
The Scientist and the Serial Killer
The Search for Houston's Lost Boys
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Narrated by:
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Hillary Huber
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By:
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Lise Olsen
About this listen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The true story of how one dedicated forensic scientist restored the long-lost identities of the teenaged victims of the “Candy Man,” one of America’s most prolific serial killers
“A masterwork of crime writing . . . Lise Olsen has taken a fifty-year-old story and made it new and fresh and terrifyingly real.”—S. C. Gwynne, New York Times bestselling author of Rebel Yell
Houston, Texas, in the early 1970s was an exciting place—the home of NASA, the city of the future. But a string of more than two dozen missing teenage boys hinted at a dark undercurrent that would go ignored for too long. While their siblings and friends wondered where they had gone, the Houston police department dismissed them as runaways, fleeing the Vietnam draft or conservative parents, likely looking to get high and join the counterculture.
It was only after their killer, Dean Corll, was murdered by an accomplice that many of those boys’ bodies were discovered in mass graves. Corll, known as the “Candy Man,” was a local sweet-shop owner who had enlisted two teens to lure their friends to parties, where they would be tortured and killed.
All of Corll’s victims’ bodies were badly decomposed; some were only skeletal. Known collectively as the Lost Boys, many were never identified and some remained undiscovered. Decades later, when forensic anthropologist Sharon Derrick discovered a box of remains marked “1973 Murders” in the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office, she recalled the horrifying crime from her own childhood, and knew she had to act. It would take prison interviews with Corll’s accomplices, advanced scientific techniques, and years of tireless effort to identify these young men.
Investigative journalist Lise Olsen brings to life the teens who were hunted by a killer hiding in plain sight and the extraordinary woman who would finally give his unknown victims back their names and their dignity. With newly uncovered information about the case, The Scientist and the Serial Killer immerses listeners in an astonishing story and reveals why these horrific events remain relevant decades later.
©2025 Lise Olsen (P)2025 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Lise Olsen’s story of Houston’s Lost Boys gripped me from the first page. In raw detail, she describes the battle between a dead serial killer who targeted teenaged boys and a forensic scientist who sought to identify the victims—a battle between evil and science, and science wins. Olsen is vivid writer, finely drawing the victims and their families, the police and the scientists, and mainly, the obsessed murderer and the equally obsessed forensic heroine. This is a triumph of investigative reporting.”—Barbara Bradley Hagerty, New York Times bestselling author of Bringing Ben Home
“A masterwork of crime writing . . . Lise Olsen has taken a fifty-year-old story and made it new and fresh and terrifyingly real. I hate to use the old cliché, but for anyone interested in crime narratives this is a must-read. Her brilliantly organized pages turn themselves.”—S. C. Gwynne, author of the New York Times bestseller Rebel Yell
“Lise Olsen is not only a masterful investigative reporter, she’s one hell of a storyteller. Her sentences are completely dramatic, her character descriptions spot on. I felt a pit in my stomach reading this book.”—Skip Hollandsworth, author of the New York Times bestseller The Midnight Assassin
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Story
On February 1, 1910, the vivacious, diamond-adorned music hall performer Belle Elmore suddenly vanished from her home, causing alarm among her friends, the entertainers of the Music Hall Ladies’ Guild. Their demands for an investigation would lead to the unearthing of a gruesome secret and trigger a fevered international manhunt for Belle’s husband, medical fraudster Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen.
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Great but none of the heart of The Five
- By S. Armor on 04-13-25
By: Hallie Rubenhold
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Code of Silence
- Sexual Misconduct by Federal Judges, the Secret System That Protects Them, and the Women Who Blew the Whistle
- By: Lise Olsen
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Code of Silence tells the story of federal court employee Cathy McBroom, who had to flee her job as a case manager in Galveston, Texas, after enduring years of sexual harassment and assault by her boss—US District Judge Samuel Kent. Investigative reporter Lise Olsen charts McBroom’s assault and the aftermath, when McBroom was thrust into the role of whistleblower to denounce a federal judge. With the help of other federal judges, Kent was being protected by a secretive court system that has long tolerated or ignored complaints about corruption, sexism, and sexual misconduct.
