With a robust library of riveting real-life mysteries, engrossing historical stories, and moving true crime, the History Press is a treasure trove for readers interested in the human stories that shape us.

Acquired in 2014 by Arcadia Publishing, which has been at the forefront of publishing regional history and local nonfiction for more than 20 years, the History Press has focused on true crime as one of its core pillars. “Our best true crime titles read like novels,” says Arcadia’s publishing director Adam Ferrell, “with dramatic plot twists, vivid detail, and dialogue from court transcripts, witness statements, and police reports.”

Two books from author Clay Bryant deliver on those promises. Bryant is a Georgia native and veteran criminal investigator whose record in solving cold cases is unparalleled. His latest book, The Cold Case Murder of Fred Wilkerson: Untangling the Black Widow’s Web in West Georgia, publishes this fall. In the book, Bryant brings what Ferrell calls his “preternatural sense for examining long-dormant cases and bringing criminals to justice” to the story of a victim who disappeared in 1987 under suspicious circumstances. It would take two decades and Bryant’s investigational prowess to finally recover Wilkerson’s remains and find the killer. Readers will relish Bryant’s intimate, firsthand perspective on investigating cold cases, as well as his compassionate insights into the impact of murder on those left behind.

In Solving the West Georgia Murder of Gwendolyn Moore: A Cry from the Well (2021), Bryant recounts his teenage experiences accompanying his father, a police chief, to a crime scene. There, the remains of Gwendolyn Moore, a 30-year-old mother of four children, were recovered from a dry well. Her case would remain in Bryant’s mind—and unsolved—for years, until Bryant entered the field of law enforcement and subsequently solved the mystery himself.

“I want readers to become as emotionally invested in the case as I was,” Bryant says. “I want them to understand the feelings of the loved ones, friends, and family left behind, and ultimately vindication and relief in finding the long-awaited truth and finally, justice.”

A True Crime Library Grows

For unique true crime stories and fascinating regional mysteries, check out these forthcoming titles from the History Press.

Condemned for Love in Old Virginia is the story of an 1880s lynching of a Black man, Arthur Jordan, who had a love affair with a white woman, Elvira Corder. “Author and journalist Jim Hall does an incredible job drawing together the threads of the tale from primary sources, treating the murder and the romance with sensitivity and academic rigor,” says Ferrell.

Along with forbidden romance, race, and murder, another evergreen interest of readers is in the long history of crimes associated with illicit Appalachian bootlegging, both during and after the U.S. Prohibition era. Murder and Mountain Justice in the Moonshine Capital of the World offers a stirring perspective on this regional tradition, most recently ending in the nine murders of moonshine and drug-runners in 1978 Franklin County, Tenn. Author Philip Andrew Gibbs recounts the year and the events leading up to it as only a historian can—with insights based on the past, a fascinating time in our country’s history.

And finally, a perennial favorite, Jayme Lynn Blaschke’s Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse, immortalized in the Dolly Parton film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, gets a remake this year. Releasing in June to mark the 50th anniversary of the brothel’s closing, the History Press will publish an expanded edition of the 2016 bestseller.

Since its founding, Arcadia has grown to include multiple imprints, including the History Press. According to Ferrell, the press’s mission is to “connect people with their past, with their communities, and with one another.”

Across all its imprints, Arcadia routinely invests in debut authors—and no agents are required for writers to submit their work. For more information visit arcadiapublishing.com/contactus/makemeanauthor.