Murder One

by Dorothy Kilgallen

"Six on-the-spot murder stories by America's most famous crime reporter"

Table of Contents
- A slight case of frigidity : the defendants : Dr. Bernard Finch, Carole Tregoff
- Motive unmentionable : the defendant : Greta Peltz
- Hootch, whores, and homicide : the defendant : Eva Coo
- Sex and the all-American boy : the defendant : Robert Allen Edwards
- Poison and pedophilia : the defendants: Mrs. Mary Frances Creighton, Everett C. Appelgate
- When justice took the day off : the defendant : Dr. Samuel Sheppard.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History

268 pages, mass market

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Kilgallen was a journalist who wrote show business news and gossip, but also ventured into politics and true crime. She was a regular panelist on the television game show What's My Line?

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast read. She certainly was a good reporter and writer. I did enjoy the old terminology “twelve good men and true” used on occasion describing the jury. There was plenty of good old fashioned reporter style writing designed to grab the newspaper reader. It seemed to me to be folksy. It grabbed me and kept me so interested I did not put the book down till I was finished. I did feel quite tense after reading all those crime stories, but may try reading a book she mentioned on the subject if I can find it. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing / Lewis E. Lawes... which sounds very interesting.

I remember checking Murder One “to read” after reading Lee Israel’s bio of Dorothy Kilgallen. Israel’s thinking was the strong possibility that Dorothy’s death was probably a murder. At the time Dorothy was investigating the Kennedy assassination. She had scored a private interview with Jack Ruby, got hold of the Warren Commission Report before they were published etc…and uncovered info that proved facts were being withheld, changed and falsified. She knew there was a cover-up and conspiracy. She was determined to get the truth. She apparently knew too much, or was about to know too much and reveal somebody’s secrets.

20,000 Years in Sing Sing / Lewis E. Lawes - Read this, it was good!
The Reporter who knew too much - Mark Shaw - reading now

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about several of the most sensational trials that journalist and "What's My Line?" TV panel member Dorothy Kilgallen attended as a reporter during the 1930s-1950s. The book was published in 1966, posthumously after Kilgallen's sudden and controversial death in 1965. She goes through each of the stories of the main parties of the trials and sprinkles it liberally with her opinions, in hindsight, of whether or not the verdict was a just one.

The key trial in the book is that of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted of murder for killing his wife in 1954. His story was the inspiration for the 60's TV show "The Fugitive". Kilgallen was instrumental in helping his case get a review by the Supreme Court (who eventually did set him free; unfortunately Dorothy had passed away the previous year and didn't see the results of her help).
I'm a big fan of Dorothy and of "What's My Line?"-- I even belong to a WML group on Facebook-- so this book was a very enjoyable read for me.

**#94 of 100 books pledged to read/review during 2015**

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's My Line? panelist and true crime reporter Dorothy Kilgallen wrote these short pieces over her long career. They were being assembled into this book at the time of her (mysterious? or just sad?) death in 1965. Full of lurid titles such as "Hooch, Whores and Homicide", these stories are only a little tame by today's standards. The last entry focuses on the Sam Sheppard trial, which Kilgallen attended and covered extensively. I didn't know much about the case, beyond it being the inspiration for "The Fugitive", so this made me want to know more.

[gremlinkitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six fascinating and surprising true crime stories, set in the thirties to sixties, including the Sam Sheppard case. Dorothy Kilgallen has an easy and engaging writing style, and included are excerpts of the actual trial. I could not believe some of the outcomes or what happened during the trials. Unbelievable!

[Vanessa Braganza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the most gruesomely fascinating American murder trials of the 20th century, told with that unique Hearst flair by the reporter who witnessed them all - loved the book. Very entertaining and I learned a lot about judicial process.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely compilation of cases, large and small, covered by the famed Dorothy Kilgallen in her career as a courtroom reporter. Beautifully written, with a balanced perspective on each situation.

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable window into some of the past's courtroom proceedings.
Read for personal historical research. I found this work of immense interest and its contents helpful and inspiring. Overall, this work is also a good resource for the researcher and enthusiast.
-Table of Contents
- A slight case of frigidity : the defendants : Dr. Bernard Finch, Carole Tregoff
- Motive unmentionable : the defendant : Greta Peltz
- Hootch, whores, and homicide : the defendant : Eva Coo
- Sex and the all-American boy : the defendant : Robert Allen Edwards
- Poison and pedophilia : the defendants: Mrs. Mary Frances Creighton, Everett C. Appelgate
- When justice took the day off : the defendant : Dr. Samuel Sheppard.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because I am interested in Dorothy Kilgallen, a very bright woman. She broke some ground as a female journalist covering various murder cases, some more interesting than others. Very bright woman.

[Drucie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh! I don't really like murder. I read this book because I found it in my dad's collection of books and it is worth some money on the resale market, maybe because the author was a famous woman crime reporter. All of the murders except one are from the 1930's, some 85 years ago. The only murder I had heard of was the Sam Sheppard murder trial in the 1960's. That was interesting to read about. The outcome of the investigation would have been completely different had it happened today.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read a biography on Dorothy Kilgallen and this book was mentioned. Upon trying to find a copy I learned it is out of print and hard to come by. Copies for sale were priced at over $300. This got my curiosity even more and I was committed to finding a copy cheap. It is about the trials of six salacious murder cases of the mid-century. For those too young to recognize the name Dorothy was a well-known reporter and TV celebrity who, ironically, was murdered under mysterious circumstances herself. She had claimed she knew who killed JFK, and yet all her JFK files were missing at her death. Good read, good back story.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting cases but I can tell this was written almost four decades ago, descriptions are blurred and there was very little actual interviews of anyone involved in the cases. Dorothy Kilgallen attended the murder trials of each of these cases and the stories are re-hashes of her newspaper stories. It was okay but not exciting.