A reading list of the unsolved
the controversial
the strange
and (possibly) the answers
to some of history's most intriguing puzzles.

A Thief in the Night: The Mysterious Death of John Paul I
By John Cornwall. S&S, 1989.
On 28 September, 1978, Pope John Paul I died unexpectedly after only 33 days has head of the Catholic Church. The subsequent disagreements about the circumstances surrounding his death lead to charges that foul play was involved, with the KGB, the Freemasons, and even Vatican insiders whispered as suspects. But conspiracy theories aside, the Pope may merely have been the victim of neglect, as symptoms of a fatal illness were ignored by those around him.

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed
Patricia Cornwell. GPPS, 2002.
Best-selling writer Cornwell turns her forensic skills and scientific expertise upon the serial killer who terrorized London in the 1880s and reveals the true identity of the perpetrator. Other books on Jack the Ripper: The Bell Tower, by Robert Graysmith (Regnery, 1999); Prisoner 1167, by James Tully (C&G, 1997); The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, by Philip Sugden (C&C, 1994); Murder and Madness, by David Abrahamsen (Fine, 1992)

Lost Prince: The Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
Paul Feuerbach. Free Press, 1996.
In 1828, a 16-year-old who had been imprisoned in a dungeon from age 4 turned up in Nuremberg unable to speak or write. This “wild child” made remarkable progress, although he had no recollection of his family, and in 1833, he was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. Who was Kaspar Hauser? Was he the son of Napoleon Bonaparte’s adopted daughter and heir to the throne of Baden?

Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe and the Murder Behind One of History’s Greatest Scientific Discoveries.
Joshua Gilder and Anna-Lee Gilder. Doubleday, 2004.
Based on recent forensic evidence, the authors have put together compelling evidence that Tycho Brahe, the foremost astronomer of his day, did not die of natural causes, but was systematically poisoned—most likely by his former assistant, Johannes Kepler, who went on to great acclaim.

Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew.
Brian Hicks. Ballantine, 2004.
On December 4, 1872, a small merchant ship, the Mary Celeste, was discovered floating without a crew. No trace of them or the captain, his wife and their child was ever found. In 2001, the writer Clive Cussler found the Mary Celeste entombed in a coral reef. Hicks offers his conclusions as to what happened.

The Princes in the Tower
Elizabeth Jenkins. Phoenix, 2002.
Thanks in large to William Shakespeare, it has long been accepted that Richard III had his two defenseless nephews murdered in the Tower of London. Jenkins uses contemporary scientific research to examine the horrendous crime. Read also: Royal Blood, Richard III and the Mystery of the Princes, by Bertram Fields (ReganBooks, 1998).

Who Killed King Tut?: Using Modern Forensics to Solve a 3300-Year-Old Mystery
Michael R. King & Gregory M. Cooper. Prometheus, 2004.
Perhaps the greatest archaeological find of all time, the 1922 discovery of the Egyptian boy-pharaoh’s tomb by Howard Carter stimulated the imagination of many and theories about the circumstances of his premature death abound from an infected mosquito bite to a bash on the head, either inflicted intentionally or the result of a fatal chariot accident. Now two law enforcement specialists in forensics and the psychology of criminal behavior have applied sophisticated crime-solving techniques used in the investigation of contemporary murders to this ancient mystery.

Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony
Lee Miller. Penguin, 2002, 2000.
Soon after its founding in 1587, the 200 or so people who established the first English colony in America vanished with only the word “Crotoan” craved into a tree the only clue to their possible fate. Now an anthropologist re-examines the evidence and proposes a theory of sabotage and murder.

The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
Charles Nicholl. HB, 1994.
A contemporary of William Shakespeare, Marlowe was only 28 when he was stabbed to death in 1593, supposedly in a dispute over a tavern bill. But Nicholl believes his death was the result of court intrigue and a carefully orchestrated murder plot by Robert Deveraux, the Earl of Essex, who saw Marlowe as a threat to his ambitions.

Pyramid Quest: Secrets of the Great Pyramid and the Dawn of Civilization
Robert M. Schoch & Robert Aquinas McNally. Tarcher, 2005.
Is the Great Pyramid of Giza really a tomb built circa 2528 B.C. as most scholars insist? Or is it proof that civilization began thousands of years earlier than is generally thought, extending far back into a little-known time? The authors offer an intriguing and controversial hypothesis.

The Mysterious Death of Mary Rogers: Sex and Culture in 19th Century New York
Amy Gilman Srebnick. Oxford, 1995.
In 1841, 21-year-old Mary Rogers disappeared without a trace from her mother’s NYC boardinghouse. Three days later her body was discovered in the Hudson River. The debate rages as to whether she was raped or simply the victim of an abortion gone horribly wrong.

Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved
Elgen M. Long & Marie K. Long. S&S, 1999.
More than 60 years after her plane disappeared on 2 July, 1937, numerous rumors have persisted about the possible fate of the aviatrix and her co-pilot, Fred Noonan. Having spent two decades researching Earhart’s final flight, the authors offer their conclusions.

Maps, Myths & Men: The Story of the Vinland Map
Kirten A. Seaver. Stanford, 2004.
When it was first discovered in 1957, the Vinland map, allegedly dating from 1440, was hailed by many as proof that medieval Norsemen had explored the North American coast. Seaver explores the controversy surrounding the map and its supporters.

Imperial Legend: The Mysterious Disappearance of Tzar Alexander I
Alexis S. Troubetzkoy. Arcade, 2002.
Alexander’s defeat of the French in 1812 made him one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. After his death,, rumors abounded that he had faked his death in order to withdraw from his duties as Tsar and live the simple life of a hermit. His tomb was opened in 1926 by the Soviet government and was found…empty.

Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
John Evangelist Walsh. Rutgers, 1998.
The author of such famed works as The Pit and the Pendulum and The Black Cat was traveling from Richmond to New York when he disappeared, finally turning up near death in Baltimore. Had the troubled writer drank himself to death or was he the victim of something more nefarious?