Book Club is My Alibi In-Person

Join us for a discussion of The Man from the Train: Discovering America's Most Elusive Serial Killer by Bill James. Please register online.

Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight; bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villisca, Iowa murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related, and fewer still realized that all of these families lived within walking distance of a train station.

When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these crimes, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the analytical acumen he brings to baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then, after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal, and in turn uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in American history.

2018; 480 pages.

Book Club is My Alibi is a book group for true crime enthusiasts. Meets monthly on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7pm. All are welcome.