New York Times –bestselling author: "In the art of true-crime reportage, Jerry Bledsoe is the best in the country . . . Before He Wakes has the suspense of a novel" ( The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).Barbara Stager was known as a devoted mother, loving wife, and dedicated church leader in her Durham, North Carolina, community. When she "accidentally" shot her husband, popular high school coach, Russ, the police were incl...

Critics proclaimed Jerry Bledsoe's bestseller, The Angel Doll, an instant classic and a family treasure. It sold more than 110,000 copies in hardcover, was excerpted in Good Housekeeping, selected by The Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and Crossings Book Club, and was made into a Lifetime movie. In The Angel Doll, we met Whitey Black, who despite his poverty sets out to get an angel doll for his four-year-old sister because she loves The Littlest Angel

In this "true story that reads like a novel," the #1 New York Times–bestselling author reveals the facts behind a notorious Southern murder case ( Library Journal).When North Carolina farmer Stuart Taylor died after a sudden illness, his forty-six-year-old fiancée, Velma Barfield, was overcome with grief. Taylor's family grieved with her—until the autopsy revealed traces of arsenic poisoning. Turned over to the authorities by her own son, Velma st...

The "riveting" #1 New York Times bestseller: A true story of three wealthy families and the unbreakable ties of blood ( Kirkus Reviews).The first bodies found were those of a feisty millionaire widow and her daughter in their posh Louisville, Kentucky, home. Months later, another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law were found savagely slain in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mystified police first suspected a professional in the...

The New York Times–bestselling author of Bitter Blood weaves "a powerful account" of greed that led to an unspeakable crime ( The New York Times Book Review).As they slept in their North Carolina home, wealthy Lieth Von Stein and his wife Bonnie suffered a vicious assault with a knife and a baseball bat. Bonnie barely survived. Lieth did not. The crime seemed totally baffling until police followed a trail that led to the charming stepson,...

The terrifying #1 New York Times bestseller about the unbreakable ties of blood The first bodies found were those of a feisty millionaire widow and her daughter in their posh Louisville, Kentucky, home. Months later, another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law were found savagely slain in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mystified police first suspected a professional in the bizarre gangland-style killings that shattered the quiet tranquility of two well-to-do southern co...

Recounts the case of Barbara Stager, a seemingly devoted wife and community member whose murder of her husband was nearly ruled an accident until chilling evidence, including the death of her first husband, revealed Stager's secret double life.

A shocking true story of a double life undone by murder. --When North Carolina farmer Stuart Taylor died after a sudden illness, his 46-year-old fiancée Velma Barfield, was overcome with grief. Taylor's family grieved with her—until the autopsy revealed traces of arsenic poisoning. Turned over to the authorities by her own son, Velma stunned her family with more revelations. This wasn't the first time the born-again Christian and devout Sunday school teacher had committed cold-blooded murd...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Blood, comes the story of a greed so powerful it led to an unspeakable crime. Wealthy Lieth von Stein lay dead and his wife Bonnie near death in their North Carolina home after a vicious assault with knife and baseball bat as they slept. The crime seemed totally baffling until police followed a trail that led to the charming von Stein stepson, Chris Pritchard, and his brilliant, drug-using, Dungeons-&-Dragons playing friends at N.C. Stat...

He seemed so normal. Robert Lee Yates, Jr. was a respected father of five who piloted helicopters and served in Desert Storm and the National Guard. No one suspected him of having a deadly hidden life. By night, he prowled streets in search of prostitutes. He gained their trust then shot them in the head. The bodies of two young women were discovered in Spokane, Washington on August 26, 1997. Four more women were discovered in the following few months. To avoid the death penalty, Yates ple...

Jocelyn Branham Earnest was found dead on the floor of her living room in Forest, Virginia. By her side was a gun and a suicide note—typed, lacking a signature, and with one fingerprint on it. A fingerprint apparently belonging to Jocelyn's estranged husband.Wesley Earnest was a respected high school administrator, poised to restart his life in a new community. Parents entrusted their children to his care and believed he was above reproach. But the investigation into the life the c...

Jimmy Joste was a powerhouse in the oil and gas industry, but he was a weakling when it came to his gorgeous, athletic, longtime lover, Rhonda Glover. Addicted to her sexual prowess and madly in love, Joste gave her homes, cars, cash, and a $350,000 engagement ring. Their fifteen years of passion and excess ended the day Rhonda drove directly from a shooting range to the Austin home they once shared. After pumping ten bullets into him from a Glock 9mm, she stood over Joste's blood-splatter...