Murder Stories engages with the current theoretical debate in death penalty research on the role of cultural commitments to 'American' ideologies in the retention of capital punishment. The central aim of the study is to illuminate the elusive yet powerful role of ideology in legal discourses. Through analyzing the content and processes of death penalty narratives, this research illuminates the covert life of 'the American Creed, ' (a nexus of ideologies--liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissez faire--said to be unique to the United States) in the law. Murder Stories...