well Murder)
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Pre-dual A-Hams and Aaron Burr were attorneys for the defense
ABOUT ~ a lonely young girl makes a friend...who then commits murder with a group of fellow hippies (based on the Manson Family murders)
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Victim celebrity hairdresser Jay Sebring was a contestant on the game show To Tell the Truth
ABOUT ~ The murder of gambler Joseph Elwell
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Joseph Elwell was well connected socially due to his love of Bridge
ABOUT ~ The murder of university founder Jane Stanford
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Jane Stanford survived a first attempt on her life a short time before her murder
ABOUT ~ Alice Crimmins
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Alice Crimmins' story is the first episode of Once Upon a Crime (which is my #1 dream series reboot)
ABOUT ~ Mary Rogers (The Beautiful Cigar Girl)
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Poe moved the story to Paris to serve as a sequel to The Murders in the Rue Morgue
ABOUT ~ Lizzie Borden (my personal true crime queen)
TRIVIA TIDBIT ~ Lizzie Borden was an ardent member of her local WCTU