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

Rich Lindberg's approach to Chicago history has a powerful similarity to that of Carl Sandburg, who immortalized the city forever in his violently loving poem "Chicago". In "Return to the Scene of the Crime", Lindberg gives specific and mesmerizing instances of the "painted women under the gas lamps luring the farm boys" and the "gunman (who) kill and then go free to kill again." The impact is the same as the Sandberg poem: dark, honest, and unforgettable. "Return to the Scene of the Crime" is popular history at its finest. Lindberg has an engaging writing style that grabs reader interest from the beginning, and his liberal use of street maps, crime scene photos, and recent images of historic tragedy sites make this volume equal parts guidebook and True Crime encyclopaedia. The crimes and disasters profiled include the 1889 murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the shooting of John Dillinger outside the Biograph movie house, and the Iroquois Theatre Fire. Some of the cases remain mysteries today, such as the identity of the Haymarket bomber, whereas others, like the Carl Wanderer wife slaying, saw the killer pay the ultimate penalty for his misdeeds. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre garage and other celebrated Chicago crime scenes may be gone now, but Lindberg's book is a literary preservation of the tragedies they witnessed.

The fact that the cable documentary channels borrow heavily from the content of this book, and that the author is constantly showing up on Discovery, the Travel Channel and A & E talking about Windy City bad guys like Dillinger, Capone, et. al., says a lot about the quality of the writing and the public fascination with the subject matter. Return to the Scene is loaded with lot's of good stuff. It has a "film noir," shadows and night look and feel to it. But that's Chicago. And I highly recommend this book.

Let me first say that I hate "true crime" books.I have never read "Helter Skelter." I do not possess any books on the Brown's Chicken and Pasta murders. I watched the infamous Geraldo Rivera "Al Capone's Vaults" special in 1987, but that was for a class assignment. Honest.That having been said, this book is a fascinating read. Having lived in Chicago for eight years total, many of the events recounted in "Return to the Scene of the Crime" were merely hints, off-handedly dropped by natives in conversation. Unpleasant topics, deliberately skirted, best avoided.However lurid, however horrifying, however infamous, Speck, Gacy, the Lexington Hotel, the Summerdale police scandal--these are all indelible parts of our town's history, and Lindberg writes of them with the sort of expertise that can only be gained from intimate familiarity, some from word of mouth, some from the papers, some from dusty files in ancient cabinets. The author's documentary sources have largely been in the care and custody of the Chicago Crime Commission since the events originally occurred, and it's hard to imagine a more authoritative repository for this information. As a survey work, you'd be hard-pressed to find better.If there is a problem with the book, it is that a number of the maps cite incorrect locations for certain addresses provided in the text. I recall about half a dozen or so spots which were anywhere from a couple of blocks to a half-mile distant from the actual location referenced. In case of conflict, go with the text. If you're really touring these locations, though, Chicago's grid system was designed to make navigation easy, and I wish you the best of luck.I was occasionally jarred by Lindberg's insertion of political commentary into what I felt would have been better served as an unbiased reporting of events. For instance, the author has quite a bit to say on the subject of inter-jurisdictional squabbling among the northwest suburban police departments during the Brown's investigation. A number of discursions are taken into the issue of police corruption (the section on the Summerdale police scandal is one of the largest in the book). These would have detracted from an academic historical text, but the savvy reader should keep in mind that this isn't *really* a book of history (not even really a tour guide), so much as a book of local folklore. Chicago is as much a city of myth and legend as any other in America. With that in mind, I feel the book as a whole is a success.Fair warning, these tales really aren't for the squeamish. A number of stories involve some graphic detail, so be prepared.

I just finished Return to the Scene of the Crime,and I agree with the newspaper and magazine reviewers who are pretty unanimous in their opinions - and not these nitpickers who can never find anything good to say about anything. This is an engrossing, fabulous book, that really covers the bases as far as Chicago crime is concerned. The author knows his stuff. I hope there's more to come, but I would like to see a few more pictures. I know they're tough to get a hold of, but what he had in the book was great - just needs more of the same.

I can't believe the above nit-picking.....I'm sure this was not writen as a textbook. It is an exceptionally entertaining history of past crime scenes in and around Chicago. As an "old and retired" Chicago Police Department "work'n street dick" it brought back many memories. Especially the cases I was, personally, involved with. I've read most of Linberg's books about Chicago and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one.....his wit is precious. When I think of the thousands of hours of research that were put in........the endless pages of old newspapers that were turned and read, to get this material together.........I say , thanks Richard for a job well done.