New England Crime

True tales of murder in New England, from the colonial period to today, chronicled by a true-crime master, New York Times best-selling author, and star of Investigation Discovery’s new television show Dark Minds.

Chrissie is eight and she has a secret: she has just killed a boy. The feeling made her belly fizz like soda pop. Her playmates are tearful and their mothers are terrified, keeping them locked indoors. But Chrissie rules the roost - she's the best at wall-walking, she knows how to get free candy, and now she has a feeling of power that she never gets at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer.

The New England Mafia was a hugely powerful organization that survived by using violence to ruthlessly crush anyone that threatened it, or its lucrative gambling, loansharking, bootlegging, and other enterprises. From information based on newly declassified documents and the use of underworld sources, Boston Mob spans the gutters and alleyways of East Boston, Providence, and Charlestown to the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C., and Boston's Beacon Hill. Its players include governors and mayors, and the Mafia Commission of New York City.

In December 1832 a farmer found the body of a pregnant young woman hanging near a haystack outside a New England mill town. When news spread that Methodist preacher Ephraim Avery was accused of murdering Sarah Maria Cornell, a factory worker, the case gave the public everything they found irresistible: sexually charged violence, adultery, the hypocrisy of a church leader, secrecy and mystery, and suspicions of insanity. Murder in a Mill Town tells the story of how a local crime quickly turned into a national scandal that became America's first "trial of the century."

Over the course of seven months in 1988, eleven women disappeared off the streets of New Bedford, Massachusetts, a gloomy, drug-addled coastal town that was once the whaling capital of the world. Nine turned up dead. Two were never found. And the perpetrator remains unknown to this day. In Killing Season, Smith takes listeners into a close-knit community of working-class men and women, an underworld of prostitution and drug abuse, and the halls of New England law enforcement to tell the story of an epic failure of justice.

In It's Just the Way It Was, Joe Broadmeadow and Brendan Doherty take you inside the investigations, covert surveillance, and murky world of informants in the war against organized crime. Make no mistake about it. It was a war targeting the insidious nature of the mob and their detrimental effect on Rhode Island and throughout New England.

“If it weren’t for informants, the public would know nothing about the inner workings of La Cosa Nostra.” -Author Nicholas Parisi Members of the New England Mafia were no longer willing to risk a lifetime behind bars. The once unbreakable code of silence was shattered as they chose to betray their associates. This sudden shift was evident in the large-scale investigation into organized crime, where wiretaps and informants were now providing crucial evidence against the group. It was a rare occurrence in the history of such investigations where authorities could identify those ...

Forensic psychologist and rookie FBI agent Alexis Forrest returns to her hometown of Broken Hill to investigate the disappearance of a missing teenage girl. Returning to this snowy New England town is the last thing Alexis wants to do. She has a strained relationship with her divorced parents whose relationship did not survive the disappearance and murder of Alexis’ older sister, or her dad’s prison sentence. The circumstances of this girl’s disappearance are surprisingly similar to her sister’s yet the local police aren’t exactly welcoming to an inexperienced FBI agent sent to ...

In the waning days of World War I, William K. Dean was brutally murdered, his body hog-tied and dumped in a rainwater cistern on his farm in the quiet town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Suspicion quickly fell on Dean's wife, an invalid in the early stages of dementia. Her friends, outraged at the accusations, pointed instead to a former tenant of Dean's, whom many suspected of being a German spy. Others believed that Dean's best friend, a politically powerful banker and judge, was involved.

Forensic psychologist and FBI agent Alexis Forrest's search for the serial killer responsible for her sister's murder has hit a wall. All the evidence she has found has led her to the identities of numerous victims, yet the killer is still unknown. But he knows who she is, and he is watching her from the shadows. He is hiding in plain sight near Broken Hill, the snowy New England town that Alexis used to call home. Meanwhile, a young suburban mother goes missing while out on a morning run. When Alexis starts to dig deeper, she finds out that the woman's perfect marriage and family are not ...

