Douglas Perry

Documents the true stories of the women whose sensational murder trials inspired the musical characters Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, tracing the contributions of fledgling reporter Maurine Watkins against a backdrop of Chicago's Prohibition Era and Jazz Age culture.

Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers who Inspired Chicago

The Girls of Murder City

The small, isolated town of Mammoth View is hit with terrifying news on a summer morning: a mysterious, large-scale attack is unfolding in the surrounding forest. It's not clear what happened, but it's bad. And it's not over. As residents flee in panic, Police Chief Hicks and his deputy set off into the woods to investigate. The attack seems like the perfect coincidence for Billy Lane. Looking for the biggest score of his career, he targets the local bank. The robbery does not go well--and the aftermath is even worse, leading the robbers to a nearby running camp for teen girls. Over the next twenty-four hours, chaos descends on Mammoth View as Billy, the police officers, and a courageous teen athlete at the camp face down murderous strangers and ghosts from their pasts--all leading back to what really happened outside of town.

Mammoth

The Wolf Woman

A wide-ranging portrait of the legendary leader of the Untouchables traces his years after his famous confrontation with Al Capone, documenting his efforts to end corruption in Cleveland and his achievements throughout the Torso Murderer case.

The Rise and Fall of an American Hero

Eliot Ness

The story of Eliot Ness, the legendary lawman who led the Untouchables, took on Al Capone, and saved a city’s soul As leader of an unprecedented crime-busting squad, twenty-eight-year-old Eliot Ness won fame for taking on notorious mobster Al Capone. But the Untouchables’ daring raids were only the beginning of Ness’s unlikely story. This new biography grapples with the charismatic lawman’s complicated, largely forgotten legacy. Perry chronicles Ness’s days in Chicago as well as his spectacular second act in Cleveland, where he achieved his greatest success: purging the profoundly corrupt city and forging new practices that changed police work across the country. He also faced one of his greatest challenges: a mysterious serial killer known as the Torso Murderer. Capturing the first complete portrait of the real Eliot Ness, Perry brings to life an unorthodox man who believed in the integrity of law and the power of American justice.

Douglas Perry

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