Criminal Investigations Series
by Michael Newton
Reading Level: Grades 9 and up
Bank Robbery
Chelsea House 2008
ISBN-10: 0791094014
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9401-3
Format: Hardcover
Page count: 120

Summary
Bank Robbery traces the history of the crime from the early days of American history to the present. After Frank and Jesse James pioneered the daylight holdup in 1866, crime has never been the same. Although banks and police have made it increasingly difficult to successfully rob a bank, criminals still try, drawn by the lure of money. The tactics criminals have used to rob banks and the laws and procedures police use to put bank robbers behind bars are described in this interesting title.

Chapters include:
·Manhunters
·Gangbusters
·Public Enemy No. 1
·Most Wanted
·Prevention and Investigation.
Cases covered include:
·Frank and Jesse James
·Fighting bank robbers on the American frontier
·The depression era bandits and the golden age of “public enemies”
·John Dillinger
·Willie Sutton
·The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted
·How police combat modern criminals and violent tactics
·Modern methods of preventing and investigating bank robberies.

Celebrities and Crime

Chelsea House 2008
ISBN-10: 0791094022
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9402-0
Format: Hardcover
Page count: 112



Summary
The public’s fascination with celebrities can reach a fever pitch when celebrities commit or are involved in a crime. Famous victims like the Lindbergh baby and Sharon Tate have raised public outcry against the cruel crimes that claimed their lives. And the trials of celebrity criminals such as Jim Bakker and O.J. Simpson are proof that even the rich and famous are not above breaking the law. Celebrities and Crime examines the crossroads where fame and the underworld meet, looks at special types of crime targeted at celebrities, and discusses how law enforcement handles celebrity victims and celebrity perpetrators.

Chapters include:
·The Devil’s Business
·Stalked!
·Murder in Brentwood
·Number One with a Bullet
·The Price of Fame.
Cases covered include:
·Charles Lindbergh Jr. kidnapping
·Charles Manson and the Manson Family murders
·The unsolved murder of actor Bob Crane
·Celebrity stalkers and assassins, including the murder of John Lennon
·Celebrity frauds Jim and Tammy Bakker
·The O.J. Simpson murder trial, and other famous athletes’ encounters with crime
·Tupac Shakur, and the gangsta rap feud between the East Coast and West Coast rappers
·Celebrity shoplifters and the Winona Ryder case
·Robert Blake, accused of murdering his wife.

Gangs and Gang Crime

Chelsea House 2008
ISBN-10: 0791094081
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9408-2
Format: Hardcover
Page count: 120

Summary
From the violent street gangs of early New York City to the holdup gangs of the Old West, from Prohibition bootleggers to modern-day drug gangs, Gangs and Gang Crime details the history of criminal gangs and their crimes. Today, most gangs exist on the streets or in prisons, and law enforcement agents have developed numerous techniques for identifying gangs, tracking their activities, breaking up illegal rackets, and addressing the social issues that can be contributing factors in the formation of gangs.

Chapters include:
·Public Enemies
·Hell on Wheels
·Crips and Bloods
·Gangs in Fiction and Film
·Coping with Gangs.
Cases and gangs covered include:
·The Plug Uglies, the Dead Rabbits, the Whyos, and other gangs of New York’s Five Points
·Prohibition-era bootlegging gangs
·The Wild Bunch
·The Hells Angels, the Outlaws, and other motorcycle gangs
·The Black Guerilla Family, the Aryan Brotherhood, Nuestra Familia, and other prison gangs
·Crips and Bloods
·The Yakuza, the Jamaican Posse, the Russian mafia, and other international gangs.

Serial Killers

Chelsea House 2008
ISBN-10: 0791094111
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9411-2
Format: Hardcover
Page count: 120

Summary
From ancient times to the present, serial killers have terrorized the public, claiming their victims with a variety of methods, including poisoning, stabbing, and shooting. Modern law enforcement agents have developed sophisticated techniques, such as DNA analysis and psychological profiling, to track and identify these killers. Covering key historical and contemporary cases, Serial Killers is a concise, objective introduction to this field of criminal investigation.

Chapters include:
·Murder by Numbers
·Monsters Among Us
·Lethal Ladies
·Still at Large
·The Mindhunters.
Cases covered include:
·Erzsébet Báthory
·The Beltway Snipers
·David Berkowitz, a.k.a. “Son of Sam”
·John Wayne Gacy
·Micajah and Wiley Harpe
·Jack the Ripper
·Herman Webster Mudgett, aka “H.H. Holmes”
·Gary Leon Ridgway, a.k.a. “The Green River Killer”
·Aileen Wuornos.

Unsolved Crimes

Chelsea House 2008
ISBN-10: 0791094146
ISBN-13: 978-0-7910-9414-3
Format: Hardcover
Page count: 120


Summary
In Unsolved Crimes, famous, unresolved cases from the past 120 years are examined to review what police and experts in forensic science did (or failed to do) while trying to resolve each crime. For each case covered, the key theories and suspects are described. Though technology is much improved since the time of Jack the Ripper in 1888, some recent crimes defy the best equipment and best scientists, leaving open-ended mysteries to occupy the minds of amateur sleuths everywhere. Still, it may not be too late to solve these riddles. By reexamining old evidence with modern techniques, police can often breathe new life into a cold case.

Chapters include:
·Red Jack
·The Black Dahlia
·The Boy in the Box
·JFK: Case Closed?
·Deadly Medicine.
Cases covered include:
·Jack the Ripper, unidentified serial killer
·The murder of Elizabeth Short, aka “The Black Dahlia”
·The assassination of John F. Kennedy, officially solved but often disputed
·The disappearance of Teamsters’ leader Jimmy Hoffa
·The Tylenol poisoning murders and related cases
·Lizzie Borden, accused then acquitted of murdering her parents with an axe
·Harry and Harriette Moore, murdered during the early days of the Civil Rights movement
·The murder of JonBenét Ramsey.