A NEW BOOK PROJECT

I haven't been very active on the blogging scene for quite some time as I have been laboring to finish a new book. I'm not quite through with the project, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's another murder case from Gilded Age New York City involving the mutilation murder of a prostitute in one of the worst slums in the city. Sound familiar?

At the time of the murder there was rampant speculation that Jack the Ripper had come from England to see if New York City's famous chief of detectives (Thomas Byrnes) could do any better a job of catching him than Scotland Yard had. An illegal immigrant known as George Frank aka Frank Sherlick aka Ameer Ben Ali was arrested, tried, convicted, and released after serving 11 years of a life sentence. History remembers the case as a false conviction, and over the years numerous suspects have been advanced as the real killer of the unfortunate prostitute.

Although I take a crack at solving the case myself, my primary purpose is, as always, to describe and critique the performance of the lawyers involved in the prosecution and defense of the case.  It is a truly remarkable case for a number of reasons, including the highly sophisticated forensic science which the prosecution used in obtaining the conviction, and the pivotal role played by the press in getting the defendant released from prison.

I'm in the process of polishing the book for presentation to prospective publishers. Wish me luck. Better yet, wish me some talent as I try to put my sentences together in literate fashion.