Philly’s ‘Boy in the Box’ finally gets a name after 65 years
On Feb. 25, 1957, a naked, emaciated boy between 4 and 6 years old was found dead in a cardboard box in a wooded area in northeast Philadelphia. He’d been […]
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5 Yuletide Crimes: Death doesn’t take a holiday
The song says it’s the most wonderful time of the year—but it has historically been a lot less wonderful for some. Crime doesn’t take a holiday. In fact, evil celebrates […]
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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
‘Chilling’ new DEAF ROW cover unveiled!
A great book cover elicits an emotional response. And if it’s done well, a reader will feel the same while reading the book. In the case of the new cover […]
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Lost & Found: A WWI dogtag goes home after 104 years
This spring, a French metal-detecting buff found the artifact a young doughboy unintentionally left behind in a muddy camp on the Western Front
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A father, a son, and a river at the edge of the land
My father-son memoir The Sourtoe Cocktail Club, about our Yukon odyssey to the literal edge of the Earth to find a cocktail containing a mummified human toe, was published in 2011. It is a deep—and often funny—contemplation about whether I was still relevant to my teenage son after a divorce. On Father’s Day, eleven years later, it seems appropriate to contemplate it again.
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Something novel
Unable to go out into the world during Covid, I turned inward. How could I use what I’ve learned in decades of true storytelling and journalism? How can I still write a provocative book without leaving the safety of my home and imagination? The answers changed the arc of my writing.
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Beware of fast, easy answers about Uvalde’s tragedy
WHY is a natural and human question. I’m not a psychologist, I’m a journalist who has spent a career exploring what some evil, disturbed humans can do to fellow humans. […]
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Montana, Wyoming tour set for ‘ShadowMan’
In May, Ron will hit the road with “ShadowMan” on a book tour in Montana, the epicenter of the grim crimes recounted in this new bestseller. (There’ll be some stops […]
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How many serial killers are out there? You’ll never leave home again
One of the world’s most celebrated forensic psychologists called this morning, just to chat. It was a casual conversation. Richard and I talked about the weather, his latest case, Scotch […]
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So you wanna be a crime writer, eh? Forget these myths
You’ve been exposed to so much Hollywood crapola that I’m surprised you aren’t already on Ducky’s slab.
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Today’s the day! ‘ShadowMan’ is now in bookstores everywhere
The secret of my success as a writer is that I never pick a story I can screw up. “ShadowMan” struck me as such a story. To me, its power […]
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Patty Nieman narrates ‘ShadowMan’ audiobook
“I’m an actor by training and a lover of words by nature,” she says. “I want to build the bridge that travels from the author’s intent, through the text, to the reader’s imagination.
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You’ve Got Mail: A letter that changed everything
Satchell Paige, the great baseball pitcher and philosopher-from-left field, once said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” I’ve never been sure what he meant. Do your best […]
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How many murder victims can you name? Go …
Because you’re here right now, it’s safe to assume you’re fairly conversant in matters of mass- and serial-killing. You know your Mansons from your Bundys, right? Well, it’s Monday and […]
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Pioneering criminal profiler Howard Teten (1932-2021)
Today, I received word of the passing of Howard Teten, the pioneering criminal profiler who plays a front-and center role in my upcoming true crime book, “ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho […]
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Pre-order SHADOWMAN in bookstores everywhere
We know you have many choices for your reading pleasure … so you can pre-order Ron Franscell’s upcoming true crime at your favorite bookseller here.
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Missing White Woman Syndrome and the silence of minority advocates
The Gabby Petito case has stirred fascination, sympathy, and a hornet’s nest of unrest about “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” an accusation that racist white media prefers stories about pretty Caucasian […]
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How many times can one life change?
SHADOWMAN cover revealed!
Pain & memory: The birth of Angel Fire
“Pain is the price we pay for memory. It’s some kind of sin to forget what hurts, as much as it is to forget what makes you smile. Suffering has […]
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New book trailer for SHADOWMAN
Just a taste of Ron Franscell’s chilling tale about a real-life nightmare … and how it changed forensic history
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Set your DVR for ‘Alice & Gerald’ on Oxygen network
They killed at least five people and damn near got away with it. Then a lucky break changed everything.
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You can pre-order ‘SHADOWMAN: An Elusive Psycho and the Birth of FBI Profiling
The pulse-pounding account of the first time in history that the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit created a psychological profile to help catch a serial killer
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