“A Carnival of Crime”: Where True Crime and Local History Meet
Spartanburg author Betsy Wakefield Teter's new book digs into the crimes and scandals of 1890s Spartanburg. Her library talk drew an overflow crowd.
The Woodruff Times covered a book talk by Spartanburg author Betsy Wakefield Teter, published October 29, 2026. Here is our summary.
Teter's new book, "A Carnival of Crime: Murder, Mischief, and Malice in 1890s Spartanburg," looks at the city during the Gilded Age boom, when it was trying to make its name as an industrial town and, as she puts it, prosperity and violence often moved side by side. The stories run from a rogue mayor's antics to grim crimes, told with attention to race, class and gender and to how those tensions still echo today.
Teter began as a journalist in the Carolinas and later co-founded the Hub City Writers Project, where she has edited and published more than 80 books. Her talk at the Spartanburg County Public Libraries Headquarters Library overflowed with people. She told the crowd she loves bringing forgotten people from local history back to life, because the stage for these stories is right outside the library's doors.
The book is available at Hub City Bookshop in downtown Spartanburg.
This is our own summary; the full story, by Ledger Wham, is at The Woodruff Times (link below).