Murder in Canaryville
The True Story Behind a Cold Case and a Chicago Cover-Up
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3.6 • 28 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"A real-life crime drama with vivid individuals and neighborhoods. A murder unsolved until now after forty years. It portrays the unvarnished Chicago of yesterday...absolutely a must read." —Dick Simpson, author of The Good Fight
The cold-case murder of John Hughes, the son of a Chicago Outfit member suspected of pulling the trigger, and the efforts of a determined detective to unravel a cover-up
The grandson and great-grandson of Chicago police officers, Chicago Police Detective James Sherlock was CPD through-and-through. His career had seen its share of twists and turns, from his time working undercover to thwart robberies on Chicago's L trains to his years as a homicide detective. He thought he had seen it all.
But on this day, he was at the records center to see the case file for the murder of John Hughes, who was seventeen years old when he was gunned down on Chicago's Southwest Side in 1976. The case's threads led everywhere: Police corruption. Hints of the Chicago Outfit. A crooked judge. Even the belief that the cover-up extended to "hizzoner" himself—legendary Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley.
A murder that had roiled the city and had been investigated for years had been reduced to a few reports and photographs. What should have been a massive file with notes and transcripts from dozens of interviews was nowhere to be found. Sherlock could have left the records center without the folder and cruised into retirement, and no one would have noticed.
Instead, he tucked the envelope under his arm and carried it outside.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this riveting account, Coen (Family Secrets: The Case That Crippled Chicago's Mob) paints a vivid picture of underworld Chicago while detailing one man's quest to close a cold case. In 1976, 17-year-old John Hughes was partying with friends in a park when he was shot dead by someone in a passing car. What should have been a simple case wound up going nowhere. Forty years later, Det. James Sherlock, on loan from the Chicago PD to the FBI's cold case file, pulled a slender file on the murder and began to reconstruct the case. Though it was never officially solved, Sherlock's dogged police work pretty much makes it clear who killed Hughes, why the incident led to a second murder years later, why there was a cover-up, and just how high it went. One of the suspects had a relative in the police department, judges were likely bribed, and Coen alleges that Mayor Richard Daley could have been involved. Along the way, Coen details the history of the mob in Chicago and the corruption within the city's police department. With this fascinating survey, Coen burnishes his reputation as a top-notch crime writer.
Customer Reviews
How things work behind the scenes
This book reflects what I saw in police work back in the seventies. The justice system is at times off balance when politics, power and money direct the proceedings.