A Killing in Capone's Playground

The True Story of the Hunt for the Most Dangerous Man Alive

Non-Fiction - True Crime
384 Pages
Reviewed on 10/16/2014
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Author Biography

For nearly twenty years, public safety professional and historian Chriss Lyon has not only walked the beat, but shot the most famous Thompson submachine guns in the world, all while documenting and researching the historic era of the “The Roaring Twenties.” Using techniques of forensic genealogy combined with investigative research, she has been able to uncover little known facts about the people and events surrounding the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, revealing them at presentations at schools, museums, genealogical, and historical societies. Her passion in Prohibition-era gangsters, maritime, and aviation history as well as historical weather has afforded opportunities to write articles for various magazines and journals and assist other authors with historical research. A graduate of Grand Valley State University’s Film/Video School, Chriss began working behind the scenes at CNN Headline News but now is out in front of the camera. She has appeared in an episode of the PBS series, “History Detectives” as well as documentaries on the National Geographic Channel and Investigation Discovery Channel.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Michelle Robertson for Readers' Favorite

Come visit an era of violent gangsters, corrupt politicians, and honorable policemen as they live their lives in one of the most violent times of the 1920s-1930s Michigan and Illinois states ever experienced, with murders, brutal acts, automobile accidents, speak-easies, bootleggers, and much more. Learn about famous gangster Al Capone, Officer Charles Skelly, and Fred Burke, with the documented true account in interviews, quotes, and photographs. A Killing in Capone's Playground: The True Story of the Hunt for the Most Dangerous Man Alive by Chriss Lyon is an incredible crime story based on real events and people. There is probably not a person in the United States who doesn't know who Al Capone, the famous gangster is, but do they know the ins and outs of his "playground" or operation, the truths and lies about his legacy or life?

With its documented quotes from interviews, and historical pictures, A Killing in Capone's Playground is a book a reader will not put down until the end. Having long been fascinated with the '20s era and everything that went with it - bootleggers, gangsters, Prohibition, speak-easies, and corrupt politics - I wasn't disappointed when reading Chriss Lyons' book, but was rather joyfully overwhelmed with facts, accounts, and events new to my knowledge on the subject. Author Chriss Lyon has provided readers with a well researched, highly detailed account of Mr. Al Capone, his cronies, and the policemen involved during one of the most violent eras in American history.