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Shadow Men: The Tangled Story of Murder, Media, and Privilege That Scandalized Jazz Age America
From Edgar Award finalist James Polchin comes a thrilling examination of the murder that captivated Jazz Age America, with echoes of the decadence and violence of The Great Gatsby
On the morning of May 16, 1922, a young man’s body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of “shadow men,” blackmailers who extorted their victims’ moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder?
For sixteen months, the media fueled a firestorm of speculation. Unscrupulous criminal attorneys, fame-seeking chorus girls, con artists, and misogynistic millionaires harnessed the power of the press to shape public perception. New York governor and future presidential candidate Al Smith and editor of the Daily News Joseph Medill Patterson leveraged the investigation to further professional ambitions. Famous figures like Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, and F. Scott Fitzgerald weighed in. As the bereaved working-class Peters family sought to bring the callous Ward to justice, America watched enraptured.
Capturing the extraordinary twists and turns of the case, Shadow Men conjures the excess and contradictions of the Jazz Age and reveals the true-crime origins of the media-led voyeurism that reverberates through contemporary life. It’s a story of privilege and power that lays bare the social inequity that continues to influence our system of justice.
On the morning of May 16, 1922, a young man’s body was found on a desolate road in Westchester County. The victim was penniless ex-sailor Clarence Peters. Walter Ward, the handsome scion of the family that owned the largest chain of bread factories in the country, confessed to the crime as an act of self-defense against a violent gang of “shadow men,” blackmailers who extorted their victims’ moral weaknesses. From the start, one question defined the What scandalous secret could lead Ward to murder?
For sixteen months, the media fueled a firestorm of speculation. Unscrupulous criminal attorneys, fame-seeking chorus girls, con artists, and misogynistic millionaires harnessed the power of the press to shape public perception. New York governor and future presidential candidate Al Smith and editor of the Daily News Joseph Medill Patterson leveraged the investigation to further professional ambitions. Famous figures like Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, and F. Scott Fitzgerald weighed in. As the bereaved working-class Peters family sought to bring the callous Ward to justice, America watched enraptured.
Capturing the extraordinary twists and turns of the case, Shadow Men conjures the excess and contradictions of the Jazz Age and reveals the true-crime origins of the media-led voyeurism that reverberates through contemporary life. It’s a story of privilege and power that lays bare the social inequity that continues to influence our system of justice.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 2024
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4038 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 3, 2024
This book had too many characters.
The 1920s is my favorite time in history. It was I believe the beginning of what we call modern America. Lots of things that are considered normal were first originated in the 1920s. It has much more in common with current times than you would think. The 1920s also had some of the most interesting crimes outside of the 1990s. It's also an interesting look at how gay men were treated in the 1920s.
In May of 1922 a young man's body was found on a desolate road. The victim was Clarence Peters a penniless ex sailor. The investigation into his murder would expose the underbelly of New York City. The many people involved in this case would range from con men, blackmailers and the heir to a bread company would one day years after this crime give us Wonder Bread and Twinkies.
I wanted to enjoy Shadow Men more than I did but I felt like there were just too many characters. I mean despite the book being about the death of Clarence Peters past page 100 he's rarely mentioned. We go on so many side quest that while interesting were not needed in this story. I kinda felt like I needed to create a character map to remember who was who and what alias they used.
I overall did like this book and I'm still interested in reading this authors other book Indecent Advances. I like learning how historically crimes involving the gay community were handled. I will say I was surprised by the lack of victim blaming in the press. I just would have preferred a more tight narrative.
The 1920s is my favorite time in history. It was I believe the beginning of what we call modern America. Lots of things that are considered normal were first originated in the 1920s. It has much more in common with current times than you would think. The 1920s also had some of the most interesting crimes outside of the 1990s. It's also an interesting look at how gay men were treated in the 1920s.
In May of 1922 a young man's body was found on a desolate road. The victim was Clarence Peters a penniless ex sailor. The investigation into his murder would expose the underbelly of New York City. The many people involved in this case would range from con men, blackmailers and the heir to a bread company would one day years after this crime give us Wonder Bread and Twinkies.
I wanted to enjoy Shadow Men more than I did but I felt like there were just too many characters. I mean despite the book being about the death of Clarence Peters past page 100 he's rarely mentioned. We go on so many side quest that while interesting were not needed in this story. I kinda felt like I needed to create a character map to remember who was who and what alias they used.
