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Devil's Garden
San Francisco, September 1921: Silent-screen comedy star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle is throwing a wild party in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel: girls, jazz, bootleg hooch . . . and a dead actress named Virginia Rappe. The D.A. says it was Arbuckle who killed her ? crushing her under his weight ? and brings him up on manslaughter charges. William Randolph Hearst's newspapers stir up the public and demand a guilty verdict. But what really happened? Why do so many people at the party seem to have stories that conflict? Why is the prosecution hiding witnesses? Why are there body parts missing from the autopsied corpse? Why is Hearst so determined to see Arbuckle convicted? In desperation, Arbuckle's defense team hires a Pinkerton agent to do an investigation of his own and, they hope, discover the truth. The agent's name is Dashiell Hammett, the book's narrator. What he discovers will change American legal history ? and his own life ? forever.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2009
132 people are currently reading
834 people want to read
About the author
Ace Atkins
71 books1,558 followersAce Atkins is the author of twenty-eight books, including eleven Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). He is the author of nine New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times and a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and he played defensive end for Auburn University football.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
August 31, 2011
On Labor Day weekend in 1921, silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle booked several rooms at the St. Francis hotel and proceeded to throw a helluva party. During the course of the festivities, an aspiring actress named Virginia Rappe died under mysterious circumstances. In consequence, Arbuckle found himself on trial for murder, both in the courtroom and in the newspapers, where William Randolph Hearst, in particular, exploited the story for everything it was worth.
Assigned to assist the defense team was a young Pinkerton detective named Dashiell "Sam" Hammett, who would later retire from the Pinkertons, create the fictional detective Sam Spade, and become one of the most celebrated crime novelists of his generation.
In Devil's Garden, Ace Atkins creates a fictionalized version of the Arbuckle case, with young Hammett as the main protagonist. Hammett serves as the reader's guide through the jazz age as it played out in San Francisco. The book is populated with grifters, con men (and women), showgirls, jazz musicians, politicians, newspapermen, actors, and others, including a beautiful blonde prohibition agent who is attracted to Hammett. The characters are by turn noble, gullible, avaricious, scheming, devious and self-centered. Some are wise, others not so much, but it's a great cast, and Atkins has drawn them perfectly.
We will doubtless never know what actually transpired at the St. Francis that weekend, but Devil's Garden has the ring of a larger truth that transcends the events surrounding the Arbuckle case. This book also makes an excellent companion piece to Megan Abbott's book, The Song Is You, a reimagination of the Jean Spangler case in Los Angeles some thirty years after the Arbuckle investigation and trial.
Assigned to assist the defense team was a young Pinkerton detective named Dashiell "Sam" Hammett, who would later retire from the Pinkertons, create the fictional detective Sam Spade, and become one of the most celebrated crime novelists of his generation.
In Devil's Garden, Ace Atkins creates a fictionalized version of the Arbuckle case, with young Hammett as the main protagonist. Hammett serves as the reader's guide through the jazz age as it played out in San Francisco. The book is populated with grifters, con men (and women), showgirls, jazz musicians, politicians, newspapermen, actors, and others, including a beautiful blonde prohibition agent who is attracted to Hammett. The characters are by turn noble, gullible, avaricious, scheming, devious and self-centered. Some are wise, others not so much, but it's a great cast, and Atkins has drawn them perfectly.
We will doubtless never know what actually transpired at the St. Francis that weekend, but Devil's Garden has the ring of a larger truth that transcends the events surrounding the Arbuckle case. This book also makes an excellent companion piece to Megan Abbott's book, The Song Is You, a reimagination of the Jean Spangler case in Los Angeles some thirty years after the Arbuckle investigation and trial.
April 29, 2022
I really like Ace Atkins as an author, but I couldn't get into this book easily. I think part of that might have been due to the fact that I was already familiar with the story. I found it interesting that Arbuckle was similar to another San Francisco hero. He and Barry Bonds both had their careers ended even though neither was ever convicted of anything. Recommended only to major Atkins fans.
February 22, 2013
I had difficulty deciding how many stars to give this book. I met the author Ace Atkins at a luncheon where he talked about his writing. He is a true crime writer and this book takes place in 1921 when Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle is tried for killing a showgirl at a party that took place in three hotel rooms he was renting.
