Synopses & Reviews
From renowned true-crime historian Harold Schechter, whom
The Boston Book Review hails as "America's principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers," comes the riveting exploration of a notorious, sensational New York City murder in the 1890s, the fascinating forensic science of an earlier age, and the explosively dramatic trial that became a tabloid sensation at the turn of the century.
Death was by poison and came in the mail: A package of Bromo Seltzer had been anonymously sent to Harry Cornish, the popular athletic director of Manhattan's elite Knickerbocker Athletic Club. Cornish barely survived swallowing a small dose; his cousin Mrs. Katherine Adams died in agony after ingesting the toxic brew. Scandal sheets owned by Hearst and Pulitzer eagerly jumped on this story of fatal high-society intrigue, speculating that the devious killer was a chemist, a woman, or "an effeminate man." Forensic studies suggested cyanide as the cause of death; handwriting on the deadly package and the vestige of a label glued to the bottle pointed to a handsome, athletic society scamp, Roland Molineux.
The wayward son of a revered Civil War general, Molineux had clashed bitterly with Cornish before. He had even furiously denounced Cornish when penning his resignation from the Knickerbocker Club, a letter that later proved a major clue. Bon vivant Molineux had recently wed the sensuous Blanche Chesebrough, an opera singer whose former lover, Henry Barnet, had also recently died...after taking medicine sent to him through the mail. Molineux's subsequent indictment for murder led to two explosive trials, a sex-infused scandal that shocked the nation, and a lurid print-media circus that ended in madness and a proud family's disgrace.
In bold, brilliant strokes, Schechter captures all the colors of the tumultuous legal case, gathering his own evidence and tackling subjects no one dared address at the time all in hopes of answering the tantalizing question: What powerfully dark motives could drive the wealthy scion of an eminent New York family to foul murder?
Schechter vividly portrays the case's fascinating cast of characters, including Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a prolific yellow journalist who covered the story, and proud General Edward Leslie Molineux, whose son's ignoble deeds besmirched a dignified national hero's final years. All the while Schechter brings alive Manhattan's Gilded Age: a gaslit world of elegant town houses and hidden bordellos, chic restaurants and shabby opium dens, a city peopled by men and women fighting and losing the battle against urges an upright era had ordered suppressed.
Superbly researched and powerfully written, The Devil's Gentleman is an insightful, gripping work, a true-crime historian's crowning achievement.
Review
"[S]in, sex, jealousy and revenge in sepia-toned Manhattan....The book is like a fin-de-siècle version of Court TV, a riveting sequence of appalling events, weird testimony, courtroom theatrics and bungled justice." New York Times
Review
"Skillfully captures a colorful mishmash of New York characters caught up in a moment of extreme public anxiety." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
It was the biggest funeral Chicago had seen since Lincolnandrsquo;s. On May 26, 1889, four thousand mourners proceeded down Michigan Avenue, followed by a crowd forty thousand strong, in a howl of protest at what commentators called one of the ghastliest and most curious crimes in civilized history. The dead man, Dr. P. H. Cronin, was a respected Irish physician, but his brutal murder uncovered a web of intrigue, secrecy, and corruption that stretched across the United States and far beyond.
Blood Runs Green tells the story of Croninandrsquo;s murder from the police investigation to the trial. It is a story of hotheaded journalists in pursuit of sensational crimes, of a bungling police force riddled with informers and spies, and of a secret revolutionary society determined to free Ireland but succeeding only in tearing itself apart. It is also the story of a booming immigrant population clamoring for power at a time of unprecedented change.
From backrooms to courtrooms, historian Gillian Oandrsquo;Brien deftly navigates the complexities of Irish Chicago, bringing to life a rich cast of characters and tracing the spectacular rise and fall of the secret Irish American society Clan na Gael. She draws on real-life accounts and sources from the United States, Ireland, and Britain to cast new light on Clan na Gael and reveal how Irish republicanism swept across the United States. Destined to be a true crime classic, Blood Runs Green is an enthralling tale of a murder that captivated the world and reverberated through society long after the coffin closed.
Synopsis
Who was Dr. Cronin and why did his death transfix nineteenth-century Chicago? Might it have anything to do with Clan na Gael, the Irish and#147;secret societyand#8221; devoted to freeing Ireland from British rule by any means possible? Irish-born Patrick Henry Cronin was a well-respected Chicagoan: a successful physician, an active church member, a popular singer. He was also a member of Clan na Gael. Early in 1889, Cronin had a falling out with the Clanand#8217;s leader, Alexander Sullivan, and not long after that he disappeared. After weeks of feverish speculation in the papers, Croninand#8217;s whereabouts became clear when his naked and beaten body was pulled from a north-side sewerand#151;at which point all hell broke loose in the media, the courts, and the streets. An extensive murder investigation ensued, and many secrets were eventually revealed in a complex tale of murder and justice in Irish Chicago. This is a gripping read, told in an accessible voice, which brings that murky time and place to life for a contemporary audience.
About the Author
Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture at Queens College, the City University of New York. He is widely celebrated for both fiction and true-crime writing, including The Serial Killer Files. He lives in Brooklyn and Mattituck, Long Island, with his wife, the poet Kimiko Hahn. Visit the author's website at www.haroldschechter.com.
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Chronology
Prologue: Requiem
1and#160; and#147;City of Big Shouldersand#8221;: The Convergence of the Clan
2and#160; The United Brotherhood
3and#160; The Dynamite War
4and#160; and#147;Secret Hatredsand#8221;: A Tale of Two Trials
5and#160; and#147;Boys, I Give Upand#8221;
6and#160; and#147;The Darkest and Bloodiest Mysteries of Secret Crimeand#8221;
7and#160; and#147;The Whisper of Silenceand#8221;
8and#160; and#147;Truth in Essentials, Imagination in Non-Essentialsand#8221;: The Press and Public Entertainment
9and#160; and#147;A Theater of Great Sensationsand#8221;
10and#160; and#147;Remember Croninand#8221;
Acknowledgments
Note on Sources
Notes
Organizations and Terms
Bibliography
Index