The Faceless Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the 20th Century: Volume One

by Jenny Ashford

What is it about unsolved murders that still fascinates us long after the cases have gone cold? Is it simply that we enjoy being able to come up with our own theories about what happened to the unfortunate victims? Or are we intrigued by the terrifying possibility that the killers are still out there somewhere? The Faceless Volume One is the first in a three volume series that explores the most mysterious and disturbing unsolved murders of the twentieth century. This volume is comprised of the years 1900 through 1959, and includes all of the best known cases of the period, as well as many more lesser-known murders, all presented in a compelling chronological narrative that takes the reader on a grisly journey through the blood-soaked avenues of early twentieth century crime. The Peasenhall Murder. The Seal Chart Murder. The Atlanta Ripper. The Villisca Axe Murders. The Axeman of New Orleans. The Green Bicycle Case. Little Lord Fauntleroy. Hinterkaifeck Farm. The St. Aubin Street Massacre. The Wallace Case. The Atlas Vampire. The Brighton Trunk Crime. The Cleveland Torso Murderer. The Horror in Room 1046. Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm? The Pitchfork Murder. The Sodder Children. The Phantom Killer. The Black Dahlia. Somerton Man. The Grimes Sisters. The Boy in the Box. And Much More!

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Horror, Audiobook, Ebooks

352 pages, Paperback

Published October 9, 2017

About the author

Jenny Ashford is a horror, true crime, and paranormal writer, graphic designer, and podcaster. ​Her most recent books are a three-volume true crime compilation collectively known as The Faceless Villain: A Collection of the Eeriest Unsolved Murders of the Twentieth Century. Volume One was published in 2017, Volume Two in 2018, and Volume Three in 2019.

​Her other books include four paranormal nonfiction books: The Unseen Hand: A New Exploration of Poltergeist Phenomena, The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist (with Tom Ross), House of Fire and Whispers: Investigating the Seattle Demon House, and The Rochdale Poltergeist (both with Steve Mera); as well as three horror novels, Red Menace, Bellwether, and The Five Poisons; two short story collections, Hopeful Monsters and The Associated Villainies; and a graphic novel, The Tenebrist. A second edition of The Associated Villainies was published in 2019, featuring four new stories, an enhanced print layout, and an audio book version.

Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including The Nightmare Collective, History Is Dead, 2012AD, ChimeraWorld #3, and ChimeraWorld #4. Her horror blog, Goddess of Hellfire, contains writing news, short stories and articles, and her reviews and opinions on horror films and books.

She also co-hosts a podcast with Tom Ross called 13 O'Clock, on which they discuss paranormal weirdness, true crime, unexplained mysteries, and other fun, creepy topics.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely trash books. This one was basically an annotated list. Making lots of unsolved crimes boring takes work. This book nailed it. UGH.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent true crime book of unsolved murders from 1900 - 1959. Volume Two contains murders from 1960-1979 and Volume Three contains murders from 1980-1999.

[Michael Eickhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been much of a reader but love the 13 O’Clock podcast done by Jenny Ashford. The few stories shared on the podcast had me interested in giving the book a try. I listened to the audiobook version and absolutely loved it. It is very easy to break it into chunks since the book is broken down by year of the crime. I listened during my commute home from work and found myself sitting in the car continuing to listen after I got home. The stories seem very well researched and are presented in a factual way. The stories have enough detail and length to explain the case along with suspect investigation without dragging out or presenting too much of the author’s opinion - allowing the reading to draw their own conclusion. If you’re a fan of Jenny Ashford, true crime or unsolved murders I would give this book a read or listen. If you do enjoy one of the before mentioned topics this will be a 5-star book.

[Dachokie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a chronological series of unsolved murders from 1902-1959 with each chapter representing a particular year. While the stories of the crimes are summarized and somewhat superficial, they are quite interesting and well-told. Some of the cases are well-known (like the Black Dahlia and the Texarkana Phantom Killer), but I was unfamiliar with many of the crimes in the book and the summaries of these crimes made me interested in learning more about them by reading more case-specific books.

Certainly not a one-stop-shop resource for any of the cases presented, but a good primer that draws attention to many obscure and interesting unsolved murders from the first half of the 20th century. The author has followed this with two additional volumes that I plan to read as well.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! While none of these cases are delved into in a notable amount of depth, I was introduced to a number of cases I'd never heard of before. In addition, there is a good amount of framework given on each case that I felt I had a decent understanding of where investigators were at any given time in the process.

However, now I'm stuck thinking about even more unsolved cases than I was going into reading this, and that's always incredibly frustrating.

[Miss Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for true crime buffs

She even had a few in here that I hadn't heard of; which was great. The only drawback was that she didn't separate the chapters completely and instead did two or more stories. It could've been done a bit differently, I found it jarring to go back and forth betwixt various cases.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this volume up in pursuit of a fascination with unsolved murders, and it abundantly provided what I was looking for. Entries are brief, sometimes too much so. And for killers whose crimes occurred years apart, different murders get different entries, which can make them a little hard to follow. Overall this is a reasonably good reference work.

[TAMARA WIDLAKE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cold cases most intriguing

These stories keep one wondering who run it many of these stories will remain unsolved due to the age of the cases sadly

[Norma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good not great. I wouldn't pay for it but if you can get from the library or from Amazon unlimited; its a good fast read.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read. Just sad that there is no resolution for these cases. It’s even sadder the ones the victims were never even identified!

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting selection of stories. There are a lot I haven't read before, so it was a nice change from the usual crime stories.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great collection of missing or unsolved murders, ranging over a wide period and as a result some are a bit brief for me, but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and chilling!

Ashford gives readers a detailed rundown of each murder and the ensuing investigation, and that information, though condensed to a few pages, was sufficient to capture my interest and keep me reading. There's always the danger that the entries in a book like this will start to run together and become repetitive, but Ashford did a good job of highlighting the unique characteristics of each case, so that didn't happen. She also excelled at bringing the cases to life in such a way that I did not like picking up the book when my husband worked nights. (It's compulsively readable, though, so I still picked it up on those nights. I just didn't LIKE it. Lol!) A few of the cases intrigued me so much that I've sought out books that focus exclusively on them.

Ashford is a talented writer, and she has chosen a fascinating topic. My only reservation is that the subject matter is unrelentingly dark, which was probably not the best choice for me (someone who doesn't read a lot of true crime) during a pandemic. I would still highly recommend this book!

[SteveL · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime has exploded to be a popular subject in the last few decades, and within that is the specific unsolved variety. The Faceless Villian Vol. 1 is a collection of unsolved murders from 1900 to 1959.

This is a fantastic read, or in my case, listen as I listened to the audiobook for any true crime fan. The book catalogs the most bizarre and strange unsolved murders of the time period. Some are detailed that jump through multiple chapters as they are updated. Others, like the case of the Atlas Vampire, are short as there isn't much detail to go through. It is a book of cases that can each lead down their own rabbit hole for a true crime fan.

To truly get the most out of this book and each of the volumes is to listen to all of them. It is hard to put down just one, but certain updates don't seem to come till the next volume. Also, some of the cases are very short in terms of the span of the book. It's still a fantastic read for any true crime fan.

[Negan88 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy and Unsettling!

This first volume of The Faceless Villain by Jenny Ashford was really quite disturbing. Jenny gets down and dirty with the facts about unsolved crimes, and goes into some detail pertaining gruesome murders.
Ashford is tactful in the way she writes about the unsolved crimes, but also keeps things interesting and not a bore.
I look forward to reading the other installments in the Faceless Villain trilogy. This one kept me up at night!