The intro takes place in 1917 in Anaconda, Montana when we meet Sam Hammet, a Pinkerton agent, who is on a case unrelated to this one.
In the first chapter, the book moves to San Francisco in 1921 with the party in Arbuckle's room. There were so many characters at the party that it was difficult to keep them straight. By the third chapter, one of the showgirls is dead and Arbuckle has been arrested for her murder.
The rest of the book chronicles what happened in Arbuckle's case. Pinkerton has been hired to investigate on behalf of Arbuckle and we follow Sam as he tries to piece together what happened. We are also privy to the machinations of William Randolph Hearst and we learn a lot about his relationship with Marion Davies. Atkins levels some pretty heavy charges against him, including murder.
The book is as much about Sam as it is about Arbuckle. The last name rang a bell with me and I thought perhaps he was Dashiell Hammet's father, but it turns out that Dashiell was his middle name. He is a WWI vet who has TB from the war. Throughout the book, he is constantly getting beaten up. He is also married and his wife gives birth to a son. Sam earns something like $5 a week working for Pinkerton and realizes he has to do something else to support his family and save his own life. At the end of the book, Sam sold his gun to buy a typewriter and begins writing stories for money. Now we know why Sam was the first name of one of his major heroic characters.
Like many books based on actual historical events, there is a lot of room for author interpretation. Conversations are printed that the author could not have heard and we even get some of the characters' thoughts.
At the beginning, I found the book difficult to follow, but once I started to understand who all the characters were and how they fit together, it was an interesting read.
The intro takes place in 1917 in Anaconda, Montana when we meet Sam Hammet, a Pinkerton agent, who is on a case unrelated to this one.
In the first chapter, the book moves to San Francisco in 1921 with the party in Arbuckle's room. There were so many characters at the party that it was difficult to keep them straight. By the third chapter, one of the showgirls is dead and Arbuckle has been arrested for her murder.
The rest of the book chronicles what happened in Arbuckle's case. Pinkerton has been hired to investigate on behalf of Arbuckle and we follow Sam as he tries to piece together what happened. We are also privy to the machinations of William Randolph Hearst and we learn a lot about his relationship with Marion Davies. Atkins levels some pretty heavy charges against him, including murder.
The book is as much about Sam as it is about Arbuckle. The last name rang a bell with me and I thought perhaps he was Dashiell Hammet's father, but it turns out that Dashiell was his middle name. He is a WWI vet who has TB from the war. Throughout the book, he is constantly getting beaten up. He is also married and his wife gives birth to a son. Sam earns something like $5 a week working for Pinkerton and realizes he has to do something else to support his family and save his own life. At the end of the book, Sam sold his gun to buy a typewriter and begins writing stories for money. Now we know why Sam was the first name of one of his major heroic characters.
Like many books based on actual historical events, there is a lot of room for author interpretation. Conversations are printed that the author could not have heard and we even get some of the characters' thoughts.
At the beginning, I found the book difficult to follow, but once I started to understand who all the characters were and how they fit together, it was an interesting read.
August 1, 2012
As Ace Atkins details in a behind the book feature included at the end of the book, Dashiell Hammett is one of his heroes. The author of The Maltese Falcon, Red Harvest and The Thin Man, did indeed work on the famous ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle case for Pinkerton’s. Plotted through meticulous research, The Devil’s Garden charts the full case, and the actions of the various protagonists, especially Arbuckle and Hammett. At one level, the research is the book’s great strength, placing the reader in the geography and social life of San Francisco of the 1920s. At another level, it is its weakness, with the narrative feeling like a popular history text written in the format of a novel. Indeed, it is impossible to know what are historical facts and what is the product of Atkins imagination. In some ways, the story is much more complex than would usually be plotted in a novel; the Arbuckle case was multifaceted, with many central and bit part actors, tied together through messy and convoluted relationships and plot. Whilst Atkins does a reasonable job to put a shape on it all, the narrative is quite bitty, and the characters feel oddly flat at times, lacking in depth and substance. Atkins is clearly a skilled writer, but by so slavishly following the history of the Arbuckle case, and all its various threads, he has ended up with a story that is weakened somewhat by it. It might have perhaps worked better to have just followed the case through the eyes of Hammett to provide a single, coherent thread in which a smaller number of characters are elaborated in detail. That said, on balance I enjoyed the book, and I’d be interested to read some of Atkin’s books, especially Crossroad Blues of which I have heard good things.
