Larry's Books

From Wild Bill Hickok's shootout on the Springfield (MO) public square in July 1865 to the Young brothers' massacre of six law officers at a farmhouse near Brookline in January 1932, Ozarks Gunfights chronicles 25 infamous episodes in the criminal history of the region.

Murder and Mayhem in Missouri tells the stories of eleven notorious crimes in the history of Missouri, from the so-called Slicker War of the 1840s to deadly Kansas City Massacre in June 1933.

Part of the History Press's "Murder and Mayhem" series, this book details thirteen of the most notorious episodes in the annals of southeast Kansas, including a quintuple lynching at Ladore in May 1870, the heinous crimes of the Bloody Benders in the early 1870s, and the almost as infamous misdeeds of Galena's Staffleback family in the late 1890s.

Civil War Springfield not only chronicles the Battle of Springfield (MO) in January 1863, but it also gives the reader an insightful look at what life in Springfield was like throughout the Civil War.

Published by the Kent State University Press, Bigamy and Bloodshed tells the sensational story of nationally known temperance revivalist Emma Molloy's involvement in a scandal surrounding the 1885 murder of Sarah Graham by her husband, George Graham, who was also bigamously married to Emma's foster daughter, Cora. 

Part of the History Press's "Wicked" series, Wicked Joplin explores the early history of Joplin, Missouri, when it was a booming, anything-goes, lead-mining town in the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

Other Noted Guerrillas chronicles the stories of Confederate-allied guerrilla leaders during the Civil War in Missouri who were not closely associated with William Quantrill, the most infamous of the guerrillas.

As the title suggests, The Civil War on the Lower Kansas-Missouri Border describes battles and skirmishes that occurred near Kansas and Missouri's common southern border, such as the Battle of Carthage and the Battle and Massacre at Baxter Springs. 

During the early to middle stages of the Civil War, William "Bill" Anderson was a lieutenant in William Quantrill's guerrilla band, but, leading his own band in 1864, Anderson went on to surpass even the notorious Quantrill in heinous deeds, earning the posthumous nickname "Bloody Bill."

Lynchings, Murders, and Other Nefarious Deeds details 27 notorious episodes in the history of Greene County, MO. From the 1837 showdown on the public square between county judge Charles S. Yancey and former county coroner John Roberts to career criminal Donald Joe Hall's 1992 murder of jeweler William White during a holdup, these stories cover over 150 years in the criminal annals of the county.