Murder in Canaryville: The True Story Behind a Cold Case and a Chicago Cover-Up by Jeff Coen

Murder in Canaryville: The True Story Behind a Cold Case and a Chicago Cover-Up Reviews

• 
  Jeanette

  This is a cold case that happened in 1976 and more than 40 years later was worked on by the author, since a retired Chicago Detective (also worked FBI).
  
  I don't recommend it although it was intensely interesting to me because of my life spent in these locations. Some of the exact locations too, but at an earlier era. I'm about 50 blocks South of Bridgeport for most of my first 20 years. But going to Sox games and having huge conflation with all these places and especially High Schools since then for another 1/2 century- I was 4.5 star interested.
  
  The case has enough steam to fill about 1/2 the copy. The other half is Chicago Police and politico corruption history. It's the kind of book I would be wary about giving to my brother (Retired Homicide Chicago Pol. Dept.). Not that he would be "hurt" or deny any of it- just that it, like great majority re Chicago P.D. associated printed material of any ilk- tells of the Burge's and not the 90% of the others in the departments. Or of the ones of ultimate police duty who never came home.
  
  The crux of this is that the case was a butting heads incident between the Irish and the Italian teen-agers. It's accurate, but that's just a tip of the iceberg, IMHO. There's more to it because of the shooter's parent and driver's dad. (One a made Mafia, one a fire chief's son.) Suffice to say, the murderer was never even questioned because he wasn't identified. Gun went missing. All files locked and most lost. Surprise, surprise! John Hughes to this day still has a de la Salle scholarship in his name (the murdered Junior from that school).
  
  If you know Chicago's South, Southwest, and Far South or West sides. Or the suburbs west or southwest, then this will be of more interest than if you don't.
  
  It's hard to follow. The murderer killed again (his own girlfriend) and has passed away at 57. He never spent a day in jail for either murder. If you want to know why, read the book.
  
  This somewhat gives you the "feel" of those two neighborhoods but IMHO- there are far more interesting and complex situations happening all the time South of that and West of that. Even now. The area around Sox park and much of Bridgeport itself has become gentrified.
  
  He gets lyrical and rather smaltzy, IMHO. The tales are far, far worse since this era. Or to the west of this described area. Especially in neighborhoods like Englewood or much of the east side all the way to Indiana. Teenagers and young men killing each other constantly over drugs, crime money etc. and in constant gang butting. Or anyone who happens to be between them or just there. And similar as in this case, someone always knows but can't tell. If they do, they are next. And if they don't tell, they still may be next. Just like LaMantia's girlfriend in this book.
  
  "Perhaps at least as often as anywhere else on earth, things happen in Chicago that should never happen to anyone. And what should happen- if God were keeping watch on the dark skyscrapers on the the shore of Lake Michigan- doesn't.
  Clouded. Unforgiving. Infuriating.
  Chicago. "
  
  Not always true for many in Chicago. But certainly for some. I'm one.
• 
  Therese Thompson

  Cold cases are incredibly fascinating, because who doesn’t want to know the truth?
  
  But if the case should never have gone cold and almost certainly should have been an easy solve, then the question becomes how could this happen? Particularly when the community knows the answers to who, why, when, and where.
  
  Jeff Coen brings his formidable investigative reporting skills to exploring the 1970’s murder of a Chicago high school junior, John R. Hughes. But, the backbone of this true crime/corruption expose is the dogged work of seasoned police detective and good cop, Jim Sherlock.
  
  And while both these men do excellent work illuminating the dark corners of Chicago police and political corruption, it is Jim Sherlock’s empathy and relentless search for the truth for the family and friends of John Hughes that is a shining beacon that spotlights the good, honest men and women in law enforcement.
• 
  Layne

  As other reviews will say, the tale strays frequently from the cold case in question to cover the wider stories of organized crime and corruption in Chicago and Cook County. I still found it to be fascinating and a well-written partner to other books on Chicago's sordid recent past like Everybody Pays (Rick Kogan) or Family Secrets (also by Coen). A familiarity with the streets of Bridgeport and Canaryville is certainly helpful. Maps, photos, family trees aren't included and would help make all the various families, suspects, and connections clearer.
• 
  Ronnie Cramer

  A detective tries to properly investigate an unsolved 1976 cold case after more than forty years. Includes information about other related crimes and Chicago Police corruption in general. The book lacks a satisfying resolution but it is nonetheless quite good.
• 
  KayB

  Definitely gives a taste of the south side and especially Bridgeport and Canaryville. Being from the south side, two parishes south, I felt like I was back there. The story wandered off the main story of John Hughes too often for my liking. There was too much repetition. The police and judicial corruption was disgusting although being from Chicago I know it exists. It's one thing for your ward committeeman to get you a job or garbage cans (don't laugh, it happens), but judicial payoffs to get murderers off is horrifying. That is not the Chicago I want to be from. This was just one story but I know this is repeated over and over everyday. It's easy to ignore it as long as it doesn't touch you, but for the individuals and families involved it is a sad reality.
• 
  Mickey Mantle

  The book is a kick to the gut. It IS the Chicago I knew and know.
  
