Four new books to check out in July
Old New York crime, a mysterious midcentury death, and the Titanic's ill-fated officers
The summer book-publishing lull is upon us, but there’s still an ample selection of juicy historical yarns hitting shelves this month. Among them: a Gilded Age female crime boss (one of her infamous dinner parties depicted above); a mysterious infant-death that shook small-town 1940’s Massachusetts; a secret vice squad from turn-of-the-century New York; and the seven doomed men in charge of the Titanic as it slipped beneath the waves.
THE TALENTED MRS. MANDELBAUM: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss, by Margalit Fox (Random House, July 2)
From the publisher: “The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum paints a vivid portrait of Gilded Age New York—a city teeming with nefarious rogues, capitalist power brokers and Tammany Hall bigwigs, all straddling the line between underworld enterprise and ‘legitimate’ commerce.” Kirkus Reviews: “Fox succeeds in rescuing a once-notorious public figure from historical obscurity. An engrossing portrait of an unlikely criminal mastermind.”
THE ELECTROCUTION OF BABY LAWRENCE: A Murder That Shook a New England Town, by James E. Overmyer (Rowman & Littlefield, July 2)
From the publisher: “Was it a ‘mercy killing?’ Was it an accident? Was it murder? Read the full account of the death of baby Lawrence Noxon and subsequent arrest, trial, and conviction that divided a 1940s small town.” PW: “Overmyer supplements the case’s gut-wrenching details with research about contemporaneous attitudes toward developmentally disabled people. … It adds up to an enlightening and discomfiting account of a horrific crime.”
THE INCORRUPTIBLES: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld, by Dan Slater (Little Brown, July 16)
From the publisher: “This harrowing tale of early twentieth century New York reveals the true stories of an immigrant underworld, a secret vice squad, and the rise of organized crime.” Kirkus starred review: “The author yields not just a gripping crime story … but also a richly detailed, informal social history of New York between the Gilded Age and the Jazz Age that, apart from its scholarly rigor, is also highly readable. A grand evocation of the Gotham of gangsters, crooked cops, ‘beefsteak dungeons,’ and nativists versus newcomers.”
TITANIC’S UNLUCKY SEVEN: The Story of the Ill-Fated Liner’s Officers, by James W. Bancroft (Frontline Books, July 31)
From the publisher: “For the first time, a clear picture of the incidents, actions and events leading up to and during the sinking of Titanic can be seen through the stories of the seven men in charge that night.”
I feel like I need to start making a budget for your recommendations. I could read all four and probably will. Incorruptibles is right smack dab in my wheelhouse and I’m anticipating absolutely inhaling that one!