What do you think?
Rate this book
True Crime Stories of the South
Explore the dark side of the South… The South boasts a rich storytelling tradition--and a rich history of criminal behavior. From Texas to the Virginias, each place has different stories to tell. Several involve writers of the first Harper Lee researched true crime in Alabama and Zora Neale Hurston reported on a landmark murder trial in Florida. A serial killer leaves Louisiana to travel the country, a lonely-hearts swindler visits Texas, Arkansas witnesses a surprising spate of unrelated strychnine poisonings, a West Virginia murder is revealed in a dream, and a one-armed conjure-man commits murder-for-hire in North Carolina. Forensic science expands the crimefighters' toolkit in this tour of some of the South's true crime cases. Crime writer Cathy Pickens brings a novelist's eye to the sinister South and its defining--and quirky--crime stories.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
192 pages, Paperback
Published December 30, 2025
3 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Pickens
24 books66 followersCrime writer Cathy Pickens started her writing life as a mystery novelist. The first of five mysteries in the Southern Fried series won St. Martin’s Award for Best New Traditional Mystery.
Her fascination with the power of real crime stories led to a series for History Press, starting with Charleston Mysteries and Charlotte True Crime Stories.
She is a frequent mystery convention panelist, speaking on topics ranging from Southern mysteries to classic true crime stories to the use of poisons. At various times and under various aliases, she’s been a trial attorney specializing in complex civil litigation; a university provost; a business school professor (at Queens University of Charlotte); a church organist and choir director; and a ballroom and clog dance coach.
She has served as national president of Sisters in Crime, on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding board member of the regional Forensic Medicine Program.
Based on her book CREATE! Develop Your Creative Process, she offers workshops on developing the creative process. She also coaches and teaches new writers through Charlotte Lit, and works with former inmates and those in rehab on starting their own businesses and writing their own stories.
Her fascination with the power of real crime stories led to a series for History Press, starting with Charleston Mysteries and Charlotte True Crime Stories.
She is a frequent mystery convention panelist, speaking on topics ranging from Southern mysteries to classic true crime stories to the use of poisons. At various times and under various aliases, she’s been a trial attorney specializing in complex civil litigation; a university provost; a business school professor (at Queens University of Charlotte); a church organist and choir director; and a ballroom and clog dance coach.
She has served as national president of Sisters in Crime, on the national board of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding board member of the regional Forensic Medicine Program.
Based on her book CREATE! Develop Your Creative Process, she offers workshops on developing the creative process. She also coaches and teaches new writers through Charlotte Lit, and works with former inmates and those in rehab on starting their own businesses and writing their own stories.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.