Murder Shelf Book Club Podcast
YOUR true crime book club podcast. Each month Jill tells the true crime author’s story in 3 parts. Dive deep into the criminal psyche, updates, and outcomes with the greatest respect for accuracy, victims, & families!
Episodes

Wednesday May 22, 2024
Episode 89: “Prior Bad Acts”- Levi’s Eyes by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 3 2ndCast
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Wednesday May 22, 2024
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!

Tuesday May 07, 2024
Tuesday May 07, 2024
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!

Saturday May 04, 2024
Epi 32 The Potato Masher Murder: 2ndCast- Cecilia’s Curse
Saturday May 04, 2024
Saturday May 04, 2024
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!

Wednesday May 01, 2024
Crimecon Nashville 2024 Meetup MiniCast!
Wednesday May 01, 2024
Wednesday May 01, 2024
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!

Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Episode 87: “Seventeen Nails”- Levi’s Eyes, by Aphrodite Jones, Pt 1
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
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

Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
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

Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
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

Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Enjoying a day with the family, Lead Investigator Jeremy Luberts is called into work at the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office to look into a concerning call. Arriving at the Elm Street residence, a retired Byron Smith meets him, telling him two burglars had broken into his house, and he’d defended himself, shooting them. With 2 dead bodies, Jeremy Luberts begins an investigation that would change the small town of Little Falls, Minnesota and spark contentious debate across the country, changing his life forever.
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.
See you in two weeks!

Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
In Part 4 on Frozen in Fear, Jill chats with our author and survivor of the East Area Rapist, Jane Carson-Sandler. Jane went from being a victim to a ‘Survivor-Thriver’, taking back control over her life, an extraordinary life of service, giving, and caring for others.
You may want to listen to Ep 1 & 2 on Michelle McNamara’s book on the Golden State Killer, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark in conjunction with this trilogy.
Donation Opportunity: Hope Haven of Lowcounty - Child Advocacy & Rape Center,
Beauford, S.C.
Sources, photos, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com, Feb 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.
Did you leave a 5-star review?

Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Part 3: In this uplifting conclusion of the Frozen in Fear trilogy, the voices of the survivors of the East Area Rapist are raised, allowing us to see how these brave souls overcame adversity, trauma, and worse, taking back control, rejecting fear Updating what’s happened since the 2018 arrest of EAR-the Golden State Killer, Jane Carson-Sandler and her sister survivors reflect on his arrest, and what’s happened since, as they enjoy the best revenge- living productive, satisfying lives.
You may want to listen to Ep 1 & 2 on Michelle McNamara’s book on the Golden State Killer, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark in conjunction with this trilogy.
Donation Opportunity: Hope Haven of Lowcounty - Child Advocacy & Rape Center,
Beauford, S.C.
Sources, photos, snack & wine pairing information is found on Jill’s blog at www.murdershelfbookclub.com, February 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