January 31, 2016
Enter Samuel Dashiell Hammett ..
The year is 1921 and Sam, war veteran and current Pinkerton operative
is involved in the investigation of Virginia Rappe's death...supposedly by
Fatty Arbuckle ( as host of a wild San Franciscan party)
Doing an audio, I was a little taken back by the street talk of the time and
needed to be attentive to changes in scene (characters often "sounded" similar)
............it was however, a pleasure to meet the hard boiled crime writer in his earlier years.
The year is 1921 and Sam, war veteran and current Pinkerton operative
is involved in the investigation of Virginia Rappe's death...supposedly by
Fatty Arbuckle ( as host of a wild San Franciscan party)
Doing an audio, I was a little taken back by the street talk of the time and
needed to be attentive to changes in scene (characters often "sounded" similar)
............it was however, a pleasure to meet the hard boiled crime writer in his earlier years.
July 6, 2024
This historical novel is based on the accusation of rape and murder levied against silent film comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in 1921. Through the 70s (at least) it was widely believed that Arbuckle somehow killed party girl Virginia Rappe by inserting a foreign object into her vagina. Currently, the best guess is she died as the result of a botched back-alley abortion several days prior. Though prosecuted three times (thanks to two hung juries), Arbuckle was not only exonerated, but the final jury came back after 5 minutes with a not guilty verdict and an apology for his treatment at the hands of the justice system. Nonetheless, Arbuckle's career was ruined.
This is far more plot info than I usually give in one of these reviews. That's because this book does not do this subject justice. Normally I'd have bailed on this 50 pages in, but the case kept me going to its conclusion. It's wide range of somehow disconnected characters and disparate events never come together to form a compelling whole; it's a mystery that takes too far long to ask its question. Many historical figures are involved in the story: most notably William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Dashiell "Sam" Hammett (our ostensible lead character, in his early career as a Pinkerton detective). The point of the exercise seems to be to write a 30s/40s style noir novel is the style of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. Having just read Chandler, "Devil's Garden" really paled in comparison. While Chandler's wonderful hard-boiled prose serves to illuminate his subjects, their surroundings, and, even the human condition, author Atkins' prose comes off as a cheap copy. It sounds hard boiled, but the yolk is runny.
This is far more plot info than I usually give in one of these reviews. That's because this book does not do this subject justice. Normally I'd have bailed on this 50 pages in, but the case kept me going to its conclusion. It's wide range of somehow disconnected characters and disparate events never come together to form a compelling whole; it's a mystery that takes too far long to ask its question. Many historical figures are involved in the story: most notably William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, and Dashiell "Sam" Hammett (our ostensible lead character, in his early career as a Pinkerton detective). The point of the exercise seems to be to write a 30s/40s style noir novel is the style of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. Having just read Chandler, "Devil's Garden" really paled in comparison. While Chandler's wonderful hard-boiled prose serves to illuminate his subjects, their surroundings, and, even the human condition, author Atkins' prose comes off as a cheap copy. It sounds hard boiled, but the yolk is runny.
May 29, 2017
Very disappointing. I tried this because I've been thrilled with Atkins' continuation of Robert Parker's "Spenser" series.
However, apparently he can channel Parker, but not Hammet.
June 8, 2021
Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins (G.P. Putnam's Sons 2009) (Fiction – Mystery). This is an Ace Atkins "true crime" novel unrelated to his writings on behalf of Robert B. Parker's estate. The subject of this tome was plucked from Hollywood's sordid history. Ace Atkins based this novel on the Roaring Twenties death of a young actress named Virginia Rappe at a Hollywood party hosted by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, who was one of the most popular comic actors of the silent movie era. Arbuckle was accused of rupturing Rappe's bladder when he forced himself upon her sexually; she died four days later. A woman at the party claimed that she overheard Virginia Rappe state that Arbuckle had “hurt” her. Arbuckle denied harming Virginia Rappe in any way, but he was vilified by the Hollywood establishment and was tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion. The public was immediately led to believe that a drunken Arbuckle's great weight killed the young ingenue when he forced himself upon her. Arbuckle's protestations were completely ignored, and he was made to look like a lecherous and murderous fool. Arbuckle's public humiliation was led by (if not orchestrated by) daily lurid publication of salacious stories (most of which eventually proved to be untrue) by William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire.
