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Readers who are interested in art, history, true crime, or any combination of the three will like what Museum of the Missing has to offer. Simon Houpt chronicles the history and different types of art theft throughout the years. The book also provides a background of recovery efforts of stolen art and advancements that are being made in crime prevention. The best part of this book is that the pages are interspersed with excellent color photos of the actual paintings, in order to truly appreciate what you are reading about. This book is a great find for art buffs, yet is also readable enough to be enjoyed by beginners hoping to learn about the world of art.

Reviewed by Sandra S., North County Regional

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Bessie Goldberg hired Roy Smith, an African American man from an employment service, to help with cleaning her home. This was in 1963 in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Also working in the area as a carpenter was Albert DeSalvo, who would later be convicted as the Boston Strangler. It was unusual to see a black man in Belmont so Smith was remembered by many people as he left the area. He was convicted of Bessie’s murder. Junger, of Belmont, does an interesting job of researching and questioning whether Smith or DeSalvo was the actual murderer. This has a lot of historical detail of everyday life in the 1960s. A very interesting book.

Reviewed by Gloria J., North County Regional

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Imagine returning home from a celebratory dinner with your family only to hear two gunshots as your son and wife enter the house. As you follow to the front door, there is another shot and you are hit. Then there is a fourth shot, and you know your other son was the target. It happened to Kent Whitaker, and this is his emotional story of how he dealt with the pain of losing his family and how he forgave the monster responsible for his loss. This is a story of unbelievable faith and forgiveness. Whitaker reveals his heart-wrenching experience with openness and honesty, leaving the reader wondering how such a tragedy could occur.

Reviewed by Cassandra H., Mint Hill Branch

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The state of Kansas was still a wild, thinly-populated area when the Bender family came to northern Labette County in 1870. No one knows where they came from, but they settled near Cherry Vale. The surrounding community accepted them as eccentric, but harmless. By 1872 a series of travelers had disappeared in the vicinity, and suspicion fell on the Benders. After the family's secretive departure, their homestead was searched, revealing eight graves on the property, as well as a blood-soaked cellar underneath the house. A reward was posted, but although sightings were claimed, no member of the family was ever brought to justice. Geary has again told a compelling true Victorian murder story, this time with many unsolved mysteries.

Reviewed by Mark S., University City Regional

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Writer/illustrator Rick Geary’s A Treasury of Victorian Murder series continues with this tale of the scandalous secret affair between an upper class Scottish woman and a gentleman of lower standing. As the story opens, we see young clerk Emile L’Anglier knocking on his landlady’s door in Glasgow, doubled over in pain. He dies within hours, and autopsy confirms death from arsenic poisoning. Several love letters signed "Mimi" are found among his possessions; soon a young woman named Madeleine Smith is arrested for the murder. Geary then gives a family history of the two lovers, and their two-year affair. Despite proof of the affair and evidence that Madeleine had purchased arsenic, the trial ends in her acquittal. A final chapter covers the rest of Madeleine's life up to her death in New York.

Reviewed by Mark S., University City Regional

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