Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast

Episode 92: ‘Salvation’ Broken: The Suspicious Death of Alydar and the End of Horse Racing’s Golden Age by Fred M. Kray, Pt 1

Nov. 13, 1990: It was a quiet autumn night at Calumet Farm, of Blue Grass Kentucky, home to some of the most valuable thoroughbred racehorses in the USA.  One, Alydar, had settled into his stall, only to be discovered by a nightwatchman, to have broken his leg.  What on Earth had happened? Investigations begin, leading to over 30 years of inquiry, examination, and suspicions, as Jill delves into the oldest cold case in American thoroughbred racing- Was it an accident or where nepharious forces at work, conspiring to kill the horse, and why?
 
Please leave a 5 star review if you enjoy this episode! 
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com ,July 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
"I see you as you hear me!"

Episode 91- Reflections on Crimecon 2024

The anticipation gave way to enthusiastic energy as Crimecon began in Nashville, May 31- June 2, 2024. These are Jill's "Reflections" on an amazing true crime weekend, rooted in ethics, decency and remembering the victims. 
Speakers, experts, law enforcement, victims, and family members who represent every aspect of true crime spoke, shared, and educated.
The 3 Johns: John Douglas, the original "Mindhunter", John Walsh, honored for founding the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after his son, Adam's murder, and John Ramsey, on a mission to get the DNA from his daughter, JonBenet's murder, to a reputable LAB AND TESTED were the cornerstone of Jill's Crimecon. 
Exhibits, podcasters, authors (who simply made Jill's day), were among the VAST numbers that never disappointed. And, most importantly, meeting and speaking with Murder Bookies simply was a mind-blowing experience, leaving Jill humbled.  Thank you to Kevin Balfe, Kelly McLear, Alyse, Tiffany and all of you who make Crimecon possible. See you in Denver 2025!
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
"Trust your gut, Murder Bookies!"
 

Episode 90: “Aphrodite in Romulus”- Levi’s Eyes by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 4

Bestselling author and true crime superstar, Aphrodite Jones, discusses her new book, Levi’s Eyes with Jill in this exclusive interview! The ladies leave no stone unturned! What did convicted killer, Karl Karlsen tell Aphrodite over two long years!?  What kind of monster IS Karl Karlsen?  AND from deep within the Karlsen homestead, her conversations with Cindy Karlsen, whose story has never been told before. “The depth of this interview is amazing…glimpsing the evil hidden deep within” – Murder Bookie Patreon Danielle   
Crimecon 2024 in Nashville was a few days ago!  Aphrodite and I connected in person- which was spectacular! I’ll be dropping a whole CC24 Nashville review next week or so—and holy moly!  There is just so much to say.  So- be on the lookout for my bonus episode on Crimecon 2024 Nashville!
 
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com ,April 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
See you in 2 weeks!
 
 

Episode 89: “Prior Bad Acts”- Levi’s Eyes by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 3 2ndCast

Part 3: As Cindy and Karl separate, suspicions about Karl’s involvement in son Levi’s death grow, leading Cindy to resort to very dangerous methods to stay safe while getting to the truth. Arrested, a murder trial looms over Karl, who protests his innocence.  And while justice is delayed, its bittersweet arrival provides solace even as the love of money proves to be the source of all evil.
 
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub, April 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
Love the episode? Leave a 5-star review!
 
 
 

Episode 88: 'A great python spits kerosene upon the world'- Levi’s Eyes by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 2

Part 2: Karl and 2nd wife, Cindy, settle into married life, with son, Alex joining the family. But the bad luck that follows Karl strikes again and again, with more trauma and deaths occurring, leaving soot and sorrow in their wake. Growing pains abound, life presents twists and turns, but tragedy is never far behind, as Cindy begins to wonder- Is all coincidence?  (Listen to Part 1- Ep 87- first, this story is complex!)
 
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com April 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
 
See you in two weeks!
 
