American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper -- Daniel Stashower, Hardcover

New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award-winner Daniel Stashower returns with American Demon, a historical true crime starring legendary lawman Eliot Ness.

Boston had its Strangler. California had the Zodiac Killer. And in the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland had the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

On September 5th, 1934, a young beachcomber made a gruesome discovery on the shores of Cleveland's Lake Erie: the lower half of a female torso, neatly severed at the waist. The victim, dubbed "The Lady of the Lake," was only the first of a butcher's dozen. Over the next four years, twelve more bodies would be scattered across the city. The bodies were dismembered with surgical precision and drained of blood. Some were beheaded while still alive.

Terror gripped the city. Amid the growing uproar, Cleveland's besieged mayor turned to his newly-appointed director of public safety: Eliot Ness. Ness had come to Cleveland fresh from his headline-grabbing exploits in Chicago, where he and his band of "Untouchables" led the frontline assault on Al Capone's bootlegging empire. Now he would confront a case that would redefine his storied career.

Award-winning author Daniel Stashower shines a fresh light on one of the most notorious puzzles in the annals of crime, and uncovers the gripping story of Ness's hunt for a sadistic killer who was as brilliant as he was cool and composed, a mastermind who was able to hide in plain sight. American Demon reconstructs this ultimate battle of wits between a hero and a madman.

Author: Daniel Stashower
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 09/06/2022
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.43w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9781250041166

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 04/01/2022 pg. 14
Publishers Weekly 07/04/2022
Library Journal 07/01/2022 pg. 76
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2022
Booklist 09/01/2022 pg. 8
Shelf Awareness 09/09/2022