Murder in Canaryville
The True Story Behind a Cold Case and a Chicago Cover-Up
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3.7 • 30 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
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, 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 in a park on Chicago's Southwest Side on May 15, 1976. The case had haunted many in the department for years and its threads led everywhere. More than forty years after the Hughes killing, he was hopeful he could finally put the case to rest. Then the records clerk handed Sherlock a thin manila folder. 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.