  Interesting.....I talked with a few people who were present that evening many years ago. I met them in a Bridgeport saloon recently after a White Sox game. The author seems to downplay the viciousness on BOTH sides. The Canaryville guys were not exactly angelic.
• 
  Bridget Johnson (Jameson)

  In this true crime book, a Chicago police officer tries to close a cold case: a murder from the 1970s.
  
  There isn’t enough about the murder of John Hughes to fill a book, so the author includes a lot of tangentially related history about the Chicago police force, organized crime in Chicago, Chicago itself. If you love Chicago, you’ll probably enjoy this book! If you just want to read about a murder, you might, like me, find it disappointing and kind of boring.
• 
  Jordan

  In a Chicago suburb a young teen is shot and killed one evening in front of many witnesses. Two rival groups of teens had been in a fight earlier in the evening, and witnesses could identify who was in the car the shots came from. It seemed like a simple case but one that was never solved. With underground crime ties and the killer never getting caught, it was surprising to me that this took place in the mid-1970s.
  
  The murder of 17-year-old John Hughes is the beginning of this book but it is only a small part of the story. This is more about a modern-day detective looking back on an old cold case and finding coverups and corruption.
  
  There are a lot of people in this book as layers are uncovered. This is a good true crime book for fans of organized crime, especially in the notorious Chicago area.
• 
  Kenb Monroe

  Reads like a mystery novel, which it is.
  Does not find the killer, but "knows" who it is.
  Only downside is author takes side trips about other issues beyond this murder.
  
  Well written.
• 
  Kevin Walery

  They don’t close the case!! WTH? Very disappointed, shame on me for assuming this cold case would be solved. Now I understand why he spent so much time on some shakily related back stories.
• 
  Alexander

  This book details a Chicago detective's last case in 2018-19--a long cold one from 1976. The murder of John Hughes is a relatively simple case that would have been solved the night it occurred (or within a week) had the CPD not been hampered by the internal rot and corruption of Chicago politics under the Daley regime--or, as the author rather convincingly puts it, just about any other from Daley the father, to the son, to Emanuel, et al. Aside from internal PD rot, corruption at city hall, this tale is also enmeshed in Chicago's notorious mob, The Outfit.
  
  The book has two main issues, one the author's fault, the other not. The first, and not the author's issue, is that there is nothing satisfying about the conclusion of the investigation for the reader, or the detective. The case was simply too well obstructed, too many of the main players are already dead, and the few that are still around are still tight-lipped despite the fact that there seems very little chance of bringing any charges against anyone. So the book ends with the status quo ante.
  
  The second issue is repetitiveness. This book probably could have been an extended pamphlet rather than a book. This is evidenced by a very long chapter that veers far from the Hughes murder and cover-up to detail a host of other tangentially related CPD and Mayor du jour scandals. Perhaps the project should have been several of these stories instead of just one--it is unlikely that the people who obstructed justice so glibly in this story only did it this one time (as a subsidiary, and related, murder story within suggests).
  
  A quick read that should have been even quicker.
• 
  Anna

  This book is more than a story about a cold case - it is an examination into the recent history of Chicago's Police Dept, organized crime, and police cover-ups. Reading it gives a bleak look at the corruption that seems to still be part of the culture of the CPD. This book had so much detail; if you are not a fan of Chicago history, this book is not for you. There were so many names and people to remember - I am very interested in Chicago history and I still got lost a few times. But overall I liked this book and most of what is covered was interesting to me.
  Five words to describe this book: true crime, Chicago, history, corruption
• 
  Taylor Mitchell

  This is a book you read if you’re incredibly interested in true crime cold cases or you have a tie to the Southside of Chicago. Otherwise it’s going to miss its mark. I found it a bit difficult to keep up with as there are so many names, relations, and layers brought to your attention to try and express the level of corruption in CPD. overall I just found the book kind of tiring, which isn’t even the authors fault more so just reading and seeing yet another example of corruption in Chicago. If you’re into cold cases, sure give it a go but otherwise I’d say this was just a bit too difficult to keep me engaged in.
• 
  Rosemary

  Well researched history of crime and corruption in Chicago, specifically surrounding the shooting of a young man, John Hughes, in a park, late at night, May 15, 1976. Canaryville and Bridgeport are adjacent neighborhoods in Chicago, strongly controlled by a trio of invincible forces; the Outfit, the Chicago Police Department and the Daley political machine. Despite accurate eye witnesses, this murder was filed away unsolved, related paperwork mostly destroyed. Details, run on sentences, repetitions and more details tell the story that will never see the light of an honest courtroom.
• 
  Karen

  This book is an interesting read. Perhaps a more accurate subtitle would be "A History of Police Corruption in Chicago" because the book is about far more than the Hughes case.
  
  There is a lot of information in the book and at times I had to stop the audio and rewind to repeat because the cast of characters is quite large.
  
  Still, given that I was 12 when the John Hughes murder happened, that I grew up in Chicago and am familiar with many of the people discussed, it was an engaging book.
• 
  Carol Carlson

  Although this was to be about a cold case file, there was a similar amount of information about police corruption in Chicago. While certainly interesting, I would have preferred a more straightforward narration of the cold case file. I gained much admiration for Mr. Sherlock and his persistence in the face of incredible odds.