After two full-blown trials resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was eventually pronounced not guilty at a third trial. The jury took the unprecedented step of apologizing to Arbuckle for the failure of justice which brought him to trial thrice without any actual credible evidence against him.
This is an interesting tale. Ace Atkins did a nice job shaping this story into a very readable narrative. I fact-checked the Fatty Arbuckle saga after reading this; the author stayed pretty darn close to the actual reported history.
This is nowhere near the author's best work, but it's still an enjoyable read. My rating: 7/10, finished 6/19/19.
After two full-blown trials resulted in hung juries, Arbuckle was eventually pronounced not guilty at a third trial. The jury took the unprecedented step of apologizing to Arbuckle for the failure of justice which brought him to trial thrice without any actual credible evidence against him.
This is an interesting tale. Ace Atkins did a nice job shaping this story into a very readable narrative. I fact-checked the Fatty Arbuckle saga after reading this; the author stayed pretty darn close to the actual reported history.
This is nowhere near the author's best work, but it's still an enjoyable read. My rating: 7/10, finished 6/19/19.
June 20, 2010
Devil's Garden is a well done historical fiction novel about the Fatty Arbuckle case. In historical fiction, I like the best books that take few liberties, and mostly just fill in gaps in some story from our past with their fictionalization of one of the prevailing theories of how things went down. I knew nothing about the murder and rape that Fatty Arbuckle was accused of when I read the book, but I found it riveting.
I won't recount the case here because I think it's bad form to give a synopsis of something more expertly written about elsewhere on the internet. I'll just report that he was the victim of a con, which implicated him in the death of a woman who was in on the con. This was the kind of case where the media's coverage helped damn someone who was actually innocent. Whether or not this was intentional is a matter of dispute, but in the book it certainly was.
Fatty's true crimes were being a hollywood actor, famous, popular, large, and loose. He liked drink and he liked sex. His career was ruined, and with it his life, by those who thought these attributes were enough to consider him guilty.
I won't recount the case here because I think it's bad form to give a synopsis of something more expertly written about elsewhere on the internet. I'll just report that he was the victim of a con, which implicated him in the death of a woman who was in on the con. This was the kind of case where the media's coverage helped damn someone who was actually innocent. Whether or not this was intentional is a matter of dispute, but in the book it certainly was.
Fatty's true crimes were being a hollywood actor, famous, popular, large, and loose. He liked drink and he liked sex. His career was ruined, and with it his life, by those who thought these attributes were enough to consider him guilty.
January 19, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It is my first introduction to Ace Atkins writing and I am looking forward to reading more, especially his newer Quinn Colson books.
This book caught my eye because it was based on the true story of Hammett’s Pinkerton Investigation into the Roscoe Arbuckle rape and murder case in San Francisco in 1921. I am already a huge Hammett fan and knew some background to the case already and I was interested to read a book that takes place just about exactly 100 years in the past. That being said I have read quite a few books that have made Hammett and his exploits into fiction and in all honesty most have been recycled garbage.
Atkins knocks it out of the park. He truly has Sam Hammett down. I was so impressed with his characterization. Even down to his clothes and thoughts. He is a fully realized and honest character. Some of the many things I thought were done so very well are; the San Fransisco setting and it’s inhabitants, the evocative slang that was sprinkled in subtly and didn’t knock you over the head, the structure and editing of multiple characters and stories. The pacing was so good, not one moment of this book was wasted or dragged. The homages to Hammett’s writing was also cleaver and subtle unlike most authors that try have tried to take on this world.
Above all what I like most about this book is that Atkins was able to take the best themes and subjects from Hammett’s own work and weave them into this book in his own way. Bringing together everything from class warfare, Hollywood, Government, Corporate corruption, guilt, the Labor Movement, existential men on the job, detective work, and the downfall of idols into a master work of a novel that I can honestly say reads just as fresh and present in 2022 as it would in 1921.
