Michael Capuzzo: Murder, He Wrote
When the world’s best crime solvers sit down to investigate cold cases, Michael Capuzzo invites his readers to pull up a chair. In his latest book, The Murder Room (Gotham, 2010), Capuzzo (J79) tells the true tale of the Vidocq Society, an 82-member pro bono detective club that includes FBI, Scotland Yard and Interpol agents and meets monthly in Philadelphia. Capuzzo spent five years following the club, named for 19th-century Paris sleuth Eugene François Vidocq, on cold murder cases seen through the eyes of its colorful founders: the famous forensic artist Frank Bender, renowned FBI agent turned private eye William Fleisher and celebrated forensic psychologist Richard Walter, known internationally as “the living Sherlock Holmes.” When Capuzzo pitched the book idea to the three men, “Richard said, ‘I’ve driven four hours to be here. You better be f’ing awesome,’ ” Capuzzo recalls. Capuzzo lives with his wife, Teresa, in Wellsboro, Pa., where the couple founded Mountain Home magazine in 2005. — Elizabeth Weingarten (J10)