Lone Star (In)Justice

For a place nicknamed the Friendship State, Texas sure boasts a helluva lot of brutishness and bloodshed, much of it committed in pursuit of less-than-charitable goals. That said, the unsavory acts of outlaws, outcasts, and out-and-out madmen constitute a large part of Lone Star history, in both fact and fiction, and those of us who live here have a seemingly insatiable appetite for tales that draw on them, as well as on the efforts of those individuals who work to bring the perpetrators of such deeds to justice. For proof, look no further than the six books reviewed here as part of the Chronicle's July Is Crime Month roundup: all-new releases that share a connection to Texas, either because they relate true stories of criminal incidents within our borders, or because the fictional yarns they spin were penned by authors who reside among us. From made-up made men to real-life gangsters, from a fictional witness whose account of a murder isn't believed to the actual husband whose insistence that he didn't murder his wife isn't believed, they show Texas is still a spot for compelling tales from the darker side of our nature.