This book caught my eye because it was based on the true story of Hammett’s Pinkerton Investigation into the Roscoe Arbuckle rape and murder case in San Francisco in 1921. I am already a huge Hammett fan and knew some background to the case already and I was interested to read a book that takes place just about exactly 100 years in the past. That being said I have read quite a few books that have made Hammett and his exploits into fiction and in all honesty most have been recycled garbage.
Atkins knocks it out of the park. He truly has Sam Hammett down. I was so impressed with his characterization. Even down to his clothes and thoughts. He is a fully realized and honest character. Some of the many things I thought were done so very well are; the San Fransisco setting and it’s inhabitants, the evocative slang that was sprinkled in subtly and didn’t knock you over the head, the structure and editing of multiple characters and stories. The pacing was so good, not one moment of this book was wasted or dragged. The homages to Hammett’s writing was also cleaver and subtle unlike most authors that try have tried to take on this world.
Above all what I like most about this book is that Atkins was able to take the best themes and subjects from Hammett’s own work and weave them into this book in his own way. Bringing together everything from class warfare, Hollywood, Government, Corporate corruption, guilt, the Labor Movement, existential men on the job, detective work, and the downfall of idols into a master work of a novel that I can honestly say reads just as fresh and present in 2022 as it would in 1921.
December 9, 2025
Devil's Garden. Ace Atkins. Putnam Adult, 2009. 368 pages.
Ace Atkins is one of the authors presenting at the Savannah Book Festival in February 2026, so we decided to listen to one of his earlier works in preparation. Devil's Garden is based on one of Hollywood's earliest and biggest real-life scandals, the trial of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. In 1921, Arbuckle was arguably Hollywood's biggest star, one of the first stars to earn a million dollars. His only rival for the spotlight was Charles Chaplin. He was America's greatest slapstick comedian until a young woman named Virginia Rappe died as a result of a drunken party that took place in rooms rented by Arbuckle in one of San Francisco's fanciest hotels. Arbuckle was charged with her sexual assault and death. The resulting scandal and trials, plural, shocked American sensibilities, destroyed his career, and forever cemented Hollywood's reputation as "the Devil's Garden," despite the fact that he was eventually acquitted. Atkins fictionalizes the story, with a particular focus on Sam Hammett, a Pinkerton Agency detective hired by Arbuckle's defense team to investigate the case. You might know Sam better by his middle name Dashiell, the name under which he wrote some of the most acclaimed detective noir novels and created the characters Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles. Atkins is a huge fan of the genre and of Hammett, and this book is both his homage and a good story. I enjoyed it, but I have two complaints, especially with the audiobook version. One, the Hammett/Noir style flirts dangerously with parody. The vocabulary and language reminded me at times of comedy sketches lampooning 30s gangsters, even Rocky and Mugsy, the gangsters who were outsmarted by Bugs Bunny in a couple of cartoons. Two, I'm not sure it was the fault of the narrator, the producer, or the editor, but there were many instances in which the narration seems to jump, jarringly, from one scene to another without a pause or transition. Otherwise, a good book.
Ace Atkins is one of the authors presenting at the Savannah Book Festival in February 2026, so we decided to listen to one of his earlier works in preparation. Devil's Garden is based on one of Hollywood's earliest and biggest real-life scandals, the trial of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. In 1921, Arbuckle was arguably Hollywood's biggest star, one of the first stars to earn a million dollars. His only rival for the spotlight was Charles Chaplin. He was America's greatest slapstick comedian until a young woman named Virginia Rappe died as a result of a drunken party that took place in rooms rented by Arbuckle in one of San Francisco's fanciest hotels. Arbuckle was charged with her sexual assault and death. The resulting scandal and trials, plural, shocked American sensibilities, destroyed his career, and forever cemented Hollywood's reputation as "the Devil's Garden," despite the fact that he was eventually acquitted. Atkins fictionalizes the story, with a particular focus on Sam Hammett, a Pinkerton Agency detective hired by Arbuckle's defense team to investigate the case. You might know Sam better by his middle name Dashiell, the name under which he wrote some of the most acclaimed detective noir novels and created the characters Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles. Atkins is a huge fan of the genre and of Hammett, and this book is both his homage and a good story. I enjoyed it, but I have two complaints, especially with the audiobook version. One, the Hammett/Noir style flirts dangerously with parody. The vocabulary and language reminded me at times of comedy sketches lampooning 30s gangsters, even Rocky and Mugsy, the gangsters who were outsmarted by Bugs Bunny in a couple of cartoons. Two, I'm not sure it was the fault of the narrator, the producer, or the editor, but there were many instances in which the narration seems to jump, jarringly, from one scene to another without a pause or transition. Otherwise, a good book.
