The Murders That Made Us
How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area

Calhoun's wry, slightly perverse wit applied to SF's truly spectacular history of homicides has produced an extremely diverting book. A few of the murders detailed lack significance and could have been omitted, but most of them came mixed with dollops of socio-political and urban history. You can't......more

I don't read true crime books, but I loved reading Bob Calhoun's column about the historical crimes in San Francisco. All that is my way of saying: I came for the history but stayed for the true crime. In fact, I was disappointed that he didn't write about the Howth Street murders in my neighborhood......more

Oh man. The last chapter, especially the last few pages got me. But let’s talk about this book. It goes back to the early days of San Francisco and covers murders that occurred, puts a contextual spin on them, and still manages to add a modern sensibility. I learned so much history - especially in t......more

I found "The Murders That Made Us: How Vigilantes, Hoodlums, Mob Bosses, Serial Killers, and Cult Leaders Built the San Francisco Bay Area" to be an intriguing exploration of the darker side of San Francisco's history. Bob Calhoun's narrative skillfully weaves together tales of notorious figures and......more

I’ve visited San Francisco once and absolutely loved it, so it was fascinating to read about all the years of history. Each chapter is short but packed full with multiple cases in a roughly chronological order (aside from the very beginning). I liked that this book discussed some of the lesser known......more