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David J. Krajicek

Goodreads Author

Born

South Omaha, Nebraska, The United States

Website

http://www.amazon.com/David-J.-Krajicek/e/B001K...

Twitter

djkrajicek

Genre

True Crime, History, Nonfiction

Influences

Raymond Chandler, Raymond Carver, and lots of ingenious Czech writers, ...more

Member Since

November 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/davidjkrajicek

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First things first: The name is pronounced CRY-check.

I'm a writer, mostly about crime and murder, although most recently I have published two family-related historical memoirs, "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha." Before retiring recently from the music business, I spent 30 years singing and playing trombone in a band based in the mountains of upstate New York--old-school R&B, like Motown and Stax. Nowadays, most of my spare time is consumed by tennis.

I come from South Omaha, Nebraska, although I now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Columbia University. I spent much of my early professional life as a newspaper crime reporter in the Midwest and New York City. I taugh First things first: The name is pronounced CRY-check.

I'm a writer, mostly about crime and murder, although most recently I have published two family-related historical memoirs, "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha." Before retiring recently from the music business, I spent 30 years singing and playing trombone in a band based in the mountains of upstate New York--old-school R&B, like Motown and Stax. Nowadays, most of my spare time is consumed by tennis.

I come from South Omaha, Nebraska, although I now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Columbia University. I spent much of my early professional life as a newspaper crime reporter in the Midwest and New York City. I taught journalism at Columbia during most of the 1990s before being compelled to return full-time to my primary muse: writing. I'm back to writing about crime, though in longer form.

For 20 years, from 1999 until 2019, I wrote The Justice Story for the Sunday New York Daily News. It's the longest-running true crime feature in American journalism, published in the News since 1923. Before retiring, each of my 500 columns looked back at an interesting historical crime case--the sorts of stories you will know hear recounted on the countless true crime podcasts.

I have written stories about crime and criminal justice for many media venues, including The Crime Report, Alternet, The New York Times, Columbia and Boston magazines, Slate, The Village Voice, The Manchester (U.K.) Guardian and Mother Jones.

I've had a long side career as a crime expert on TV, appearing more than 25 times on episodes of true crime shows. I've also talked about crime cases on "The Today Show" and was proud to be a part of "The Poisoner's Handbook" on PBS's American Experience.

My books include the family memoirs "Dear Mama" and "Coming Home to South Omaha," both published by News Ink Books; "Charles Manson" and "Mass Killers," by Arcturus/Sirius Books of London, England; "Massachusetts Disasters: True Stories of Tragedy and Survival (Second Edition)"; "Death by Rock 'n' Roll," a Kindle ebook from Crimescape/Rosetta Books; "True Crime: Missouri," a longtime regional bestseller published by Stackpole Books; "Murder, American Style" by News Ink Books, and "Scooped!", published by Columbia University Press.

I've dabbled in fiction, as well. My first published fiction, a short story called "Sutphin Blvd.," was included in an anthology by Midnight Mind Press in New York. Another of my short stories, "Bluefish," was performed at Literally Speaking, an Albany, N.Y., program similar to NPR's "Selected Shorts."

Thanks for your interest in my work. Without readers, there would be no writers. ...more

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Combine Editions
David J. Krajicek’s books

Average rating: 3.65 · 754 ratings · 100 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	Charles Manson: The Man Who Murdered the Sixties 3.57 avg rating — 341 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mass Killers: Inside the Minds of Men Who Murder 3.73 avg rating — 238 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	True Crime: Missouri 3.73 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mass Killers: Inside the Minds of Men Who Murder by David J. Krajicek (Goodreads Author), Bruce Porter (Foreword) 3.56 avg rating — 27 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death by Rock and Roll by David J. Krajicek (Goodreads Author), Marilyn J. Bardsley (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 3.33 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder, American Style: 50 Unforgettable True Stories of Love Gone Wrong 4.13 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scooped! 3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1998 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mass Killers: Inside the Minds of Men Who Murder 3.60 avg rating — 5 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Coming Home to South Omaha: An Immigrant Family's Journey from Ireland & Scotland to Nebraska it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2022	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gotti and Me: A Crime Reporter's Close Encounters With the New York Mafia 2.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by David J. Krajicek…

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David J. Krajicek's Blog: Murder and Other American Humors

My Hometown: South Omaha, Nebraska

On a summer day nearly 150 years ago, a thin young Irishwoman, hauling two bags that contained everything she owned, made her way down a crowded steamship gangplank onto a bustling dock at Long Wharf in Boston Harbor. Her name was Ellen McAuliffe, known to her loved ones as Nellie. She was 20 years old and hailed from Limerick, an ancient city in the Mid-West of Ireland. On that day, July 7, 1883, Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 20, 2023 07:18 • Tags: catholic, coming-home-to-south-omaha, kinnear, krajicek, limerick, mcauliffe, scotland, south-omaha, strack

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David is Currently Reading

David Krajicek is currently reading

A Place For Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order

by Judith Flanders (Goodreads Author)

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Jan 30, 2026 09:46AM

David Krajicek is currently reading

Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America

by Jane Borden

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Jan 30, 2026 09:22AM

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David Krajicek is currently reading A Place For Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order by Judith Flanders (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 30, 2026 09:28AM · like
David Krajicek is currently reading Cults Like Us: Why Doomsday Thinking Drives America by Jane Borden	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 30, 2026 09:22AM · like
David Krajicek rated a book liked it No Ordinary Bird: Drug Smuggling, a Plane Crash, and a Daughter's Quest for the Truth by Artis Henderson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 31, 2025 03:37AM · like
David Krajicek rated a book it was amazing The Man Nobody Killed: Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York by Elon Green (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This fine retrospective investigation into the unpunished slaying of a black man by white NYC cops 40 years ago left me shaking my head at the travesty of injustice. Green’s work also brought on a bit of Déjà vu; I covered cases like these for the NY ...more
Dec 21, 2025 12:22PM · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book really liked it Razor Girl (Andrew Yancy, #2) by Carl Hiaasen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
More fun in Key West with a plot centered on a phony Hick TV series, a kidnapping by a dandy Florida Man, and a woman with a unique shaving razor gig who proves to be the only sane character in the Keys. Hiaasen's real brilliance is that he manages t ...more
Apr 04, 2025 06:41AM · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book really liked it Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Fascinating concept for a murder pact, but the pace drags at times as the key character vacillates endlessly. The story was edgy for its time (circa 1950), with a subtext of Freudian "latent homosexuality." It's interesting to me that much of that wa ...more
Apr 04, 2025 06:24AM · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book it was amazing James by Percival Everett	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In this brilliant reimagining of the Huck Finn narrative, Everett turns racial stereotypes on their head, creating an enslaved Black man of intellectual depth. As his title character cleverly gets over on one "superior" after another, Everett settles ...more
Mar 17, 2025 07:48AM · 1 like · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book really liked it The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sweet story, clever wordsmithing, quick read.
Jan 31, 2025 10:05AM · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book liked it Slow Horses (Slough House, #1) by Mick Herron	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Herron creates vivid characters and an interesting story, but this first novel in his Slow Horses series suffers from too much chaff in the narrative. I wanted him to get on with it, and when he did it was a gripping ride.
Jan 18, 2025 09:09AM · like · see review
David Krajicek rated a book liked it White Teeth by Zadie Smith	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Brilliant writing--but too much of it for me. It's a dense 450 pages, owing in part to the many contextual asides (or, in some cases, blind alleys), as well as blocks of dialogue and narrative tangents that often needed weeding of extraneous chaff. ...more
Oct 08, 2024 04:57AM · like · see review