Cricket in the Web

Cricket in the Web
Author: Paula Moore
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0826343422

The murder of 18-year-old Ovida "Cricket" Coogler in 1949 launched a series of court inquiries and trials that would reshape the direction of New Mexico politics and expose political corruption. Paula Moore examines the infamous murder and the events that unfolded in its wake.University of New Mexico Press

Unsolved

Unsolved
Author: Don Bullis
Publisher: Rio Grande Books
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781936744077

UNSOLVED There are few subjects that fascinate people as much as New Mexico and a good mystery. New Mexico has always been an enigmatic place, filled with rich history. This book explores and examines forty-four of New Mexico's most baffling mysteries, which lure the curious and beg for investigation even though their solutions have eluded experts, many for decades. Many relate to the death or disappearance of some of the best-known lawmen and outlaws in history - Sheriffs Pat Garrett, Les Dow, and William Brady, as well as Jesse Evans, Russian Bill Tethenborn, Bronco Bill Walters, and Mysterious Dave Mather, while others involve mysterious tales and legends of lost mines and treasures. And who can forget the UFO incident at Roswell? All this told by a former lawman and journalist who is one of the region's leading historians, Don Bullis; Bullis also happens to be an award-winning author of over a dozen best-selling books on New Mexico's past. Leave it to Bullis, respected writer and historian, to open my eyes to a whole new world of outlaws, crooked politicians, puzzling crimes and surreal occurrences....With a reporter's affection for the hard questions, a novelist's approach to bringing characters to life, and an historian's attention to details, he has assembled a stellar collection of New Mexico's mysteries, famous and obscure. - Anne Hillerman, author of Spider Woman's Daughter

Murder on the White Sands

Murder on the White Sands
Author: Corey Recko
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 1574412248

"The evidence pointed at three men, former deputies William McNew, James Gililland, and Oliver Lee. These three men, however, were very close with powerful ex-judge, lawyer, and politician Albert B. Fall. It was even said by some that Fall was the mastermind behind the plot to kill Fountain. Forced to wait two years for a change in the political landscape, Garrett finally presented his evidence to the court and secured indictments against the three suspects." "The trial took place in the secluded town of Hillsboro. The murders of the Fountains became an afterthought as the accused men, defended by their attorney Fall, pleaded innocence. Missing witnesses plagued the prosecution, and armed supporters of the defendants, who packed the courtroom, intimidated others. The verdict: not guilty.".

The Tale Teller

The Tale Teller
Author: Anne Hillerman
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2019-04-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062391976

Don’t miss the TV series, Dark Winds, based on the Leaphorn, Chee, & Manuelito novels, now on AMC and AMC+! NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Legendary Navajo policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn takes center stage in this riveting atmospheric mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman that combines crime, superstition, and tradition and brings the desert Southwest vividly alive. Joe Leaphorn may have retired from the Tribal Police, but he finds himself knee-deep in a perplexing case involving a priceless artifact—a reminder of a dark time in Navajo history. Joe’s been hired to find a missing biil, a traditional dress that had been donated to the Navajo Nation. His investigation takes a sinister turn when the leading suspect dies under mysterious circumstances and Leaphorn himself receives anonymous warnings to beware—witchcraft is afoot. While the veteran detective is busy working to untangle his strange case, his former colleague Jim Chee and Officer Bernie Manuelito are collecting evidence they hope will lead to a cunning criminal behind a rash of burglaries. Their case takes a complicated turn when Bernie finds a body near a popular running trail. The situation grows more complicated when the death is ruled a homicide, and the Tribal cops are thrust into a turf battle because the murder involves the FBI. As Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernie draw closer to solving these crimes, their parallel investigations begin to merge . . . and offer an unexpected opportunity that opens a new chapter in Bernie’s life.

Journal of the Dead

Journal of the Dead
Author: Jason Kersten
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2010-10-12
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 0062032437

I killed and buried my best friend today ... When authorities found Raffi Kodikian -- barely alive -- four days after he and his friend David Coughlin became lost in Rattlesnake Canyon, they made a grim and shocking discovery. Kodikian freely admitted that he had stabbed Coughlin twice in the heart. Had there been a darker motive than mercy? And how could anyone, under any circumstances, kill his best friend? Armed with the journal Kodikian and Coughlin carried into Rattle- snake Canyon, Jason Kersten re-creates in riveting detail those fateful days that led to the killing in an infamously unforgiving wilderness.

