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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 write mostly about crime and murder but have also published two narrative-style historical memoirs centered on my family,

Before retiring from the music business a few years ago, 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, my spare time is consumed by travel, tennis, reading, and the study of languages.

I was born and raised in South Omaha, Nebraska, and now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska 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 jour First things first: The name is pronounced CRY-check.

I write mostly about crime and murder but have also published two narrative-style historical memoirs centered on my family,

Before retiring from the music business a few years ago, 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, my spare time is consumed by travel, tennis, reading, and the study of languages.

I was born and raised in South Omaha, Nebraska, and now split time between New York and the Gulf Coast.

I studied at the University of Nebraska 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.

For 20 years, 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 now hear recounted on countless true crime podcasts.

I've written 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 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: 3.64 · 791 ratings · 104 reviews · 18 distinct works • Similar authors

	Charles Manson: The Man Who Murdered the Sixties 3.56 avg rating — 357 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 — 255 ratings — 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
	True Crime: Missouri 3.75 avg rating — 95 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) 3.47 avg rating — 30 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
	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

Slow Learner

by Thomas Pynchon

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David Krajicek rated a book did not like it This Is Happiness by Niall Williams (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
Yet another novel mired in all the cliches of Catholicism. Not for me.
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David Krajicek wants to read Four Later Novels: Black Money / The Instant Enemy / The Goodbye Look / The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald	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
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David Krajicek wants to read The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City, 1986-1990 by Jonathan Mahler	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
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David Krajicek rated a book liked it 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
This remarkably researched book goes deep into the origins of the alphabets of various languages, as well as offering minutely detailed historical views of words, writing, books and the organization of all of the above. Unfortunately, this "Curious H ...more
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Borden casts a raised eyebrow at the question of why Americans (and many others, to be fair) are so crazy about cults. It's a breezy take, with properly cheeky asides directed at the absurdities of so many cults--the mass-suicidal Heaven's Gate group, ...more
Feb 09, 2026 08:26AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Cults Like Us by Jane Borden. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Cults Like Us by Jane Borden <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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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
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