Hell Town by Casey Sherman HC

In the winter of 1969, the bodies of four young women were discovered in a cemetery near the tip of Cape Cod. The place was once known as Helltown. What investigators found there shook the whole region.

The man behind it was Tony Costa: young, handsome, a former taxidermist with a split personality and a capacity for terrible violence. This is the true story of how he was caught, and of the summer that changed the Cape forever.

Costa rallied friends in the hippie community for support and, in his own mind, retribution. He also caught the attention of literary heavyweights and rivals Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer. As the body count climbed, he played a daring cat-and-mouse game with detectives who were desperate to end the killing season.

Why you’ll want to settle in with this one:

• A gripping, untold New England true crime story set in the late-’60s counterculture
• A fascinating look at a case that drew in two of American literature’s biggest names
• A page-turner for fans of serial killer history, Massachusetts lore, and real-life mysteries

It’s a dark chapter, told with care for the lives it touched. If you like your true crime meticulous and atmospheric, this one will keep you reading well past the last light on a foggy evening.

Browse our curated mystery and crime shelves here at Perkins Cove Bookshop, nestled by the salty sea air of Ogunquit. We’d love to help you find your next unputdownable read.

Additional information