Washtenaw County has a dark and sordid history, filled with unexplained murders and vicious crimes. Venture into the dead of night with medical students from the University of Michigan as they snatch bodies from fresh graves. Discover how Irene Walling Smith, born and raised in Ypsilanti, became known as the "Bandit Queen" of the despicable Kozak Gang. Head back to Ann Arbor in 1878, when Howard Williams was found dead in his home with an empty bottle of morphine by his sidewas it murder, suicide or overdose? Revisit the puzzling details of the unsolved 1913 murder of seventy-three-year-old Elizabeth Stapish, something of an eccentric in Chelsea, who was strangled and buried under a pile of cornhusks in her barn. Join local history author and columnist James Mann as he reveals the enigmatic history of this Michigan county.

James Mann is a local historian, storyteller and author in Ypsilanti. His books include Ypsilanti: A History in Pictures, Ypsilanti in the 20th Century, City of Ypsilanti Fire Department 100 Years, Footnotes in History and Our Heritage: Down by the Depot in Ypsilanti, written with Tom Dodd. He has been a local history columnist for over ten years.