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Great info, superb storytelling
- By Elsa Alcala on 11-16-21
By: Lise Olsen
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A Better Ending
- A Brother's Twenty-Year Quest to Uncover the Truth About His Sister's Death
- By: James Whitfield Thomson
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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On a summer evening in 1974, Jim Thomson arrived home from a baseball game to the news that his younger sister, Eileen, had taken her own life. To Jim, his parents, and brother, the loss was unexpected and devastating. Only twenty-seven, Eileen had been living in California with her high school sweetheart, Vic, a cop. She had a circle of close friends and a job she loved. But details soon emerged that Eileen had been depressed, her storybook marriage plagued by infidelity and guilt.
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Kept us rapt!
- By HogWare on 05-18-25
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The Busybody Book Club
- By: Freya Sampson
- Narrated by: Daphne Kouma
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Having recently moved from London to a small Cornish seaside village, Nova Davies started a book club at the local community center, but so far it’s a disaster. The five members disagree on everything, and to make matters worse, a significant sum of money is stolen during one of the meetings, putting the much-loved community center at risk.
By: Freya Sampson
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Convoluted
- The 1972 Durham Family Triple Homicide
- By: Terry L. Harmon
- Narrated by: Evan Peter Smith
- Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For fifty years, the 1972 murders of Bryce and Virginia Durham and their teenage son Bobby on a bitter winter's night in Boone, North Carolina were unsolved, but in 2022, the Watauga County Sheriff's Office announced that their killers had finally been identified. Based on information from Georgia, four men associated with the Dixie Mafia (including the infamous Billy Sunday Birt, whose notoriety was explored by the popular "In The Red Clay" podcast) were proclaimed with certainty to be the guilty parties who strangled the Durhams and placed them headfirst into a water-filled bathtub.
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Detailed Look at a Lesser Known Unsolved Murder
- By steve thomas on 05-14-25
By: Terry L. Harmon
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Guilt by Matrimony
- A Memoir of Love, Madness, and the Murder of Nancy Pfister
- By: Daleen Berry - contributor, Nancy Styler
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Fewer than twelve hours after her body was found and without any evidence, police decided a married couple from Denver had killed her. Within a few days, they arrested and charged Nancy Styler, a friend of Pfister's who'd had a falling out with her after a business deal went sour, and Dr. Trey Styler, Nancy's disabled husband, who recently lost the family home, his medical practice, and any hope of a peaceful retirement for himself and his wife. Eleven days later, police also arrested and charged Kathy Carpenter, Pfister's underpaid and overworked personal assistant and closest friend.
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How unlikable everyone is in this situation
- By gas girl on 04-16-25
By: Daleen Berry - contributor, and others
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Storm of Suspicion
- The Karen Read Murder Trials
- By: Kevin Lenihan
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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STORM OF SUSPICION: The Karen Read Murder Trials is both an electrifying, real-time courtroom thriller and the gripping personal account of author Kevin Lenihan’s detailed examination of the evidence—both known and what he’s discovered—as well as the dark rumors, courtroom bombshells, and conspiracy theories that are at the heart of two of the most explosive and controversial murder trials of the decade.
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Excellent facts and analysis
- By Amazon Customer on 04-05-25
By: Kevin Lenihan
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Blood in the Water
- The Untold Story of a Family Tragedy
- By: Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Casey Sherman
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When Nathan Carman, a young man with a complicated past, is miraculously rescued from a lifeboat bobbing in the unforgiving North Atlantic, questions swirl about the fate of his mother, who is presumed to have drowned when their fishing boat sank. Nathan is in remarkably good shape for being lost at sea for a week, and his account of what exactly happened out there on the waves raises questions from family members and law enforcement.