I overall did like this book and I'm still interested in reading this authors other book Indecent Advances. I like learning how historically crimes involving the gay community were handled. I will say I was surprised by the lack of victim blaming in the press. I just would have preferred a more tight narrative.
December 21, 2024
And for what?
November 17, 2024
My rating: 3.5
**** for the meticulous research and bringing attention to such a bizarre and shameful true crime case which happened in 1922.
*** for the rather convoluted and confusing explanation of the event.
Book and story somewhat ran out of steam long before the conclusion - at least for this reader.
But still an interesting case well worth studying.
**** for the meticulous research and bringing attention to such a bizarre and shameful true crime case which happened in 1922.
*** for the rather convoluted and confusing explanation of the event.
Book and story somewhat ran out of steam long before the conclusion - at least for this reader.
But still an interesting case well worth studying.
August 24, 2024
Really torn on this one. Clarence Peters and his family deserve to have their story told, but they are all but lost to history here. We hardly see or hear of them at all.
But that’s kind of the point, right? If you have a lot of money, you’re the main character no matter what.
Too many typos (mainly names) for a professionally edited and published book.
Review to come.
But that’s kind of the point, right? If you have a lot of money, you’re the main character no matter what.
Too many typos (mainly names) for a professionally edited and published book.
Review to come.
July 9, 2024
Sometimes life is messy. Good thing - it makes better books that way.
Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, this is a book that wrestles with a lurid but cold case from the 1920s.
A few editing errors, but easily overlooked in this compelling read.
Meticulously researched and thrillingly told, this is a book that wrestles with a lurid but cold case from the 1920s.
A few editing errors, but easily overlooked in this compelling read.
July 21, 2024
You know, this is the most puzzling true crime book I've ever read. Yes, a crime, murder, was committed. And, yes, a wealthy man stepped forward, confessed to squeezing the trigger that took the life of a young man, from an impoverished working class background. And that is the only discernible correction between the victim and the alleged perpetrator?
While the who, what, perhaps even the where, and why of young, and possibly simpleminded, Clarence Peters's murder will forever remain a mystery, the underlying theme of this book is of wealth versus poverty. Suffice it to say, and perhaps this is a spoiler, the rich and politically connected can literally get away with murder. Of course things are a little different now than 1920's New York, however, in today's political climate we may see a return of that ethos?
While the who, what, perhaps even the where, and why of young, and possibly simpleminded, Clarence Peters's murder will forever remain a mystery, the underlying theme of this book is of wealth versus poverty. Suffice it to say, and perhaps this is a spoiler, the rich and politically connected can literally get away with murder. Of course things are a little different now than 1920's New York, however, in today's political climate we may see a return of that ethos?
February 25, 2025
This book needed a different editor. Why did we spend 10 minutes talking about Arthur Conan Doyle and Houdini’s disagreement on spiritualism? Or a huge storm that swept through New England? And there’s so much “we could imagine…” nonsense. I would’ve put this book in purgatory but I needed to review it and maybe save someone else
July 10, 2024
A fascinating story, a well researched historical true crime that is still full of mysteries.
A rich boy, a poor victims, blackmail, suspects.
Loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
A rich boy, a poor victims, blackmail, suspects.
Loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
October 27, 2024
Author does a fantastic job of telling this complicated story. Yes, there are a lot of characters but it is non-fiction and there simply are a lot of characters in real-life. Very nice job making this complicated story clear to the reader.
August 18, 2024
It was a good telling of the murder but not the "scandal" I was hoping for.
October 5, 2024
Normally I like a lot of detail, but this felt overstuffed and convoluted.
Read
April 23, 2025Couldn’t quite get into this one, hence the no-rating.
Read
June 7, 2025Ok so I thought dude was gay but I think he might have just been the messiest fucking person alive in 1921.
February 22, 2025
A true crime story from 1922, in White Plains, New York. Wealthy Walter Ward is heir to the Tip Top Bread fortune, begun by his grandfather in Pittsburgh. When Walter’s father George revolutionized the bread business by utilizing the same assembly line techniques of Henry Ford, the business swelled to become an empire. But when Ward admitted to the murder of poor Clarence Peters, a mystery ensued as justice was thwarted amid rumors of blackmail and homosexuality. The age old quandary, does justice differ for the rich? For all true crime fans.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews