Return Again to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Even More Infamous Places in Chicago

This sequel to "Return to the Scene of the Crime" is even better than the original. While the initial entry covered many familiar crime scenes which are a part of Chicago's infamous history, this book pounds the pavement and deals with many other crimes that were sensational in their own time frame, but forgotten with the passage of decades. These lesser known tales are oftentimes more interesting than those subjects which have addressed repeatedly. What I like about these books is the coverage is more than adequate, but not exhaustive. You can read the capers and crimes individually if you cannot manage to find an hour in which to read an entire chapter. It is an enjoyable day trip. Rich Lindberg also documents the rise, the decline, the demolition and the gentrification that has altered the appearance of the City of Chicago so often over the course of its one hundred and seventy-five year existence. Once an out of town visitor asked me about the whereabouts of the Levee while we were in the South Loop. I had to respond that we were standing in it. It is fairly amazing to see rows of brand new townhouses and single family homes standing in what was once the red light district. Like its predecessor, this book does not concern itself solely with criminal activities. Accounts of disasters, tragedies and even acts of wartime espionage can also be found in these pages. This book would make a fine gift for any Chicago enthusiast or tourist.

This guy below obviously has never been to Chicago. I'm sure it's a much better place than where he and his small mind were raised. Anyway, the book is great for both crime buffs and people with interest in Chicago, the greatest city in the world.

The subject is interesting and the details are wonderful. My problem with the book is the writing. One sentence in the book was over 70 words long. In my day we called that a paragraph.Also, many things had to be read twice to see what the writter meant rather than what was written.The best example of this is what the author call a sidetrack on page 174. He writes "sections of the beach extended fifty to one hundred fifty feet into the lake, indicating that the water level had dropped six feet or more" To me if the beach is into the lake the water level has risen. I believe he's trying to say the water receded fifty to one hundred and fifty feet.All in all a great description of Chicago life and neighborhoods.

I am a friend, so I may be biased, but the first (Return to the Scene of the Crime) was so good, I was happy to see the second. Anyone who is interested in Chicago history, mystery, or geography will enjoy both these books. Richard's rich descriptions of both famous and long-forgotten cases create excellent backdrops for the events he narrates, and the information about the "then" and "now" of the communities in which they occur wrap up the stories neatly.

I don't know how author Rich Lindberg comes up with his material, but he has a knack for story-telling, and this true-crime anthology is just as good, if not better than the first volume in the series, "Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago." The sequel features the story of the executed Nazi spy, Herbert Haupt, captured on the North Side in 1942. It is particularly timely, given the ponderous debate over what to do with the captured American Taliban, John Walker. In 1942, Haupt slipped into Chicago and was promptly seized by the FBI, tried, convicted and executed within a few months. This is but one of an amazing assortment of stories lost to history. The "Vampire Woman" of Hammond is another, and the two female "Torso Killers" of Wrigleyville is quirky, amazing, and gruesome but one that I never heard of until now. This chilling crime of passion happened in 1935, proving once again that the daily dose of violent and heinous crime we hear about we are subjected to on the news every night is not exclusive to our modern times. Blanche Dunkel and Evelyn Smith, the two North Side femme fatales, chopped up the victim Irvin Lang in 1935. Lindberg's research on this case is meticulous: he even looked up their parole dates, and unlike other authors who leave us hanging once the suspects are arrested and tried, he tells us the rest of the story. This book is not only crime told with grim irony, an occasional dash of cynicism, and much pathos, it is a moving account of the City of Chicago, and the people that shaped its destiny for good and bad. Lindberg is a fine writer, and it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next.