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Blood in the Heartland: SubtitleThe Ax Murders of 1912
Paperback
20th Century United States HistoryTrue Crime
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ISBN13: 9798253479742
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Mar 24 2026
Pages: 44
Weight: 0.16
Height: 0.09 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Mar 24 2026
Pages: 44
Weight: 0.16
Height: 0.09 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In the summer of 1912, a small Iowa town woke to a horror it would never forget. Eight people - a family and two young girls sleeping over - were found dead in their beds, each killed with an ax in the night. No witnesses. No conviction. No explanation.
BLOOD IN THE HEARTLAND reconstructs the full, chilling story of the Villisca ax murders and the broader pattern of similar killings that terrorized rural America from 1909 to 1913. Drawing on newspaper accounts, court records, and investigative files, this narrative nonfiction account follows the victims, the suspects, the detectives, and the communities left shattered in the wake of crimes that were never solved.
BLOOD IN THE HEARTLAND reconstructs the full, chilling story of the Villisca ax murders and the broader pattern of similar killings that terrorized rural America from 1909 to 1913. Drawing on newspaper accounts, court records, and investigative files, this narrative nonfiction account follows the victims, the suspects, the detectives, and the communities left shattered in the wake of crimes that were never solved.
Part true crime, part cultural history, BLOOD IN THE HEARTLAND examines why the American heartland - seemingly the safest place on earth - became the hunting ground of one of history's most elusive killers, and what the failure to catch him reveals about justice, fear, and the limits of an era.
For fans of Erik Larson, Harold Schechter, and Ann Rule.
For fans of Erik Larson, Harold Schechter, and Ann Rule.
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