His cousin, the congressman Martin L. Sweeney, was indeed a vocal critic of Eliot Ness and, as is always true in politics, had pull and power. But he is not here to defend himself, and whatever heinous murders Francis Sweeney might have been guilty of, Martin L. Sweeney was not. So we will leave his role in the events of the time as the book leaves it: highly suspicious, highly likely, and completely unproven.
The interrogation at the Hotel Cleveland, the use of the Keeler polygraph, and the details of the Torso Murders themselves, including dates and known data, were documented by people who were there. The account of Emil Fronek and his drugged dinner is also factual, as is the unsolved hit-and-run on Peter Kostura, one of the youngsters who found Victims #1 and #2 at the bottom of Jackass Hill. What is fictionalized are conversations, coercion by federal officials, and an official intervention by powerful forces of the government.
Francis Sweeney lived on after 1938, though the Torso Murders, at least in Cleveland, ceased. Like Michael Malone, I gave Francis Sweeney an ending that he did not receive in real life, but for whatever reason, his activities in Cleveland did cease. He died in a veterans’ hospital in 1964.
The mystery surrounding the Cleveland Torso Murders dogged Eliot Ness for the rest of his career. As he said in the story, finding the Butcher wasn’t like taking out Al Capone. Ness never talked to the papers or pointed the finger of blame at Sweeney or anyone else, but I think Eliot Ness knew who the Butcher of Kingsbury Run was, and he did his best to bring the carnage to an end. Many believe those years in Cleveland cost him his health, his first marriage, and his career. I wish him peace.
The saddest thing for Dani in The Unknown Beloved was the fact that so many of the Butcher’s victims were never named. They died alone and unknown. The plight of the unknown was the theme of this book. Unknown people, unknown pain, unknown acts of heroism, and unknown acts of horror. Some of the Butcher’s victims were named, most were not, but I tried to make them as real as I could, if only to shine light on the sadness of their stories.
With every book I write, I delve into the people and circumstances that create a setting. Every place has its story, but America, maybe more than any other country, has a patchwork quilt of the world layered over every city and town. It is one of the most fascinating things about writing. You uncover the identity of not only your characters but of every place you write about. Cleveland’s founding was dominated by eastern European immigrants, mainly Hungarians, Czechs, and Poles, who brought their own flavor and color to the area. The Kos family are fictional, but their Czech heritage is not. The North Broadway neighborhood has tried to preserve that history and some of the original Bohemian buildings, but sadly, much of it is gone.
So many of the things in this book are true that detailing them would demand a dozen lists. A great resource on the Cleveland serial murders is a book called In the Wake of the Butcher by James Jessen Badal, a Cleveland researcher, whose knowledge on the Torso Murders is vast. I have not found a better or more complete compendium of the Kingsbury Run murders.
If you are interested in learning more about the real Michael Malone, research Al Capone documentaries. You’ll find him there in the shadows. Other real and fascinating characters of note: Elmer Irey, the first chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s intelligence division, and David Cowles of the Scientific Investigation Bureau. I gave David some fictional friction with Michael Malone, but by all accounts, he was a loyal friend of Eliot Ness, a brilliant man, and a dedicated servant of science who revolutionized crime techniques in Cleveland.
A final nod to Miss Emily Dickinson, whose words found place in this book. I have loved her work all my life. She is definitely a somebody to me.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My sincere thanks to Lake Union Publishing, specifically my editor, Jodi Warshaw, and my developmental editor, Jenna Free, who make the writing process a pleasure and a challenge—the best combination.
Continued thanks to my agent, Jane Dystel, who always has my back and reads every book the minute I send it.
To my assistant, Tamara Debbaut, for standing by me though the shine has long since worn off. To my early readers, Sunshine Kamaloni and Korrie Kelley, for making me feel like I have something special to offer, and to Karey White, who has read, edited, and believed in me for so long.
To my husband and children, who surround me with love and life and purpose. Each book feels like a mountain, but you are all there every step of the way. Thank you for that. Now get out of my office and let me work. wink wink
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Harmon is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author. Her books have been published in more than two dozen languages around the globe. Amy has written eighteen novels, including the USA Today bestseller Making Faces. Her historical novel From Sand and Ash was the Whitney Award–winning Novel of the Year in 2016. Her novel What the Wind Knows topped the Amazon charts for thirteen weeks and was on the top 100 bestsellers chart for six months. Her novel A Different Blue is a New York Times bestseller, and her USA Today bestselling fantasy The Bird and the Sword was a Goodreads Best Book of 2016 finalist. For updates on upcoming book releases, author posts, and more, join Amy at www.authoramyharmon.com.