True Crime Philadelphia: From America's First Bank Robbery to the Real-Life Killers Who Inspired Boardwalk Empire (2021) by Kathryn Canavan

This book is a tour through Philadelphia that highlights the locations within each neighborhood where crime occurred.

Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, Fixed Fights, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing (2023) by Sean Nam

Six months after losing a world title fight that remains infamous as one of the last mob fixes in boxing, Tyrone "The Butterfly" Everett — a flashy, handsome lightweight southpaw on the verge of stardom — was dead. Only 24 years old, he was shot in the head by his girlfriend, Carolyn McKendrick, who claimed that Everett had abused her throughout their relationship. But for years, street-corner talk raised doubts about what actually took place in Philadelphia at 2710 Federal Street on May 26, 1977 ... Set against a backdrop of urban decline, racial tension, gangland violence, and the treacherous subculture of prizefighting, Murder on Federal Street is the riveting story of a young man whose limitless future could not outrace the dangerous present.

Confessions of a Second-Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang (2006) by Allen M. Hornblum

From the 1950s to the 1970s, from Bar Harbor to Boca Raton, the raging crew known as the K&A Gang robbed wealthy suburban residences with assembly line skills of breaking, entering, and bagging the loot — be it rare coin collections or priceless paintings. The gang's success infuriated homeowners up and down the East Coast, while baffling police. Confessions of a Second Story Man follows the gang as they move in and out of homes, courtrooms, and prisons, and even go on the run. Author Allen Hornblum tells the strange but true story through interviews, police records, and historical research. Readers will marvel at the techniques of ringleader Junior Kripplebauer, who became one of the FBI's most wanted men, and his wife, Mickie, who would don her black wig and go out and rob homes on her own when she was bored. Finally, Hornblum describes the transformation of the K&A Gang from a group of blue collar thieves to their work in conjunction with numerous organized crime families and their help to make Philadelphia the meth capital of the nation. It is a compelling read about a fascinating bunch of hoodlums.

Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia's Most Violent Family (2004) by George Anastasia

Here is the inside story about the rise and fall of Philadelphia's notorious Scarfo organization. It is a first-hand account of murder, money, and corruption told by wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi, whose testimony put Nicky Scarfo and many of his associates behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Poison Widows: A True Story of Witchcraft, Aresenic, and Murder (1999) by George Cooper

Poison Widows is a retelling of the sensational South Philadelphia case of 1939 retracing the horrific crimes of disgruntled women who, inspired by tales of witchcraft, poisoned their husbands to collect insurance money.

We Is Got Him (2012) by Carrie Hagen

In 1874, a young boy named Charley Ross was snatched from his front yard in Philadelphia. The child's father received a letter that read: "Mr. Ross: be not uneasy you son charley bruster be all writ. we is got him and no powers on earth can deliver out of our hand. You wil have two pay us before you git him from us, and pay us a big cent to." Philadelphia had just won the bid to host America's centennial celebration. The country had survived revolution, civil war, and recession, and city politicians were eager to prove the country had matured enough to survive another hundred years. What they couldn't foresee was how a child's kidnapping threatened to unravel social confidence and plunge a city into despair. Hagen expertly weaves this historical narrative as we see Philadelphia's mayor fight to preserve his city's stature, and watch the manhunt spread from Philadelphia to the streets of New York. Based on a tremendous amount of research, the author accurately captures the darker side of America — with its corrupt detectives, thief-catchers, spiritualists, and river pirates — as a country in which innocence had become an ideal of the past.

Black Brothers, Inc.: The Violent Rise and Fall of Philadelphia's Black Mafia (2007) by Sean Patrick Griffin

The Black Mafia is one of the bloodiest crime syndicates in modern US history. From its roots in Philadelphia in the 1960's, it grew from a rabble of street toughs to a disciplined, ruthless organization based on fear and intimidation. Known in its "legitimate" guise as Black Brothers Inc, it held regular meetings, appointed investigators, treasurers and enforcers, and controlled drug dealing, loan-sharking, numbers rackets, armed robbery, and extortion.

Its ferocious crew of gunmen was led by Sam Christian, the most feared man on Philly's streets. They developed close ties with the influential Nation of Islam and soon were executing rivals, extorting bookies connected to the city's powerful Cosa Nostra crew, and cowing local gangs. Police say the Black Mafia was responsible for over 40 killings, the most chilling being the massacre of two adults and five children in a feud between rival religious factions. Despite the arrests that followed, they continued their rampage, exploiting their ties to prominent lawyers and civil rights leaders. Convictions and sentences eventually shattered their strength — only for the crack-dealing Junior Black Mafia to emerge in their wake.

The Rabbi and the Hit Man: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and the Shattered Faith of a Congregation (2003) by Arthur J. Magida

The Rabbi and the Hit Man is a fascinating true-crime narrative about the first rabbi ever accused of murder and what the case says about the role of clergy in America. On the evening of November 1, 1994, Rabbi Fred Neulander returned home to find his wife, Carol, facedown on the living room floor, blood everywhere. He called for help, but it was too late. Two trials and eight years later, the founder of the largest reform synagogue in Southern New Jersey became the first rabbi ever convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Spy Sites of Philadelphia: A Guide to the Region's Secret History (2021) by Keith H. Melton

Spy Sites of Philadelphia is an illustrated guide to the history of espionage in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. Philadelphia became a battleground for spies as George Washington's Patriot army in nearby Valley Forge struggled to survive the winter of 1776-77. In the centuries that followed ― through the Civil War, the rise of fascism and communism in the 20th century, and today's fight against terrorism ― the city has been home to international intrigue and some of America's most celebrated spies. Spy Sites of Philadelphia takes readers inside this shadowy world to reveal the places and people of Philadelphia's hidden history. These fascinating entries portray details of stolen secrets, clandestine meetings, and covert communications through every era of American history. Along the way, readers will meet both heroes and villains whose daring deceptions helped shape the nation.

Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso: A Tale of Race, Sex, and Violence in America (2016) by Kali N. Gross

Shortly after a dismembered torso was discovered by a pond outside Philadelphia in 1887, investigators homed in on two suspects: Hannah Mary Tabbs, a married, working-class Black woman, and George Wilson, a former neighbor that Tabbs implicated after her arrest. As details surrounding the shocking case emerged, both the crime and ensuing trial — which spanned several months — were featured in the national press. The trial brought otherwise taboo subjects such as illicit sex, adultery, and domestic violence in the Black community to public attention. At the same time, the mixed race of the victim and one of his assailants exacerbated anxieties over the purity of whiteness in the post-Reconstruction era.

In Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso, historian Kali Nicole Gross uses detectives' notes, trial and prison records, local newspapers, and other archival documents to reconstruct this ghastly who-done-it true crime in all its scandalous detail. In doing so, she gives the crime context by analyzing it against broader evidence of police treatment of Black suspects and violence within the Black community.