One of the ways the feds were able to track down Joshua Wade after he had already evaded conviction in the murder of Della Brown, was to use human scent dogs. I had never written about Bloodhounds before writing ICE AND BONE, and what I discovered astonished me. The dogs were able to pick up Wade’s scent two whole weeks AFTER he had used the ATM card of one of his victims. This video, which the FBI shared with me, picks up as a dog named … [Read more...]
Frank Girardot Discusses A TASTE FOR MURDER on Crime Time
Frank Girardot Jr. discusses his and co-author Burl Barer's new true crime book, A TASTE FOR MURDER, on Crime Time with host Allison Hope Weiner. A TASTE FOR MURDER details the case of Frank Rodriguez, who aside from being dead, was in perfect health. Watch the full show below to find out why this case was chosen, how Burl and Frank conducted their research, and get an inside look into Frank's murder. Get your copy of the hit true crime A TASTE … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin on the Gothic Roots of Horror
There is much that is Gothic in The Pure And The Hated, my novel about the past, about revenge and lawlessness. In many ways revenge may be seen as lawless justice. As I examine what horror fiction means to us and how it relates to crime fiction, I want to trace its roots. I want to show that the two genres are not that distinct. In the latter part of the eighteenth century there was flowering of Gothic literature in England that ran … [Read more...]
Listen to the F.B.I. Interview of the Serial Killer Featured in ICE AND BONE
Here is an audio clip I obtained from the F.B.I. of an interview with Joshua Wade shortly after his arrest in connection with Mindy Schloss’s disappearance. The interview appears in Chapter 40 of ICE AND BONE. What you obviously can’t see is Wade’s reaction when Agent Thoreson claims they “talked to Mindy.” Both Agent Thoreson and Detective Perrenoud, who were in the room, told me that a devious smirk came over Wade’s face: From Chapter … [Read more...]
New York Times Bestselling Author Steve Jackson Reflects On An Unexpected Reward From Writing SMOOTH TALKER
Writing true crime books has it's ups and downs. It can be a dark road through hell researching and writing about the terrible things human beings--if some killers can be classified as such--do to other human beings. It also has its rewards, some of them quite unexpected, as I was recently reminded. Anyone who reads my books knows that I'm not big on going into the gory details, or including the more "shocking" photographs included in … [Read more...]
True Crime Author Steve Jackson Discusses SMOOTH TALKER Picture Puzzle Pieces
I've been asked why I chose to write SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, especially as I have already written about serial killer Roy Melanson in the past. In 2002, I published a book called NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators, which was about the history and some of the best early cases involving NecroSearch International. NSI is a group of scientists, as well as former and current law enforcement … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin on Horror Fiction
In this series of posts I want to look at what links horror fiction and crime fiction. The posts are part of the launch of my Vermont based novel The Pure And The Hated. I have spent several years if my life in Vermont. My wife is from the state and the novel is set there. While it is a crime novel, it is also Noir, it is a revenge tragedy, and it is part horror. What do we mean when we talk about horror? What is it that horrifies us? The genre … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin: The Bad Guy in Crime Fiction
Savage Highway is about bad guys and the breakdown of law and why justice fails. In a lawless world revenge is justice. I want to discuss other authors here before I focus on the novel itself. Savage Highway is about the frontier. Both of the authors I will be discussing today portray bad guys in a variety of ways. In Burke we have the pairing of two lawless cops, Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell. And Purcell is an extreme example of the bad … [Read more...]
Monte Francis on the Cases Behind His New True Crime Book ICE AND BONE
I began reporting on crimes and murder trials as a TV reporter for the NBC affiliate in Fresno, California, KSEE in 1999. During the five years I spent in California’s Central Valley, I had the opportunity to cover a number of high-profile cases. Among them was the trial of Scott Peterson, who was ultimately convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci in 2004. Two years prior, I covered the trial of Cary Stayner, the hotel handyman responsible … [Read more...]
Why the Fascination with Ted Bundy?
It’s true; Ted Bundy is different from all other serial killers. It’s not that he’s more evil or callus than the rest of that diabolical lot. It’s just that when you look at him, at his appearance and demeanor, and what he’d accomplished and where he was going, he just doesn’t fit the mold of a cold-blooded killer. But it isn’t just how he appeared on the outside that both fascinate, and yes, startles, but what he did while committing … [Read more...]
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