The Murder Room: The Heirs of Sherlock Holmes Gather to Solve the World's Most Perplexing Cold Cases
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Thrilling, true tales from the Vidocq Society, a team of the world's finest forensic investigators whose monthly gourmet lunches lead to justice in ice-cold murders Three of the greatest detectives in the world—a renowned FBI agent turned private eye, a sculptor and lothario who speaks to the dead, and an eccentric profiler known as "the living Sherlock Holmes"-were heartsick over the growing tide of unsolved murders. Good friends and sometime rivals William Fleisher, Frank Bender, and Richard Walter decided one day over lunch that something had to be done, and pledged themselves to a grand quest for justice. The three men invited the greatest collection of forensic investigators ever assembled, drawn from five continents, to the Downtown Club in Philadelphia to begin an audacious quest: to bring the coldest killers in the world to an accounting. Named for the first modern detective, the Parisian eugène François Vidocq-the flamboyant Napoleonic real-life sleuth who inspired Sherlock Holmes-the Vidocq Society meets monthly in its secretive chambers to solve a cold murder over a gourmet lunch. The Murder Room draws the reader into a chilling, darkly humorous, awe-inspiring world as the three partners travel far from their Victorian dining room to hunt the ruthless killers of a millionaire's son, a serial killer who carves off faces, and a child killer enjoying fifty years of freedom and dark fantasy. Acclaimed bestselling author Michael Capuzzo's brilliant storytelling brings true crime to life more realistically and vividly than it has ever been portrayed before. It is a world of dazzlingly bright forensic science; true evil as old as the Bible and dark as the pages of Dostoevsky; and a group of flawed, passionate men and women, inspired by their own wounded hearts to make a stand for truth, goodness, and justice in a world gone mad. Publishers Weekly Despite journalist Capuzzo's obvious reverence for the crime fighters he profiles, his account of the formation of the legendary Vidocq Society is as scattered as many of the cold case files they wade through. Based in Philadelphia, the Vidocq Society was the brainchild of three wildly different men brought together by their desire to speak for the dead: freewheeling exboxer turned forensic sculptor Frank Bender; FBI and U.S. Customs agent William Fleisher; and pre-eminent forensic psychologist and profiler Richard Walter. What began as an informal meeting of colleagues in 1990 evolved into an expansive international think tank of sorts modeled and named after France's famed criminal-turned-sleuth Euge`ne Vidocq, a model for Sherlock Holmes. The cases--ranging from Philadelphia's long-festering "Boy in the Box" murder to the "Butcher of Cleveland," a serial killer who taunted Elliot Ness in the 1930s--are fascinating, but Capuzzo (Close to Shore) loses much of his narrative momentum by abruptly shifting between the founding members' individual backstories and homicides the society investigates. Yet there is no denying that the 82 "VSMs"(Vidocq Society Member) do an immeasurable service in the name of justice. (Aug. 10)
PrologueThe Profiler and the PriestThe Voice of the BloodPART ONE THE MURDER ROOMChapter 1 The Connoisseurs of Murder 1Chapter 2 The Man Who Got Away with Murder 10Chapter 3 The Knights of the Cafe Table 17PART TWO FOUR BOYSChapter 4 A Little Child Shall Lead Them 23Chapter 5 Cops and Robbers 30Chapter 6 The Man Who Saw Dead People 42Chapter 7 Shades of the Dark Knight 51Chapter 8 Guardians of the City 57Chapter 9 Cold Eyes from the Past 63Chapter 10 On the Trail of the Assassin 66Chapter 11 Death of a B-Girl 70Chapter 12 The Visual Detective 83Chapter 13 The Man with the Bad Stomach 92Chapter 14 On the Trail of the Warlock 100Chapter 15 The Reluctant Knight-Errant 109Chapter 16 The Perfect Mass Murder 113Chapter 17 The Mask of the Invisible Man 122Chapter 18 The Return of Vidocq 130PART THREE THE VIDOCQ SOCIETYChapter 19 The Gathering of Detectives 139Chapter 20 Busted 146Chapter 21 The Detective of Souls 156Chapter 22 The Death Artist 160Chapter 23 Dreams of Morpheus 164Chapter 24 A Case They Can't Let Go 166Chapter 25 The Butcher of Cleveland 178Chapter 26 Imploring God 188Chapter 27 The End of the Affair 192Chapter 28 Catch Me If You Can 198Chapter 29 The Case of the Shoeless Corpse 206Chapter 30 The Case of the Prodigal Son 216Chapter 31 The Sage of Scotland Yard 220Chapter 32 Think Therefore on Revenge 227Chapter 33 Murder in the Cathedral 236Chapter 34 What I Want to Hear Are Handcuffs 242Chapter 35 The Consulting Detectives 253PART FOUR BATTLING MONSTERSChapter 36 Take Me to the Psychopath 261Chapter 37 The Stranger in Biddle House 268Chapter 38 City of Brotherly Mayhem 279Chapter 39 Wrath Sweeter by Far than the Honeycomb 283Chapter 40 The Worst Mother in History 294Chapter 41 The Boy Who Never Died 298Chapter 42 The Eight Babies Called "It" 304Chapter 43 Murder in Triplicate 310Chapter 44 From Heaven to Hell 316Chapter 45 The Descent 322Chapter 46 In the World Which Will Be Renewed 328Chapter 47 "Congratulations, You've Found Your Killer" 332Chapter 48 Interrogation 337Chapter 49 The Haunting of Mary 348Chapter 50 The Case of the Missing Face 350Chapter 51 The Killer Angels 360Chapter 52 The Ghost 373Chapter 53 The Ninth Circle of Hell 380Chapter 54 Death in the Time of Bananas 395Chapter 55 The Miracle on South Street 399Chapter 56 Knights of the Round Tables 405
