Charles Whitman Archives - Ron Franscell

"SOURTOE COCKTAIL CLUB is a world-beater of a tale.” —Ivan Doig, celebrated author of 'This House of Sky'

Ivan Doig

“THE OBITUARY is a damn near perfect mystery!” —John Lescroart, NYTimes bestselling mystery author

John Lescroart

“Ron Franscell’s masterful storytelling strikes hard at the heart.” —Denver Post

Denver Post

“Ron Franscell’s ‘THE DARKEST NIGHT gets everything right …” —C.J. Box, NYTimes bestselling mystery author

C.J. Box

The San Francisco Chronicle listed ANGEL FIRE among its 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West

San Francisco Chronicle

“Ron Franscell takes you there ... completely.” —Ann Rule

Ann Rule

“Ron Franscell spins one masterful tale after another…” —W.P. Kinsella, author of 'Shoeless Joe' (adapted as the Kevin Costner movie 'Field of Dreams')

W.P. Kinsella

“Franscell’s themes involve a fresh approach to our rural roots as a font for the elusive American spirit." —USA Today

USA Today

"SHADOWMAN is a thrill ride ..." —Legendary FBI profiler John Douglas

John Douglas

“If any modern crime writer should bear the mantel of the late, great Jack Olsen it is Ron Franscell... nobody does it better." —Dr. Vincent DiMaio, renowned medical examiner

Vince DiMaio

“In my view, Ron Franscell is one of the very finest and most exciting true-crime writers in America." —Vincent Bugliosi, Manson prosecutor and author of 'Helter Skelter'

Vincent Bugliosi

“Ron Franscell has always been in the upper echelon of true-crime authors." —Gregg Olsen, #1 NYTimes bestselling true-crime author

Gregg Olsen

"[SHADOWMAN] has the ghostly unease of a nightmare." —Michael Cannell, author of 'Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber and the Invention of Criminal Profiling'

Michael Cannell

“One of the finest true-crime writers I’ve ever read." —Craig Johnson, NYTimes bestselling author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

Craig Johnson

"[Ron Franscell] reminds the rest of us who write in this genre how it ought to be done.” —Jeff Guinn, #1 NYTimes bestselling author of 'Manson' and 'The Road to Jonestown'

Jeff Guinn

by Ron Franscell

We’ll always have mass murder

This essay was originally written just two days after the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in 2012. Last night’s tragic shooting in Lewiston, Maine, makes me want to re-run it, as […]

by Ron Franscell

The flags of our killers

In the last couple football seasons, Americans have exhausted a lot of very personal energy arguing about our flag. What it stands for. Whether it’s bigger than us. What respect […]

by Ron Franscell

16 Pages of Shocking Photos! (Did you peek?)

WARNING: Some morgue and crime-scene photos appear in this essay. Funny story. Not long ago, I was telling a fascinating little yarn about the autopsy of a deranged killer whose […]

by Ron Franscell

Delivered from Evil

True Stories of Ordinary People Who Faced Monstrous Mass Killers and Survived Who’ll speak for the dead in some of America’s deadliest mass killings? In rare instances, only the survivors […]

by Ron Franscell

Nightmare at Noon

Part of the NYTimes bestselling Notorious USA series! Everything is bigger in Texas—even murder. Two of America’s best crime writers, Ron Franscell and Gregg Olsen, team up to tell the […]

by Ron Franscell

Southern Fried Crime

Boxed set of Notorious Texas, Louisiana & Mississippi! Evil lurks from the scorched earth of West Texas to the suffocating bayous of Mississippi … where darkness is deadly and screams […]