num_pages: 570
description: Drawing from 1000s of pages of police reports, court documents, interviews, letters &amp; diaries, Sillitoe's &amp; Roberts's narrative cuts thru the complexities of this famous crime investigation to deliver a gripping, Capote-esque tale. They embrace the details, then lay them out systematically as seen thru the eyes of the detectives, victims &amp; perpetrator. The darkest secrets unravel gradually, allowing readers fleeting glimpses of the infamous salamander as it ducks in &amp; out of its fabricator's head. What was the salamander letter &amp; why were so many people determined to possess &amp; conceal it? Why was this one of the most unusual cases in American forensic history? A skilled con artist by anyone's assessment, Mark Hofmann eluded exposure by police &amp; document authenticators--the FBI, Library of Congress, the LDS church historical department &amp; polygraph experts--until George Throckmorton discovered the tell-tale microscopic alligatoring that was characteristic of the forgeries. What ensued was a suspense-ridden cat-&amp;-mouse game between seasoned prosecutors &amp; a clever, homicidal criminal. In the end, this story verifies the saying that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
language: English
title: Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders with a New Afterword
publisher: Signature Books