Cemetery John

Book excerpt: This true crime novel examines the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, arguing it was orchestrated by a Bronx deli clerk who got away with the crime scot-free. In this meticulous and authoritative account of the trial and the times of the Lindbergh kidnapping, Robert Zorn clears away decades of ungrounded speculation surrounding the case. Inspired by his father’s relationship with the actual accomplices—including the mastermind—he presents the clearest ever picture of a criminal partnership that would shake every class and culture of American society. Using personal possessions and documents, never-before-seen photographs, new forensic evidence, and extensive research, Robert Zorn has written a shocking and captivating account of the crime and the original “Trial of the Century.” From the ecstatic riots that followed the Spirit of St. Louis on either side of the Atlantic, to the tragic night that would shake America’s sense of security, to the horror of the New Jersey morgue where Lindbergh insisted on verifying the identity of his son, Zorn’s skillful treatment meets this larger-than-life story and gives it definitive shape by revealing the true events behind the crime, for the first time. Praise for Cemetery John “Eighty years after the kidnapping of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s baby from their Englewood, N.J., home, the case still raises questions, ones Zorn ably examines through an unusual lens. . . . Retelling the by now familiar story of Charlie Lindbergh’s kidnapping, Zorn imbues it with novelistic suspense. Even if Zorn doesn’t definitively prove that Knoll, who died in 1980, was the crime’s mastermind and Hauptmann’s accomplice, he makes a strong case.” —Publishers Weekly “Debut author Zorn makes a compelling case that the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping was orchestrated by a Bronx deli clerk who got away with the crime scot-free. . . . Zorn’s research includes new forensic evidence, personal and historical documents, and interviews, laying the foundation for a thrilling true-crime tale that offers a resounding answer to the question of who was really responsible for the kidnapping.” —Kirkus Reviews