Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting a Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology

— —

Max Allan Collins A. Brad Schwartz

Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher

Hunting a Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology

Max Allan Collins, A. Brad Schwartz

$32.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

HarperCollins
05 January 2022

Biography: general; True crime; History of the Americas; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Police & security services

"""The thrilling history of the torso murderer. The tale of the ‘Untouchable’ who got Al Capone but failed to solve his goriest case."" —Dan Jones, The Sunday Times

In the spirit of Devil in the White City comes a true detective tale of the highest standard: the haunting story of Eliot Ness's forgotten final case–his years-long hunt for ""The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run,"" a serial killer who terrorized Cleveland through the Great Depression.

“After helping to put Al Capone behind bars, lawman Eliot Ness came to Cleveland, where he did battle with a vicious killer. ... Even Ness was stumped trying to apprehend the ‘torso murderer’ responsible for a series of ghoulish killings. ... The authors have done Ness justice."" —Wall Street Journal

In 1934, the nation’s most legendary crime-fighter–fresh from taking on the greatest gangster in American history–arrived in Cleveland, a corrupt and dangerous town about to host a world's fair. It was to be his coronation, as well as the city's. Instead, terror descended, as headless bodies started turning up. The young detective, already battling the mob and crooked cops, found his drive to transform American policing subverted by a menace largely unknown to law enforcement: a serial murderer.

Eliot Ness's greatest case had begun.

Now, Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz–the acclaimed writing team behind Scarface and the Untouchable–uncover this lost crime epic, delivering a gripping and unforgettable nonfiction account based on decades of groundbreaking research.

Ness had risen to fame in 1931 for leading the “Untouchables,” which helped put Chicago’s Al Capone behind bars. As Cleveland's public safety director, in charge of the police and fire departments, Ness offered a radical new vision for better law enforcement. Crime-ridden and devastated by the Depression, Cleveland was preparing for a star-turn itself: in 1936, it would host the ""Great Lakes Exposition,"" which would be visited by seven million people. Late in the summer of 1934, however, pieces of a woman’s body began washing up on the Lake Erie shore–first her ribs, then part of her backbone, then the lower half of her torso. The body count soon grew to five, then ten, then more, all dismembered in gruesome ways.

As Ness zeroed in on a suspect–a doctor tied to a prominent political family–powerful forces thwarted his quest for justice. In this battle between a flawed hero and a twisted monster–by turns horror story, political drama, and detective thriller–Collins and Schwartz find an American tragedy, classic in structure, epic in scope."

By: Max Allan Collins, A. Brad Schwartz
Imprint: HarperCollins
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 440g
ISBN: 9780062881984
ISBN 10: 0062881981
Pages: 576
Publication Date: 05 January 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

MAX ALLAN COLLINS has earned an unprecedented seven Private Eye Writers of America “Shamus” nominations for his “Nathan Heller” historical thrillers, winning twice (True Detective, 1983, and Stolen Away, 1991). Termed “mystery’s Renaissance Man” (by Ed Hoch in The Best Mystery and Suspense Stories of 1993), Collins has created three celebrated contemporary suspense series --Nolan, Quarry and Mallory (thief, hitman and mystery writer respectively). He has also written four widely praised historical thrillers about real-life “Untouchable” Eliot Ness; and is an accomplished writer of short fiction: “Louise,” his contribution to the popular anthology Deadly Allies, was a Mystery Writers of America “Edgar” nominee for best short story of 1992.Collins is also the one of publishing industry’s leading authors of movie tie-in novels, including the international bestsellers In the Line of Fire (Jove, 1993), Maverick (Signet, 1994), Waterworld (Boulevard, 1995), Daylight (Boulevard, 1996), Air Force One (Ballantine, 1997), and Saving Private Ryan (Signet, 1998). He has written two original NYPD BLUE novels for Stephen Boccho and Signet Books, Blue Beginning (1995) and Blue Blood (1997). And if that’s not enough Max scripted the internationally syndicated comic strip DICK TRACY from 1977 to 1993, wrote three TRACY novels; is co-creator (with artist Terry Beatty) of the pioneering female P.I. comic-book feature MS. TREE, and has written both the BATMAN comic book and newspaper strip. He also hasan epic graphic novel about Capone-era crime, Road to Perdition, coming out from Paradox Press/DC Comics shortly.

Reviews for Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher: Hunting a Serial Killer at the Dawn of Modern Criminology

A careening read that's full of surprises. ... Collins and Schwartz deliver a nimble, taut tale. More importantly, they offer a portrait of a complex crime fighter who believed in science and reason at a time when most officers smacked suspects around with a blackjack, a portrait set against a backdrop of ethnic and class collisions, labor unrest, and political intrigue Catnip for true-crime buffs. -- Kirkus Reviews An excellent biography that reads like a thriller. ... A worthwhile, entertaining reading experience. -- New York Journal of Books Collins and Schwartz bring their usual novelistic chops...laying out a compulsive and insightful story. -- CrimeReads Thoroughly researched and well paced. ... A successful blend of history and suspense. -- Library Journal Meticulously researched. -- Publishers Weekly After helping to put Al Capone behind bars, lawman Eliot Ness came to Cleveland, where he did battle with a vicious killer. ... The authors have done Ness justice. ... Deeply researched. -- Wall Street Journal