Publication Date: January 1, 2026
Delaware Behaving Badly is a gripping, true-crime-inflected history of the First State’s darker moments-scandals, betrayals, and criminal exploits that once made headlines but have since faded from public memory. Drawing on newspaper accounts, court records, and archival materials, author Dave Tabler uncovers stories that range from oyster pirate skirmishes and Prohibition-era rumrunning to political corruption, violent revenge, and fraudulent wartime schemes.
The book brings to life the eccentric figures and forgotten corners of Delaware’s past with scene-driven storytelling and deep research. Among the cases covered: a 19th-century embezzler who vanished with bank funds and turned up in Havana; a Prohibition enforcer accused of moonlighting as a bootlegger; a serial predator released on furlough who assaulted again; and a bookie war that upended Wilmington’s underworld. Each chapter presents a standalone narrative, but together they form a mosaic of lawlessness, defiance, and the uneasy intersection between crime and power.
Avoiding myth and conjecture, Tabler grounds his accounts in documented fact, often quoting directly from contemporary sources to preserve the raw tone and urgency of the times. Though the crimes differ in scope and era, they all reveal something essential about Delaware’s legal system, social tensions, and the limits of justice.
Meticulously curated and written in a crisp, journalistic style, Delaware Behaving Badly does not seek moral closure or tidy resolutions. Instead, it invites readers to confront the discomforting truth that bad behavior-official and unofficial-has always found its place even in the quietest corners of America. This is Delaware history stripped of its polish and presented with an unflinching eye.
True crime draws readers into atrocious events happening around them. While the genre’s growth got a significant boost via social media, infamous crimes have been part of our nation’s fabric throughout history.
In Delaware Behaving Badly, author Dave Tabler researches Delaware’s history to highlight the true crimes that created a ripple effect within the first state to ratify the Constitution. From 1690 to 2011, the 27 cases featured include murders and schemes that captivated public attention.
Each topic unfolds with plenty of detail. Whether it’s Delaware’s stance regarding witchcraft or a woman profiting from human trafficking in the 1820s, the common factor is attention from the public.
Racial tensions also added to several of the stories, including an insurance scheme where a white man is acquitted of murdering a black man. The 1930s brought a horrific tale of a mother who drowned her young sons in the bathtub.
While the stories highlight the dark side of Delaware, they also shed light on how each case led to change and greater accountability.
Delaware Behaving Badly uncovers infamous true crimes and brings them to life, along with their impact.
Ten year old Dave Tabler decided he was going to read the ‘R’ volume from the family’s World Book Encyclopedia set over summer vacation. He never made it from beginning to end. He did, however, become interested in Norman Rockwell, rare-earth elements, and Run for the Roses.
Tabler’s father encouraged him to try his hand at taking pictures with the family camera. With visions of Rockwell dancing in his head, Tabler press-ganged his younger brother into wearing a straw hat and sitting next to a stream barefoot with a homemade fishing pole in his hand. The resulting image was terrible.
Dave Tabler went on to earn degrees in art history and photojournalism despite being told he needed a ‘Plan B.’
Fresh out of college, Tabler contributed the photography for “The Illustrated History of American Civil War Relics,” which taught him how to work with museum curators, collectors, and white cotton gloves. He met a man in the Shenandoah Valley who played the musical saw, a Knoxville fellow who specialized in collecting barbed wire, and Tom Dickey, brother of the man who wrote ‘Deliverance.’
In 2006 Tabler circled back to these earlier encounters with Appalachian culture as an idea for a blog. AppalachianHistory.net today reaches 375,000 readers a year.
Dave Tabler moved to Delaware in 2010 and became smitten with its rich past. He no longer copies Norman Rockwell, but his experience working with curators and collectors came in handy when he got the urge to photograph a love letter to Delaware’s early heritage. This may be the start of something.
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