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That I did begin to wonder if Nathan was guilty, unfortunately ultimately despite questions I do believe he was guilty.
- By Jennifer G. on 05-28-25
By: Casey Sherman
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On Father's Day
- By: Megan Norris
- Narrated by: Ella James
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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When Cindy Gambino dropped her three boys off at their dad's on Father’s Day 2005 she had no idea she would never see them again. By day’s end, their bodies lay at the bottom of an icy dam, a tragedy that sparked one of the most controversial and prolonged murder cases in Australian history. Award-winning author and journalist Megan Norris followed the case for eight years, chronicling Cindy’s heartbreaking journey through a trial, retrial, two failed appeals, and a 2013 High Court ruling that blocked Victorian father Robert Farquharson’s final bid for freedom.
By: Megan Norris
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After the Fall
- By: Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Original Recording
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Audible Originals presents After the Fall, the incredible true story of the FBI’s groundbreaking investigation into the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The series also marks the 20th anniversary of the deadliest crime in modern US history.
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Excellent
- By Barry M. on 09-08-21
By: Peter McDonnell
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Without Redemption
- Creation & Deeds of Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, His Five Accomplices & How One Who Escaped Justice
- By: Vonda Pelto, Michael Butler
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Without Redemption was written on a number of parallel tracks that constantly intersect: First, it is the most detailed historical biography ever written about Bill Bonin, the notorious Freeway Killer responsible for murdering 22 teenage boys over ten-months in 1979-80. Second, it is a psychological roadmap which charts the evolution of Bonin’s personality from abused child to sexual predator to serial killer. This is accomplished using documents from his childhood, war service, multiple California government mental health and penal institutions, witness testimony and the expertise of ...
By: Vonda Pelto, and others
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The Serial Killer’s Apprentice
- And Other True Stories of Cleveland’s Most Intriguing Unsolved Crimes
- By: James Renner
- Narrated by: James Renner
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Investigative reporter James Renner reopens cold cases that have baffled Clevelanders for years.
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Renner Rules!
- By MightySkunkGrrl on 01-30-25
By: James Renner
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The Devil Behind the Badge
- The Horrifying Twelve Days of the Border Patrol Serial Killer
- By: Rick Jervis
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Melissa Ramirez, Claudine Anne Luera, Guiselda Hernandez, and Janelle Ortiz were four marginalized women striving to make ends meet as sex workers. They looked out for one another. But they would soon share a connection that none of them could have imagined. When Melissa was found dead, the other three women were on edge but assumed they were safe. Twelve days later, they too were dead and police had detained an unlikely suspect—Juan David Ortiz, a ten-year veteran of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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Well researched
- By Tiffany on 10-07-24
By: Rick Jervis
captivating Book
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Lise Olsen underscores the obstacles Derrick faced, including the handling of missing person reports and the lack of attention given to the string of disappearances in Houston. The narrative emphasizes the emotional weight of each identification, presenting the lives of the victims and their families. The True Crime non-fiction showcases advancements in forensic science over the decades, which helps readers unfamiliar with the field. Moments of harsh reality, Derrick’s dedication uncovered brought closure to some families and serves as a testament to the persistence required in the pursuit of justice for Corll’s victims.
The narrator, Hillary Huber, delivered a precise rendition. The pacing was as perfect as the intonations during some investigative conversations. Coril, known as The Candy Man, a monster, was revealed as each layer of investigation unfolded, the three years of his killing spree. Listening to the facts may be easier for some fans of True Crime than reading.
The thirty years needed to tell the tale of “The Scientist and the Serial Killer” illustrate many mistakes in handling the victims’ deaths. Recommended to fans of true crime, who will be fascinated by the changes in forensic science, law enforcement procedures, and national databases that facilitate solving serial crimes today.
Uncovering evidence with determination
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