When a strange child follows her home on the train from London, Ella Bridges feels bound to help her. However, she soon discovers the child is not what she seems. Having recently moved into a large home on Linhay Island, affectionately known locally as the Yellow Cottage, Ella finds herself at the center of a murder investigation thanks to a special gift from the previous house owner.

When a father vanishes with his two-week-old daughter, leaving behind a frantic wife and their eight-year-old son, forensic psychologist and FBI agent Alexis Forrest is called in to investigate. The man's blood-stained truck is discovered abandoned on a dirt road, but there's no trace of him or the baby. As Alexis delves into the case, she uncovers a tangled web of secrets and lies. With the serial killer responsible for her sister's death now behind bars, Alexis hopes for a fresh start in the small New England town where she grew up. However, peace is hard to find. Alexis tries to move ...

Forensic psychologist and FBI agent Alexis Forrest returns in her most chilling case yet. Set against the backdrop of Broken Hill, the small New England town where she grew up, she now faces her darkest challenge: a fourteen-year-old boy doesn’t show up to school after spending the night with his father and stepmother. Meanwhile, Alexis receives a sinister note threatening her and her family from the serial killer who took her sister’s life. Together with her old flame and partner Mitch, a bookstore and coffee shop owner, Alexis embarks on a race against time to protect her loved ones ...

When she finds out that the man convicted of killing her sister may be innocent, FBI agent and forensic psychologist Alexis Forrest goes on the search for the real culprit. Evidence of her sister’s murder was found in a remote cabin, along with traces of dozens more young women. A serial killer has been stalking these woods for decades and he’s still out there. Alexis had returned to Broken Hill, the snowy New England town where she grew up, to investigate another case. But after finding the serial killer’s cabin with evidence of other victims, she will do anything to track him down. ...

Forensic psychologist and FBI agent Alexis Forrest is on the hunt for a serial killer who has been terrorizing New England for decades. Years ago, her teenage sister fell victim to this predator, but the wrong person was convicted and sent to prison and the real killer is still out there. The eerie calm of Broken Hill, Alexis's hometown, is shattered when a string of brutal killings resurfaces, echoing the nightmare of her past. For years, everyone thought he was gone and then he strikes again. After her father's house is burned down and her mother receives threats, Alexis knows she's ...

Vivienne Lane thought she left the drama behind when she traded big-city chaos for the quiet charm of Foxwick Harbor. Now, she spends her days running Lane & Co. Antiques, sipping lattes at Bean & Bloom, and avoiding her nosy neighbor’s unsolicited opinions. But when she stumbles upon the town’s most scandalous socialite dead in a wedding dress—and in a very inconvenient place—Vivi suddenly finds herself at the center of a mystery far messier than her shop’s storage room. Gwendolyn Fairchild wasn’t just any bride-to-be; she was a journalist with a reputation for unearthing ...

Step into the shadowy realm of the Patriarca Mafia Crime Family, where power, deception, and ambition intermingle to create a riveting saga that has left an indelible mark on New England's criminal history. In this meticulously documented narrative, Mafia Library uncovers the untold story of one of America's most infamous crime families, tracing its origins from the turbulent days of Prohibition to its enduring presence in the 21st century.

When Jerome Kronberg, who is facing prosecution for investment fraud, dies in a fall from a mountain in Connecticut, there are some people who believe it was no accident. Some think it was suicide; some suspect he was killed by an irate client. Others suspect a more supernatural cause. According to the legend of The Black Dog, if you see the dog three times on the mountain, you die, and Kronberg had seen the dog twice when he took his last hike.It is The Black Dog that motivates Marcie Ducasse to investigate the death for her Weird Happenings Column in Roaming New England Magazine. While ...

Two torturous months came and went. Detective Bennett refuses to give up on finding his daughter. Even as the authorities of New England and beyond, trailing the blood in the girl's wake, devised a ruthless manhunt to bring her back. Well aware of the young woman's fragile state, Bennett is determined to locate her first. He's terrified to learn that he and the officers aren't the only ones looking...

On January 7, 1994, residents of the Berkshire Hills woke up to a typical snowy winter day in the majestic woods of Western Massachusetts. The quaint New England towns, the idyllic scenery and the people who lived there could have stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting.