Master Detective: The Life and Crimes of Ellis Parker- America's Real-Life Sherlock Holmes

"Fascinating reading for true-crime buffs and mystery fans alike." --Max Allan Collins

Known as the greatest detective in the world, Ellis Parker was the "American Sherlock Holmes" who solved ninety-eight percent of the murders he pursued. Yet his illustrious forty-year career ended tragically in prison, where he died on the very eve of certain Presidential pardon.

Here is a riveting account of the ultimate sleuth, a man who solved his first crime as a teen by nabbing the thief who stole his father's horse and buggy. Drawing on the emerging discipline of psychology and his uncanny deductive skills, Parker was a "profiler" long before the term existed, and often apprehended criminals without ever leaving his desk!

Then came the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby son in 1932. From that moment things began to go wrong--terribly wrong--as Parker pushed himself past the bounds of law in pursuit of the truth. A fascinating look at America in the early years of a tumultuous century, Master Detective paints a long-overdue portrait of an exceptionally talented and driven man who, in the end, stopped at nothing in his quest for justice.

"A riveting read. In Reisinger, America's real-life Sherlock Holmes has found his Watson."--John Lutz