Tommy Gun Winter: Jewish Gangsters, a Preacher's Daughter, and the Trial That Shocked 1930s Boston

by Nathan Gorenstein

A tale of love, murder, insanity and the law. Plus two zealous newspaper reporters and a couple of clever detectives. A veteran journalist tracks down a family secret and rediscovers the story of Jewish gangsters and a minister's daughter, in 1930s Boston.

This is the true, if unlikely, story of a 1930s Boston hold-up artist, the MIT graduate who loved him, his wife the minister’s daughter, and his “imbecile” brother.

And a bank robbery and the murder of two police officers.

Among other events.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History

358 pages, Hardcover

First published March 22, 2015

About the author

Nathan Gorenstein grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, graduated from Medford High and UMass, Amherst. After working at the newspaper in nearby Northampton, he left for Delaware, where he worked for the local News-Journal, and later Philadelphia, where he was a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Guns of John Moses Browning is his second book.

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, the 5-star rating is influenced by my own extended-family connection to the events Gorenstein describes so vividly. But that connection could have made me nitpicky, too. No nits to pick here. This is a highly readable work, doubtless a result of the author's background as a journalist. It's also unique, since the Millen-Faber gang, unlike Dillinger and other Depression-era gunslingers, has largely faded from historic memory. Well-researched, the book could be a tedious slog through trial testimony and depositions or a confusing melange of old newspaper stories, many of which got the details dead wrong. But Gorenstein puts life in the cast of characters and the influences that shaped them. He also gives us a sense of the chaos surrounding the crime spree -- the bungling of law enforcement, reporters and the criminals themselves. In the process, we gain insights into the Depression era itself. And what a great title!

[Richard Subber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forced myself to finish reading this book for a book club discussion group. Without that mandate, I would have closed it at about the end of Chapter 4 or so, p. 37, something like that.
Sho’ nuff real crime history ain’t my bag, for No. 1. No. 2, Gorenstein has written a commendably researched book about a violent crime wave that was notorious about 80 years ago in a suburb of Boston, in a recognizably no-nonsense journalistic style that continuously came close to putting me to sleep.
It’s almost a spoiler alert to divulge that the book’s subtitle is Jewish Gangsters, a Preacher’s Daughter, and the Trial That Shocked 1930s Boston.
Murt, Irv, and Abe did bad things, killed several men, did some robberies, and almost got away with it. A trivial car battery repair job and their carelessness finally led the desperately frustrated authorities to track them down. All three of the “gangsters” were electrocuted.
Tommy Gun Winter is not a murky story. Murton and Irving Millen were brothers, and Abraham Faber was their friend. They did the dastardly deeds because they wanted money. They thought they wouldn’t get caught.
There is some drama and pathos and degradation in this story. There isn’t any excitement. If it had been the only crime in Massachusetts in 1934, there might be more reason to write—and read—a book and a book review about it.
Read more of my book reviews on my website: http://richardsubber.com/

[Darcia Helle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well researched, comprehensive look at a little known murderous trio that captivated the Boston area during the 1930s. Here we have all the ingredients of the best thriller novel: A wannabe gangster and his developmentally challenged younger brother, a psychopathic MIT graduate, a narcissistic young woman looking for a thrill with the bad guys, dysfunctional families, and the bumbling of early psychiatry.

Having grown up south of Boston, I was especially intrigued by the history and setting. I think this is the author's strength. The era came alive for me, complete with its pride and prejudices. This story could easily rival Bonnie and Clyde on the big screen.

The writing, for me, is a little dry, lacking that narrative flare that can turn a recitation of facts into a compelling story. At times the details feel weighty, more like textbook reading than entertainment. Still, the story holds incredible appeal. I have much respect for all the time and work Gorenstein put into his writing.

[Caitlyn F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

You really get how long the trial took by how long they spent talking about it.

There was a LOT to remember throughout the book, and characters came and went and I struggled to keep up. I wanted to finish the book to see how it ended, but it was a struggle to keep going. It wasn't boring...there was just too much information at once.

Those of you who like history and complex story lines would like this.

[Tyler Wolanin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as an ancillary to some research on 1930s Massachusetts that I was reading, and I thought it was great. It was well-researched and the narrative was easy to follow, and it went into appropriate depth on things like the Ely police reform effort and the trial process (contra some other Goodreads reviewers, I thought that the trial coverage was of appropriate length and easy to parse). There must have been an over-supply of newspaper accounts to sift through, so I think the final product is restrained in direct quotations from journalists while capturing the spirit of the coverage while allowing the direct words of the participants (especially the doomed Millens) to come through. True crime at its best.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston, Massachusetts, not far from where the Millen brothers, two of the three bank robbers and murderers who are at the center of this book, were raised. My mother, as a girl, lived even closer to the Millen residence. My mother and my aunt, my mother's twin sister, dated the Millen brothers - just once. I don't know which brother was the date of which of the sisters.

A book about notorious criminals who had some (albeit very brief) relationship with members of my family should be fascinating. Tommy Gun Winter (a great title!) is not, however. Somehow this book takes all the excitement, danger, and pathos that undoubtedly formed much of this story and leeches it out, leaving a surprisingly flat recounting of theft, bank robbery, and multiple murders.

Murton and Irving Millen and a friend, Abe Faber, decided that the way to make money in the early 1930's in the depth of the Depression was by stealing. As the book's author, Nathan Gorenstein, points out, this was the same time that people like John Dillinger and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were holding up banks in the West.

The Millens were two sons of an abusive father. Irving evidently suffered from life-long cognitive impairment. Murton had recently married the nineteen year old daughter of a minister. Abraham Faber was, to me, the most intriguing of this small band; he was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The three men were caught and tried for murder, in what was at that time the longest murder trial in the history of Massachusetts. There was no question that they had committed the crimes. Much of the trial revolved around the insanity defense used by all three of these defendants.

This could, I think, have been a much better book if it had been told in a less drab manner.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good, but too many details!

[Ben Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really intriguing story and a fun read. It never really slowed or got hung up on any unimportant details.

[Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and informative; I especially enjoyed the glimpses of the investigation into the murders.