On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. The crime scene suggested a ferocious struggle, and police initially assumed it was a burglary gone awry. Before her death, Sherri had confided to her parents that an ex-girlfriend of John's, a Los Angeles police officer, had threatened her. The Rasmussens urged the LAPD to investigate the ex-girlfriend, but the original detectives only pursued burglary suspects, and the case went cold.
DNA analysis did not exist when Sherri was murdered. Decades later, a swab from a bite mark on Sherri's arm revealed her killer was in fact female, not male. A DNA match led to the arrest and conviction of veteran LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus, John's onetime girlfriend. The Lazarus Files delivers the visceral experience of being inside a real-life murder mystery. McGough reconstructs the lives of Sherri, John and Stephanie; the love triangle that led to Sherri's murder; and the homicide investigation that followed. Was Stephanie protected by her fellow officers? What did the LAPD know, and when did they know it? Are there other LAPD cold cases with a police connection that remain unsolved? (Henry Holt & Co.)
Matthew McGough is a journalist, screenwriter, and the author of Bat Boy: Coming Of Age with the New York Yankees. His non-fiction writing has been published in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. Matt served as a law clerk to a federal judge and was then hired as a legal consultant and staff writer for NBC’s LAW & ORDER, from 2006 to 2010. After a chance encounter with a veteran LAPD detective named Stephanie Lazarus, Matt’s focus turned to journalism. Matt’s true crime account “The Lazarus File,” in the June 2011 issue of The Atlantic magazine, was cited by Longform.org on its list of the Best Crime Writing of 2011. “The Lazarus File” was named best magazine article of 2011 in two categories: News Investigative and Feature Writing.
Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of thirty-two novels and one work of non-fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. His most recent #1 New York Times bestsellers include Dark Sacred Night, Two Kinds Of Truth, The Late Show, The Wrong Side Of Goodbye, The Crossing, The Burning Room, The Gods of Guilt, and The Black Box. Michael is the executive producer of Bosch, an Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver.
Miles Corwin is a former Los Angeles Times reporter and the author of five books: the three non-fiction books The Killing Season, And Still We Rise and Homicide Special, and the two novels Kind of Blue and Midnight Alley.
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