Watertown is a perfect place to raise children, where criminal mischief and scandal are the rare exception to the rule. Discover over a century and a half's worth of exceptions. Travel back to the origins of Watertown, when the house next door might be a brothel and the man on the street might be a serial killer. Hear the tale of poor ninety-five-year-old Mary Kodesch, whose son left her to freeze to death in the barn, and that of the two young boys whose 1890 campaign of arson targeted everything from a church to a box factory. Then press on into the violent history of the Cleveland Street poltergeist house as Jannke delivers a thrilling combination of thoroughly researched fact and inexplicable mystery that will leave the hardiest Watertown residents torn between eagerly turning the next page and nervously looking over their shoulders.

W.F. Jannke III was born and raised in Watertown. His ancestors came to the city in the 1840s, one founding the first lager brewery in the city. Jannke attended Watertown public school and graduated from Watertown Senior High School in 1979. In 1985, he graduated with an associate's degree in commercial art from Madison Area Technical College. In 1983, he began an association with the Watertown Historical Society and has served as the president of that group for several years. He is also a founding member of the Dodge-Jefferson Counties Genealogical Society, Inc., and has served as its president in the past. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, collecting vintage Watertown memorabilia and acting. In 1988, he founded the Watertown Players, the city's local theatrical group. He is the author of nine previous books on the history of Watertown and Jefferson County. He is also in great demand as a lecturer on Watertown history and currently teaches a class on the history of the city as well.