In film noir and mystery fiction, detectives inhabit a troubled moral universe that refuses easy distinctions between police, criminals, and everyone else. In fiction and real life, detectives enter the minds of criminals while retracing their motives and emotional states. They also make use of surveillance, wiretapping, and criminal informants—practices that pose moral quandaries about the boundaries between justice and legality. This research guide supports the exhibition in Doheny Memorial Library tracing the history of detectives in the popular imagination and the interactive, mixed-reality game that will engage students in the practice of detective work. Pick up a Logbook in the "True Crime" exhibit in Doheny Memorial Library to play along!
Death On the Nile - Agatha Christie
The Birth of the Detective
Victorian Sleuthhounds
Early Tools of the Trade
On the Culprit’s Trail
We Never Sleep
*Unless otherwise noted, all items are from USC Libraries
The Game’s Afoot
Down These Mean Streets
Hardboiled Dicks
To Live and Die in LA
Just the Facts, Ma’am
A Dame Named Agatha
A Life in the Shadows
Nancy Drew, Girl Detective
Vigilante Justice
*Unless otherwise noted, all items are from USC Libraries
Gumshoe Gals
It Takes Two
Caught Red-Handed
At The Scene of the Crime
Mug Shot
Who Dunnit?
*Unless otherwise noted, all items are from USC Libraries
True Crime Noir from USC Libraries on Vimeo.
For decades, armchair sleuths and professional investigators have tried to solve the mystery surrounding the death of Jimmy Salaro and the $500,000 in gold police believe he stole with Charlie Crawford’s gang. Their efforts have taken them through twists and turns, down dark alleys, and into the Doheny Library stacks—but with every clue, they’ve only uncovered more questions. You hold in your hands a notebook containing information previously gathered about the Salaro case. To this day his murder is believed to remain unsolved and the whereabouts of the gold unknown. However, a $500 cash prize is being offered to the first USC student who can solve the mystery. Teams working together will split the money.
If you take up the case, leave no stone unturned—your pursuit of the killer and their loot may require you to visit the True Crime exhibition, the online library research guide and other tools like the USC Digital Library, and even various USC Libraries locations.
If you have yet to review the archival film footage related to this case, be sure to watch it before you begin