“This is true crime at its most enthrallingprepare to be transported.Terri Cheney,New York Timesbestselling author ofManic

The 1830 murder of wealthy slaver Joseph White shook all of Salem, Massachusetts. Soon the crime drew national attention when it was discovered that two of the conspirators came from Salems influential Crowninshield family: a clan of millionaire shipowners, cabinet secretaries, and congressmen.

A prosecution team led by famed Massachusetts senator Daniel Webster made the case even more newsworthy. Meanwhile, young Salem native Nathaniel Hawthornewho knew several of the accusedobserved and wrote.