Strange Tales of Crime and Murder in Southern Indiana

by Keven McQueen, Kyle McQueen (Illustrator)

The author of Horror in the Heartland delves deep into the dark and sordid annals of the region where Hoosier history began.   Prepare to take a tour of some dark, strange moments of southern Indiana’s history. From the scheming wife who wanted her dull husband out of the way to make room for a young love affair and the husband who stomped his wife to death because she wouldn’t stop singing an irritating song, to the man who murdered an entire family to pay off some farming equipment and the case of a mistaken-identity murder, author Keven McQueen relates the sinister (or not so) motives and gruesome details of nine murders that occurred in southern Indiana between 1880 and 1912. With a detailed, if macabre, look at each story as well as the ambiguities surrounding the criminals and punishments, McQueen illuminates the darker side of Hoosier history.   Includes photos!

Genres: True Crime, History, Nonfiction

132 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

More information about Keven McQueen is available at his official website, http://www.kevenmcqueenstories.com/

Reviews

[Steve Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It put the lie to the "Golden Age Fallacy" that there was a purer time in America, particularly in The Heartland. Even in my grandparent's youth, we see horrendous crimes acted out in small and rustic little towns that few have heard of.

The author seems to have researched this diligently, going to news articles from the era, and wrote entertaining accounts of the murders. He cites his sources.

It was a fun, short little book. A bit expensive, given the size of it, but it seems book prices have shot up.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy short read with fun tales of old timey crimes. Each chapter is it's own story so you can put it down for weeks or months and then just pick it up and read another quick story

[elysia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this little book a chance while waiting on some others from my wishlist to come available, but unfortunately the book was so poorly written and edited that it overshadowed any interesting tales along the way.

[Lori G · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched, but I'm not exactly a fan of the author's inserted opinions. There were a few times where I cringed, such as when a woman was described as "mulatto" which was probably the correct terminology of the time, but this was not acknowledged or put into context, so it reads as of it's the author's choice of words.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book!

This book offered details of nine murders which occurred in southern Indiana in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries well as the resulting trials and verdicts. The cases were fascinating. I highly recommend it to other true crime readers.

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 3 out of 5]

A peculiar look at murders and crimes which happened in Southern Indiana during the time period of 1880 - 1912. Tales include a young man who murders his adoptive parents to be able to wed his sister (pregnant with someone else's child), a body found mummified in the Ohio River and the people who went to court over who owned it, and a serial killer in Evansville, IN.

The stories are researched as best as possible considering some of the newspapers and court papers didn't provide all the information as to what happened afterward to the victims or families. Still, it's an interesting little book and a quick read (if you don't mind reading a lot of stories about murders in a short amount of time).

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim, amusingly-written and -illustrated series of stories of some of the more unusual historical murder cases in Indiana, including a brutal mass murder, a protracted legal fight over the ownership of an unidentified man's body, and a murderer who was sentenced to death and then reprieved only to murder another individual in prison. People who like John Stark Bellamy II's stories about crime in Cleveland will like this book, and I wouldn't mind reading more of this author's work.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just as the title says, stories of Crimes and Murder in Southern Indiana. Most of these crimes occured in the early 1900s, and the author appears to have done his research into the incidents and consequences. An interesting read!