The Familiar Compound Trickster: Eliot Ness’s Most Dangerous Enemy

By: Kenneth Tucker

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Synopsis: After his conflict with Capone, Eliot Ness becomes the public safety director of Cleveland Ohio. He scores resounding victories against corrupt unions and organized crime, but confronts an enemy he might not be able to arrest. A string of grotesque serial killings—bodies dismembered and their parts scattered in an area known as Kingsbury Run—threatens the city. As public pressure mounts for the so-called Mad Butcher’s capture, Ness learns of very likely suspect—an alcoholic ex-physician, who calls himself Gaylord Sundheim. However, a potential stumbling block arises. The suspect’s is the first cousin of Ness and the mayor’s chief political enemy. Can Ness investigate Sundheim without appearing to be waging a smear campaign against a political enemy by attacking a relative who may be a harmless eccentric? Meanwhile, Ness begins suspects that Sundheim may have had an accomplice or a copycat follower. Can Ness unravel the mystery before public pressure and political opposition threaten his career? How will his obsession with this crime affect his already tottering marriage? Based upon the historical case of Eliot Ness and the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.