One of the nicest guys around, Richard Lindberg has made a career writing about bad people.

The 58-year-old historian is the author of 16 books and counting, among them "Return to the Scene of the Crime: A Guide to Infamous Places in Chicago" (and a sequel), "The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine," and "Heartland Serial Killers: Belle Gunness, Johann Hoch and Murder for Profit in Gaslight Era America."

All of these are essential items for any Chicago history bookshelf.

"I can pinpoint the moment I began to be drawn to this netherworld," says Lindberg, and he tells the story of a 1967 day when he went to the bygone Roosevelt Theater downtown to see the film "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," starring Jason Robards as Al Capone.

"I remember leaving the theater and walking into some restaurant next door where they had on display a replica of a Thompson submachine gun," he says. "Then I got on a bus and headed north to 2122 N. Clark St. (the scene of the 1929 massacre) and that is when I realized I was surrounded by living history."

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