Edward Humes Books in Order

Edward Humes reconstructs the abduction and murder of American student Mark Kilroy in Matamoros, Mexico. Reporting on the investigation, he explores the connections among ritual killings, a criminal cult, and drug trafficking along the United States border.

This true-crime account follows the investigation into Mark Kilroy's murder during a spring-break visit to Matamoros. Humes examines the cult and drug-running network behind the killing, drawing on access to participants and federal drug-enforcement materials.

Humes investigates Los Angeles police officer Bill Leasure's hidden criminal life, from theft and fraud to murder for hire. Interviews and reporting trace how an apparently unremarkable traffic officer evaded suspicion and how investigators ultimately exposed him.

After judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret are murdered in Biloxi, their daughter Lynne Sposito pursues answers the authorities have failed to provide. Humes follows her investigation into the Dixie Mafia, political corruption, and her parents' deaths.

Spending a year inside Los Angeles's juvenile justice system, Humes follows young defendants, judges, and probation officers. Their experiences reveal the gap between punishment and rehabilitation, and the difficult work of people trying to change troubled children's futures.

Humes examines retired principal Pat Dunn's effort to prove his innocence after being convicted of his wife's murder. The case exposes concealed evidence and misconduct within Bakersfield's aggressive justice system, questioning the human cost of its anti-crime reputation.

A year inside a neonatal intensive care unit follows fragile newborns, their families, and the professionals caring for them. Humes explores the medical advances and difficult decisions that shape survival, blending the unit's technology with parents' fear and hope.

Humes follows students and teachers at Whitney High, a successful public school in the Los Angeles area. Their daily experiences examine academic pressure, parental expectations, and the struggle to balance exceptional test results with meaningful learning and personal ambitions.

Through the lives of veterans and their families, Humes traces how the original G.I. Bill reshaped postwar America. The account connects educational opportunity and homeownership to individual reinvention, new careers, and broader changes in the American middle class.

Humes reports on Dover, Pennsylvania's conflict over teaching intelligent design in public schools and the court case that followed. Perspectives from the opposing sides connect the local dispute to wider struggles over evolution, religion, and science education.

Profiles of environmental philanthropists, activists, and innovators examine efforts to protect land and species from development and destruction. Humes follows their strategies, personal commitments, and compromises, showing how private fortunes and determined organizing can influence conservation.

Humes follows consultant Jib Ellison's effort to persuade Walmart that sustainability could strengthen its business. The account traces changes in waste, packaging, and supplier practices, examining the relationship between environmental responsibility, corporate influence, and financial incentives.

Following America's waste stream from households to landfills and recovery efforts, Humes examines the costs of disposable consumption. Sanitation workers, researchers, artists, and families reducing their rubbish reveal both the scale of the problem and possible alternatives.

This biography follows Jess Jackson's transformation from lawyer to founder of the Kendall-Jackson wine business. Humes explores the risks, disputes, and reinventions behind his success, including his later ventures in horse racing and challenges to industry practices.

Humes investigates the largely unseen transportation networks behind daily travel and delivered goods. Reporting from ports, logistics operations, and research settings connects ordinary purchases to global supply chains, infrastructure problems, traffic hazards, and possible changes in how people move.

The prosecution of an Orange County salon mass shooting exposes misconduct involving jailhouse informants. Drawing on newspaper reporting and legal documents, Humes examines how authorities recruited inmates for covert surveillance and how the scandal disrupted efforts to secure justice.

Humes revisits Jo Ann Parks's conviction after a house fire killed her three children. Advances in fire science lead the California Innocence Project to challenge the evidence, turning the case into an examination of forensic certainty and possible wrongful conviction.

Detective Jim Scharf and genealogist CeCe Moore revisit the 1987 murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook. Their use of stored DNA illustrates the power of genetic genealogy while raising questions about privacy and the reach of criminal investigations.