Anatomy of a Murder, Robert Traver, 1958

Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver (John Voelker) tells the story of the “irresistable impulse” that leads to the death of an Upper Peninsula bartender, and the murder trial that follows. The book was a hit in 1958 and led to a film shot on location in Marquette County the next year.

Voelker retired from the Michigan Supreme Court on the royalties from the work, and spent the rest of his life fishing.