Northern California has a fascinating criminal history. Some of America's most infamous criminals and outlaws lived and died in the area, including John Paul Chase, partner of Public Enemy Number One, Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis. Others have come from far afield to exploit the opportunities of Californian crime. Englishman Charles Boles, AKA "Black Bart the Poet," was only one of many. With crime, naturally, comes punishment. In 1937, the Folsom Five tried to escape, murdering Warden Clarence Larkin in the process. Instead of escaping Folsom, they entered California's history as the first men to die in its new gas chamber the next year. The legendary Battle of Alcatraz ended in bloodshed and recriminations from prison staff and convicts alike, with accusations that staff needlessly endangered convicts' lives and arranged the wrongful execution of convict Sam Shockley. Northern California may not be as well-known for its crime as Southern California, but it's a fascinating part of the Golden State's history all the same.

Southern California can be called a sunny place for shady people. Its criminal history is as rich and varied as anywhere. Old West outlaws, serial killers, gangsters and thieves have all robbed, raided, killed and died south of Sacramento. Home to the movie business, Los Angeles has long been a place of bright lights and dark deeds. Major Raymond Lisenba, California's last man to hang, committed murder-by-rattlesnake. Fueled by a half-pint of illegal whiskey, Dallas Egan danced his way to the gallows. Yacht Bandit Lloyd Sampsell cruised California's coast like a latter-day buccaneer, only visiting dry land for another robbery. Joaquin Murieta terrorized the goldfields and Southern California, entering Californian history and folklore in the process. Billy Cook entered popular culture (and San Quentin's gas chamber), inspiring The Doors' Riders on the Storm and classic film The Hitcher. James Rabbit Kendrick's execution inspired friend and fellow-convict Merle Haggard to go straight. Haggard immortalized Kendrick with country classic Sing Me Back Home. Some are well-remembered, others long forgotten, but all have their own place in California's chronicles of crime.

Washington may be known as the Evergreen State but hidden amongst the evergreen trees are true crime stories spanning the past century. Come and explore the Ghoul of Gray's Harbor and discover the Floater's Fleet. Read about the Fly-In-Killer and the Longview Mystery. Learn about the "architect of crime" and the "phantom of Palouse." Find out how a chemist was able to lift a fingerprint from a shred of paper wrapped around a pipe bomb that killed a judge. Discover why foreign dignitaries traveled half way around the globe to assist with a murder trial in 1950. Join author Margaret LaPlante and explore many long-forgotten murders, mysteries, and misdemeanors that shook the otherwise idyllic state of Washington.

Murder is shocking. The savagery of Elizabeth Short's (also known as the Black Dahlia) slaying was beyond anything Los Angeles, indeed the U.S., had experienced. Short would not be the only young woman in Los Angeles during the 1940s to suffer at the hands of a brutal and sadistic killer, a killer who was never caught. Senseless murder, rape, and robbery were a common thread throughout the streets of Los Angeles of the mid-twentieth century. Men and women without much hope, and even less money, were all too often the victims and the perpetrators. However, the wealthy were not exempt. Love, rage, jealousy, and money were all reasons for the murders, mysteries, and misdemeanors covered in this book, from one end of Los Angeles to the other.

Before Las Vegas became the entertainment capital of the world, there was Reno. Known as the Biggest Little City in the World, Reno was the legalized gambling, prostitution, and divorce center of the universe. Naturally, there was crime--in the city and in the surrounding Northern Nevada areas as well. Reno is now Nevada's third largest city and continues to grow. Murders Mysteries and Misdemeanors of Reno and Northern Nevada covers some of the city's, and indeed the area's, most unusual crimes--from the shocking murder of skier Sonja McCaskie, to the ingenious cattle rustler who created his own special cattle rustling shoes, to the humorous last words of convicted killer Robert White, and more.

On the morning of May 27, 1896, the peaceful township of Campbell awoke to shocking news. Six people were brutally murdered at the home of Colonel Richard P. McGlincy, one of the town's most respected citizens. The suspect, James Dunham--the colonel's son-in-law--fled the scene and disappeared into the hills of Mount Hamilton overlooking Santa Clara County. This heinous crime triggered a massive, nationwide manhunt while investigators pieced together the details. Author Tobin Gilman examines the mind and motives of the killer, the sensational media coverage and the colorful personalities associated with the protracted and unresolved pursuit of justice.

On Memorial Day 1933, Stanford executive David Lamson found his wife, Allene, dead in their Palo Alto home. The only suspect, he became the face of California's most sensational murder trial of the century. After a judge sentenced him to hang at San Quentin, a team of Stanford colleagues stepped in to form the Lamson Defense Committee. The group included poets Yvor Winters and Janet Lewis, as well as the "Sherlock Holmes of Berkeley," criminologist E.O. Heinrich. They managed to overturn the verdict and incite a series of heated retrials that gripped and divided the community. Was Lamson the victim of aggressive prosecutors, or was he a master of deception whose connections helped him get away with murder? Author and Stanford alum Tom Zaniello meticulously examines the details of a notorious case with a lingering legacy.