Hollywood chronicler William J. Mann draws on a rich host of sources, including recently released FBI files, to unpack the story of the enigmatic William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, and the diverse cast that surrounded him before he was murdered in 1922-- including three beautiful, ambitious actresses, the ruthless founder of Paramount locked in a struggle for control of the film industry, a grasping...

An investigative reporter describes how she uncovered the alleged identity of a long-time serial killer who has been murdering women in South Central Los Angeles since the 1980s.

Chelsea King was a popular high school senior, an outstanding achiever determined to make a difference. Fourteen-year-old Amber Dubois loved books and poured her heart into the animals she cared for. Treasured by their families and friends, both girls disappeared in San Diego County, just eight miles and one year apart. The community's desperate search led authorities to John Albert Gardner, a brutal predator hiding in plain sight. Now Pulitzer-nominated...

In October 2002, the quiet northern California town of Orinda was rocked when Susan Polk, the mother of three teenage boys, was arrested for stabbing her husband and former therapist, Dr. Felix Polk, to death. Here, journalist Pogash reconstructs the case. Examining the decadent culture of California in the 1970s, Pogash looks at how, in this period of drugs and sexual exploration, a teen found herself caught in the grasp of a therapist who, like...

Los Angeles, 1947. The mutilated body of Elizabeth Short, an aspiring starlet from Massachusetts is found; her killer never would be. As the "Black Dahlia" she became a warning for 'loose' women in postwar America, and her death has maintained an almost mythic place in American lore. Eatwell gained access to newly released evidence and has persuasively identified the culprit, using clues to the case that have never surfaced in public.

On October 20, 1973, in San Francisco, a white couple strolling down Telegraph Hill was set upon and butchered by four young black men. Thus began a reign of terror that lasted six months and left fifteen whites dead and the entire city in a state of panic. The perpetrators wanted nothing less than a race war. With pressure on the San Francisco Police Department mounting daily, young homicide detectives Prentice Earl Sanders and his colleague Rotea...

Who was the Zodiac Killer who terrorized residents of California during the 1960s and 1970s? The answer is still unknown. Readers take an in-depth look at the investigation that continues to fascinate Americans, discovering the details of the crimes and the search for the person who committed them. Additional information is presented through engaging sidebars and eye-catching fact boxes. Historical and contemporary photographs, including primary source...