With a foreword by James Randi

Paranormal investigator Joe Nickell has spent more than thirty years solving the world’s most perplexing mysteries. This new casebook reveals the secrets of the Winchester Mystery House, the giant Nazca drawings of Peru, the Shroud of Turin, the “Mothman” enigma, the Amityville Horror house, the vicious goatsucking El Chupacabras, and numerous other “unexplainable” paranormal phenomena.

Nickell has traveled far and wide to solve cases, which include a weeping icon in Russia, the elusive Bigfoot-like “yowie” in Australia, the reputed power of a headless saint in Spain, and an “alien hybrid” in Germany. He has gone undercover—often in disguise—to reveal the tricks of those who pretend to talk to the dead, accompanied a Cajun guide into a Louisiana swamp in search of a fabled monster, and gained an audience with a voodoo queen. Superstar psychic medium John Edward, pet psychic Sonya Fitzpatrick, evangelist and healer Benny Hinn, and many other well-known figures have found themselves under Nickell’s careful scrutiny. The Mystery Chronicles examines more than three dozen intriguing mysteries. Nickell uses a hands-on approach and the scientific method to steer between the extremes of mystery mongering and debunking. His investigative skills have won him both acclaim and controversy during his long career as one of the world’s foremost paranormal investigators.

Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), writes the “Investigative Files” column for Skeptical Inquirer magazine. He is the the author of several books, including Real-Life X-Files, Crime Science, Detecting Forgery, Ambrose Bierce is Missing , and The Kentucky Mint Julep.

Reviews:

"Punctures many cherished myths about things that wander in the swamp, reach out from the grave, or made huge drawings in South America. . . . Fascinating reading."--WTBF Radio

"Examines forty-one new cases and claims, bringing his unique expertise to solving them, most often finding natural, scientific explanations."—Skeptical Inquirer

"Nickell is a hands-on skeptic, who prefers to visit the scene of a good mystery, testing for trickery among the psychics, or tramping around in the swamps looking for monsters. His varied work experience...gives him credibility as a hard-nosed researcher and writer. The book offers some cautionary tales that uncritical paranormalists should take to heart."—Booklist

“Joe Nickell is the Columbo of skepticism—unsuspecting and unpretentious, yet always professional sleuth—who arrives on the scene of an investigation asking seemingly innocent questions that, in fact, have deep meaning in his never-ending quest for the truth. The Mystery Chronicles not only adds to the Nickell collection of always fascinating and important investigations, this is a valuable contribution to the skeptical body of literature. Every X-Files fan should read this book with the following proviso: ‘If you thought those fictional mysteries were interesting, wait until you hear about these real mysteries.’ The truth is always more intriguing than fiction, and Nickell delivers with his usual clarity and wit.”—Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, contributing editor to Scientific American, and author of Why People Believe Weird Things

“Skillfully serves to bring justice to the nonfiction realm of the paranormal.”—Albuquerque Journal
“Offers science-based explanations for unusual happenings, providing documented solutions for more than three dozen mysteries, including the appearance of crop circles and the Shroud of Turin.”—Dallas Morning News

"In straightforward prose, Nickell describes frauds, deceptions and instances of superstition among vulnerable and gullible victims, some of which he exposed by covert investigations." -Publishers Weekly