Bestselling true-crime author M. William Phelps, star of the new investigative television series "Dark Minds," takes readers to his own backyard in these eight bloodcurdling murder cases. Think New England is all bucolic landscapes and Robert Frost poems? Think again. In Murder, New England, Phelps explores different motives, themes, and community reactions to horrific crimes: ** Murder by Blood: The Strange Death of Rebecca Cornwell (1673, Narragansset Bay, RI). A 73-year-old widow burned to death in front of her bedroom fireplace ** William Beadle: Husband, Father, Murderer (1782,...

Although famous for his purported last words--"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"--few people know the real Nathan Hale.

M. William Phelps brings into focus the life of this famed patriot and first spy of the American Revolution, charting Hale's rural childhood, his education at Yale, and his work as a schoolteacher. Like many young Americans, he was soon drawn into the colonies' war for independence and became a captain in Washington's army. When the general was in need of a spy, Hale willingly rose to the challenge, gathering intelligence behind British lines...

"Phelps is a true-crime veteran." --New York Post

Cherry Walker was a devoted, trusting, uncommonly innocent young woman who loved caring for a neighbor's little boy. But when she was asked to testify in court against his abusive mother, Cherry never got the chance. She couldn't lie if her life depended on it--and it did. Cherry's body was found on the side of a Texas road, after being doused with lighter fluid and set aflame.

Attractive, manipulative, and violent, mother of four Kim Cargill had a wealth of dirty secrets she'd do anything to keep hidden. This in-depth...