 

Epi 32 The Potato Masher Murder: 2ndCast- Cecilia’s Curse

See Part 1, Part 2, and Jill's exclusive interview with the author, Ep 30, 31 and 33! January 2021.
 
In Part 3, 2ndCast: Cecilia’s Curse, Jill wonders if Cecilia Ludwig cursed Mishawaka, Indiana with her dying breath.  Explore the bizarre and twisted legacy of Cecilia Ludwig’s murder by husband, Albin Ludwig, the prosecutor, Joseph Talbot and his family, neighbors and friends alike, following the ripples from the stone tossed in the pond across the century. Did Cecilia get justice? Listen and find out!
 
 Sources and show notes for the Potato Masher Murder trilogy are found at www.murdershelfbookclub.com. Jan 2021.
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
 
See you in two weeks!
 
 

Crimecon Nashville 2024 Meetup MiniCast!

Crimecon Nashville 2024 is happening in one month! Come meet Jill, yack about true crime and delve into our books & cases at Crimeon!
11:15ish PM after John Douglas on Friday May 31, 2024, Falls Bar at the hotel!
AND~ Jill is currently featuring the true crime book, Levi’s Eyes by Aphrodite Jones—the bestselling author and true crime maven, who is ALSO at Crimecon. Listen to series and catch Jill’s interview with Aphrodite too! 
Listen! https://linktr.ee/murdershelfbookclub.com
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
 
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
 
"Trust your gut" Murder Bookies!
 
 
 

Episode 87: “Seventeen Nails”- Levi’s Eyes, by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 1

Part 1: Meet the Karlsens, Christina, Karl and their 3 small children. Living in Murphys, California, Christmas 1990 was filled with mistletoe, ribbons and home-made cookies. But the joy was cut short, with tragedy striking. Grieving, the Karlsens move across the country to Romulus, NY, trying to settle into a new life. But back in California, investigators dig into the events of New Year’s Day 1991, where Christina Karlsen lost her life in a devastating fire. With question unanswered, suspicions rise, as Karl moves forward with his life.
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com , April 2024.
 
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
"I see you as you hear me!" ~ Jill
 

Episode 86 2ndCast: "Lesser of Two Evils"- Murder on Elm Street- a true story by Jeremy L. Luberts Pt 3

Charged with 1st degree murder, Byron Smith’s trial beings for shooting Nicholas Brady and Haile Kifer to death in his basement on Thanksgiving 2012. Armed with damning evidence, the Prosecution presents its case of calculated revenge, as the Defense presents the Defendant as a fearful man, who only wanted to defend himself against violent intruders.  The wheels of justice turn, with some stunning decisions, as debates erupt over the Castle Doctrine vs homicide, with very real consequences for lead investigator, Jeremy L. Luberts. Where is Byron Smith today? Jill updates the case since publication, filling you in on his appeals.
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com  Apri 2024!
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
"Trust your gut!" ~ Jill
 

Episode 85: “The Mother Lode” Murder on Elm Street- a true story by Jeremy L. Luberts Pt 2

In Pt 2, with two teenagers dead, the Byron Smith investigation heats up, focusing on the rash of burglaries that had occurred recently, including those at Smith’s previously, with damning conclusions.  Accomplices and witnesses are interviewed, arrests are made, and another search warrant unearths the ‘mother lode’ of evidence that turns this case upside down, causing huge media surge and dividing the town, state and country in this divisive, emotional case of self-defense vs homicidal rage.
Sources, photos, diagrams, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com, March 2024.
 
ANNOUNCEMENT- JAN 2025:  My new Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast MERCH SHOP has launched!  Please go explore! I appreciate you supporting my true crime book club podcast!
Share your thoughts with me at  jill@murdershelfbookclub.com, on X,  Facebook,  Instagram or YouTube.  OR, join Jill on PATREON for $4 and help pick our next book and talk true crime developments, first Thursday of each month at 8:30 pm EST!
Music- The Pewter Elephant by Blue Dot Sessions.
"Trust your gut" ~ Jill