True Crime : Review

Murder, scandal, betrayal, and deceit—Delaware has never been as quiet as its size suggests.

Delaware Behaving Badly opens the case files of the First State to reveal true stories of crime, corruption, and human folly drawn from newspapers, court records, and eyewitness accounts. These episodes show how ordinary people slid into extraordinary—and often disastrous—moments that shaped communities and lingered in memory.

Listeners encounter jealous lovers whose passions turned violent, confidence men who spun intricate frauds, officials who abused public trust, and families left to reckon with sudden tragedy. Some cases remain unresolved, their questions echoing across generations. Others end in dramatic courtroom confrontations where reputations collapsed and verdicts set lasting precedents.

Delaware’s small scale made crime intensely personal. A killing or scandal rarely stayed local; news spread quickly, and entire towns debated guilt, motive, and justice. That intimacy gives these stories unusual force. They do not feel remote. They feel as though they happened to people you might have known.

Unlike crime fiction, these accounts require no invention. They rely on documented evidence, yet unfold with a storyteller’s attention to character, tension, and consequence.

Written for a broad audience, each chapter presents a self-contained narrative that brings Delaware’s darker past into sharp focus. Delaware Behaving Badly will appeal to true crime listeners, history buffs, and anyone drawn to well-told stories of human conflict and moral choice. It offers suspense grounded in fact, and history made vivid through narrative.

Delaware Behaving Badly / First State, True Crimes by Dave Tabler ​taking place from April 20 to May 15. We are so looking forward to working with you on this tour. I wanted to reach out to let you before the tour starts to make sure you have everything you need for your post. Please reply to let me know if you have not received your review copy of Dave Tabler’s true crime book.

GIVEAWAY LINK: Author-Signed copy of Delaware Behaving Badly / First State, True Crimes (one winner) (USA only) (ends May 22) https://gleam.io/N1Uoq/delaware-behaving-badly-book-review-tour-giveaway Buy the Book Links:

AMAZON: https://amzn.to/4kUudib AUDIBLE: https://www.audible.com/pd/Delaware-Behaving-Badly-Audiobook/B0GLQYNGJT B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/delaware-behaving-badly-dave-tabler/1148189953

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241158781-delaware-behaving-badly?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=qW5ZoeQIMM&rank=4 Author Website: https://www.davetabler.com/

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/307341.Dave_Tabler Social Media Links: Facebook: @davetabler @acornsireadbooktours Instagram: @davetabler_author @lauren.iReadBookTours BookBub: @laurenireadbooktours

Pinterest: @tablerdave @iReadBookTours X/Twitter: @davetabler @iReadBookTours

iReads Book Tour Page: https://www.ireadbooktours.com/blog---current-tours/audiobook-book-tour-delaware-behaving-badly-first-state-true-crimes-by-dave-tabler

My review:

5 stars

My review is for the well-researched materials, quotes well identified and dated, and the format of this book. Short, journalistic-style entries that showcase the crime history/profile of Delaware the first state from Salem to the present in chronological order. The author selected a few that span many years and a diversity of themes from race, jealousy, rage, power, greed, mental health... You name it, but also pointing out relatable cases and how some could have been avoided. Society due to many factors fails a lot of people.

Some of the stories/chapters that stood out for me were: pirate oysters, Hilda's kidnapping outcome, and all those related to mental health. (Now I want to check the anthropologist the author refers to in one of my favorite chapters). The author presents quick facts and each chapter could start a valuable discussion. A book for each state would be an interesting collection.