The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago [Paperback]

With a thrilling, fast-paced narrative, award-winning journalist Douglas Perry vividly captures the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal- and gave Chicago its most famous story. The Girls of Murder City recounts two scandalous, sex-fueled murder cases and how an intrepid girl reporter named Maurine Watkins turned the beautiful, media-savvy suspects- Stylish Belva and Beautiful Beulah -into the talk of the town. Fueled by rich period detail and a cast of characters who seemed destined for the stage, The Girls of Murder City is a crackling tale that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the Jazz Age and its sober repercussions. The recounting of the murders is gripping stuff, but where Perry shows a particularly gifted touch is in the sights and smells of a 1920s newsroom.
-The Portland Oregonian

The Girls of Murder City spans several categories-true-crime, comedy, social history. It turns out that behind Chicago there was a sexy, swaggering, historical tale in no need of a soundtrack. Liked the movie. Loved the book.
-The Wall Street Journal

Fans of true crime and popular history will enjoy the book's oversized female characters and its hardboiled background of crime and no punishment.
-The Boston Globe

For true crime buffs, history fans or anyone interested in the roaring 1920s, this one's a sure-fire hit.
-Minneapolis Star Tribune

Perry takes a sturdy foundation of murder, sex and Chicago's scandal-happy newspapers and builds a nonfiction marvel. His bouncy, exuberant prose perfectly complements the theatricality of the proceedings, and he deftly maneuvers away from the main story without ever losing momentum...The Girls of Murder City not only illulóH