Research Catalog
The man from the train : the solving of a century-old serial killer mystery
- Title
- The man from the train : the solving of a century-old serial killer mystery / Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James.
- Author
- James, Bill, 1949-
- Publication
- New York : Scribner, 2017.
Items in the Library & Off-site
Filter by
1 Item
Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFE 17-9907 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Additional Authors
- James, Rachel McCarthy
- Description
- xi, 464 pages; 24 cm
- Summary
- "Using unprecedented, dramatically compelling sleuthing techniques, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical acumen to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight, bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villasca, Iowa, murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal. In turn, they uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America. Riveting and immersive, with writing as sharp as the cold side of an axe, The Man from the Train paints a vivid, psychologically perceptive portrait of America at the dawn of the twentieth century, when crime was regarded as a local problem, and opportunistic private detectives exploited a dysfunctional judicial system. James shows how these cultural factors enabled such an unspeakable series of crimes to occur, and his groundbreaking approach to true crime will convince skeptics, amaze aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history"--
- Subjects
- Mass murder > Middle West > History
- SOCIAL SCIENCE / Criminology
- Serial murderers > Iowa > Villisca > History
- Mass murder investigation > Middle West > History
- HISTORY / United States / 20th Century
- Mass murder > Iowa > Villisca > History
- TRUE CRIME / Murder / Serial Killers
- Mass murder investigation > Iowa > Villisca > History
- Serial murderers > Middle West > History
- Call Number
- JFE 17-9907
- ISBN
- 9781476796253
- 1476796254
- LCCN
- 2017005190
- OCLC
- 2017005190
- Author
- James, Bill, 1949- author.
- Title
- The man from the train : the solving of a century-old serial killer mystery / Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James.
- Publisher
- New York : Scribner, 2017.
- Edition
- First Scribner hardcover edition.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Added Author
- James, Rachel McCarthy, author.
- Other Form:
- Online version: James, Bill, 1949- Man from the train New York : Scribner, 2017 9781476796277 (DLC) 2017023689
- Research Call Number
- JFE 17-9907