Books With Flair

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time From the Modern Library’s new set of beautifully repackaged hardcover classics by Truman Capote—also available are Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Other Voices, Other Rooms (in one volume), Portraits and Observations, and The Complete Stories Truman Capote’s masterpiece, In Cold Blood, created a sensation when it was first published, serially, in The New Yorker in 1965. The intensively researched, atmospheric narrative of the lives of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, and of the two men, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, who brutally killed them on the night of November 15, 1959, is the seminal work of the “new journalism.” Perry Smith is one of the great dark characters of American literature, full of contradictory emotions. “I thought he was a very nice gentleman,” he says of Herb Clutter. “Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” Told in chapters that alternate between the Clutter household and the approach of Smith and Hickock in their black Chevrolet, then between the investigation of the case and the killers’ flight, Capote’s account is so detailed that the reader comes to feel almost like a participant in the events.

An account of the senseless murder of a Kansas farm family and the search for the killers

"Truman Capote and the Legacy of ""'In Cold Blood"' is the anatomy of the origins of an American literary landmark and its legacy. "

A special anniversary edition presents Capote's masterful account of the senseless 1959 murders of four members of a farm family in Holcomb, Kansas, and the search for the killers, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. Reissue. 10,000 first printing.

Based on stunning new details discovered in the personal journals former Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Harold R. Nye, "And Every Word Is True" lays out a fresh, meticulously-researched perspective on the Clutter murder case made famous in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."

Dave Hickock never pulled the trigger of a gun or held a knife to murder another person, but he was sentenced to a lifetime of shame, ostracism, guilt, and psychological anguish because of the actions of one man—his brother. On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock drove to a bus station in Kansas City and picked up Perry Smith, a prison buddy. Together, they drove to Emporia, Kansas, and purchased rubber gloves, nylon cord, and black stockings. Before day's end, four innocent members of the Clutter family in a town across the state of Kansas would have their throats slashed and Richard and his buddy would be arrested and charged with one of the most brutal and infamous murders ever. As the brother of a cold-blooded killer, Dave's life would never be the same. In this compelling narrative told to Linda LeBert-Corbello, Dave shares his journey from the depths of a family tragedy to how he eventually found the kind of inner-peace that accompanies acceptance of the truth and forgiveness. I do not just want to forget and live happily ever after. I want to be forgiven. —David Hickock

1956. Argentina has just lost its charismatic president Juán Perón in a military coup, and terror reigns across the land. June 1956: eighteen people are reported dead in a failed Peronist uprising. December 1956: sometime journalist, crime fiction writer, studiedly unpoliticized chess aficionado Rodolfo Walsh learns by chance that one of the executed civilians from a separate, secret execution in June, is alive. He hears that there may be more than one survivor and believes this unbelievable story on the spot. And right there, the monumental classic Operation Massacre is born. Walsh made it his mission to find not only the survivors but widows, orphans, political refugees, fugitives, alleged informers, and anonymous heroes, in order to determine what happened that night, sending him on a journey that took over the rest of his life. Originally published in 1957, Operation Massacre thoroughly and breathlessly recounts the night of the execution and its fallout.

In her home on Empire Avenue, Donna Whalen was stabbed 31 times. Her friends, family, and neighbours believed it was her abusive boyfriend, Sheldon Troke. But the evidence is all circumstantial, providing a daunting challenge for police and prosecutors—and the course of justice takes many unpredictable twists and turns before the truth is finally revealed. In this mesmerizing work of documentary fiction, Michael Winter pieces together the transcripts and court testimonies of Sheldon's trial. He preserves the nuanced voice of each witness, and the result is a harsh account of the tragedy that befell Donna Whalen and the controversial aftermath that tore her town apart.

Book three in a stunning new crime series from 2m+ international bestseller Adam Croft. A body is found under Welland Viaduct on a bitterly cold winter morning. But this will be a murder investigation like no other. As DI Caroline Hills and DS Dexter Antoine begin to unravel the dark secrets in the victim's life, they find themselves sucked into a web of lies and betrayal. Rutland Police need to find the killer before it’s too late. But with Caroline’s health failing and their main witness suspiciously missing, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Dark histories, mysterious gifts and hidden secrets abound. But will they discover the truth before anyone else is killed in cold blood? ‘Incredible’ — BBC News ‘A sensation’ — The Guardian