Non-Fiction

How many times over the course of fifteen years can an entire family (ranging in number from 3-10) be killed while asleep in their beds; where the murder weapon is their own axe, or that of a close neighbor; where the victims are bludgeoned with the blunt side of the axe; where a lit oil lamp without its chimney, and the wicked turned as low as possible is found at the foot of one of the beds; where money and valuables are left in plain sight; where there is no obvious motive, and the murderer disappears without a trace before the murders are discovered in a locked (or burned) house?

According to Bill and Rachael James the answer is “dozens” and the total number of victims — not counting those wrongfully convicted or lynched — was more than 100; all at the hands of one man, whom they purport to identify by name.

I came to this book after reading others about the Vallisca Axe Murders, which is one of the last the Jameses claim was committed by the man from the train. I’m not quite sure I buy their premise, but they list 33 factors they claim as the murderer’s MO.

I’ve just started The Boys In the Boat by Daniel James Brown, about the University of Washington crew which won the 1936 Olympic rowing medal. The George Clooney movie based on the book has just been released.