Murder & Mystery in New Mexico

Murder & Mystery in New Mexico
Author: Erna Fergusson
Publisher: Albuquerque, M. Armitage [1948]
Total Pages: 214
Release: 1948
Genre: History
ISBN:

Nine true tales and many remain official mysteries. Includes material on Vigilantes of Socorro, Billy The Kid, Black Jack, Navajo crime, and "Woo Dak San and the Bird."

Murder Near the Crosses

Murder Near the Crosses
Author: Peter Sandman
Publisher: Barbed Wire Publishing
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2006-07-30
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 9780976995838

In 1949 a young woman was killed in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Ovida (Cricket) Coogler became a household name in the small agricultural town just north of the U.S./Mexico border that was celebrating its first 100 years. Her death became national news when Time magazine ran a story about it. The investigation of her murder soon involved not only the local police, but also the New Mexico State Police, and the FBI. Even J. Edgar Hoover took a personal interest in the search for her killer. It wasnt just Crickets death that interested these government agencies. Organized crime was testing whether New Mexico could soon become the gambling capital of the West. Bugsy Siegel was seen in Santa Fe. The Cleveland Mob was operating illegal casinos in the state. Meyer Lansky, Moe Dalitz, and Butts Lowenstein were making their presence known. The governor, lieutenant governor, and other state officials were enjoying the attention accorded people who could make things happen. In the midst of these activities was a member of the Doa Ana County sheriffs department who carefully investigated the young womans murder, kept extensive notes, and himself became a victim of the times. Roy Sandman, the authors father, knew who the killer was. He didnt live to tell, and so the death of Cricket Coogler remains one of the best known, unsolved murders in New Mexico. This is the story that Sandman would have told.

The Easter Egg Murder

The Easter Egg Murder
Author: Patricia Smith Wood
Publisher:
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2013-02
Genre: Murder
ISBN: 9781938436109

"The Easter Egg Murder contains a mystery that spans more than fifty years and winds in and out of the lives of a diverse cast of New Mexicans, from legislators to journalists and more."--

A Moment in Crime

A Moment in Crime
Author: Amanda Allen
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2018-12-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 168331882X

Fans of Rhys Bowen will be abuzz over Amanda Allen’s second installment in her bold Santa Fe Revival mysteries. The on-set murder of a famous Jazz Age film director unearths a hornet’s nest of passion, duplicity, naked ambition, and bitter revenge. The golden age of cinema is dawning, and Santa Fe is in the grip of movie fever when director Luther Bishop arrives for the filming of his new cowboy flick. Maddie Vaughn-Alwin’s cousin Gwen Astor is in town with a bit part in the movie—but Gwen finds herself caught in a whirlwind of mischief before shooting even begins. But the plot only thickens when the detestable director is found hanging in his office. When it comes to light that Gwen was having a torrid affair with Luther, she gets pegged as the prime suspect, much to Maddie’s dismay. But Maddie, quick on her feet with ever the keen eye knows that Luther had his fair share of enemies, and there’s no shortage of contenders. Luther’s widowed wife Bridget finally assumes her late husband’s most-coveted director’s chair, head of wardrobe Lorelei Fontaine is bitterly denied a role by Luther she was once promised, and original leading man Harry Kelly was summarily fired by Luther just upon arriving at Santa Fe. Desperate to prove Gwen’s innocence, Maddie begins an investigation, but every clue reveals another motive—and could point to another murder—in A Moment in Crime, the second engaging whodunit in Amanda Allen’s enchanting Santa Fe Revival mysteries.

Twenty Centavos

Twenty Centavos
Author: John E. Scherber
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012-11-01
Genre: Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN: 9780983258247

Twenty Centavos Does an artist really see things differently? Painter Paul Zacher, preparing for a gallery show in the Yucatan, is unwillingly drawn into a murder investigation in his home town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. A prominent antiques dealer has been shot in the head, and a twenty centavo coin found in his mouth. Zacher draws on the help and expertise of his Mexican girlfriend, Maya Sanchez, and his retired detective friend, Cody Williams, to comb the prosperous expatriate community for clues as he tries to stay out of the way of the police. The action ricochets from the heartland of colonial Mexico to the steamy jungles of the Yucatan, as Zacher inches closer to the killer, only to find himself marked as the next victim. Twenty Centavos is the first book in the Murder in Mexico mystery series.