June 22, 2017
Based on the "Fatty" Arbuckle murder case in 1921, in which Hollywood actor Arbuckle was accused and tried for the murder of starlet Virginia Rappe, the author has Pinkerton man Dashiell "Sam" Hammett on the case for Arbuckle's defense, digging up witnesses and dirt and bootleg liquor and more crimes and bad stuff than you can shake a stick at. Newspaper millionaire William Randolph Hearst is involved--but how? And why? And why were some of the victim's body parts missing? The author is talented with evoking the moodiness and blackness of Hollywood's and San Francisco's underbellies, the seaminess and nastiness and sleaziness, and how terrible Rappe's death was, but after so many pages of it, the whole thing felt repetitive and rather boring. Much too slow, the really interesting parts got lost among all the descriptions of lowlifes, bars, seedy hotels, dark waterfronts, I nearly lost interest in the whole thing. It was a relief to finish it.
July 8, 2025
Better than it's rating
I really didn't expect much considering the book had just about 4 stars or a little less. But, the atmosphere, characters and the feel of stepping into the early part of the 20th century motion picture history was well done. There were a couple of side trips and a little filler but it never got boring. I'm not familiar with the author except seeing where he wrote some Spencer novels for the Robert Parker created character. But he appears to be a good writer in his own right.
I really didn't expect much considering the book had just about 4 stars or a little less. But, the atmosphere, characters and the feel of stepping into the early part of the 20th century motion picture history was well done. There were a couple of side trips and a little filler but it never got boring. I'm not familiar with the author except seeing where he wrote some Spencer novels for the Robert Parker created character. But he appears to be a good writer in his own right.
April 5, 2018
I enjoyed this book though, at times, I found the writing confusing and disjointed. The descriptions of life at that time was really interesting. (How did they manage in those days without Lysol wipes, hand sanitizer or bottled water - all rip-off items in my opinion!)
May 25, 2018
Another story where William Randolph Hearst comes off looking like an insecure, heartless, vengeful asshole... Very interesting and well done - there are just so many moving parts it's hard to track without a cast list... such is the hazard of writing about an actual case...
July 28, 2018
I am a huge fan of Atkins' Quinn Colson series and also love historical fiction so thought I'd enjoy this.
I couldn't seem to get in to it and gave up. Not sure what it was as it was high calibre writing. Others will no doubt enjoy it, but it was not my cup of tea
I couldn't seem to get in to it and gave up. Not sure what it was as it was high calibre writing. Others will no doubt enjoy it, but it was not my cup of tea
August 17, 2022
This is not another boring, dry, re-telling of facts but a fascinating embellishment of the trial of Rocoe "Fatty" Arbuckle for the alleged murder of Virginia Rappe. The tale is made more wonderful by the vocal talents of the incomparable Dick Hill.
April 23, 2024
I love Ace Atkins but I had some trouble getting into the flow of this story … seemed a bit wordy … that slowed it down. There were enough “Oh, there we go’s” to real me back in. I remain an Ace Atkins fan!
June 13, 2019
Love me some Ace
February 2, 2020
I just finished this book. I did very much enjoy reading this one.
April 20, 2020
I am not enjoying this. The voice is so utterly chauvinistic, the vocabulary limited, and there is no one yet to care about or root for, by chapter 4. Don't think I will continue.
May 17, 2020
In 1921 Dashiell Hammett, a Pinkerton operative, works to help the defense in the trial of Fatty Arbuckle. Hammett Prize nominee 2009.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
October 13, 2020
Truly Great
Fabulous research, terrific depiction of characters, and smooth writing. A perfect way to understand the history behind a rumor of the past.
Fabulous research, terrific depiction of characters, and smooth writing. A perfect way to understand the history behind a rumor of the past.
November 29, 2022
3.5 stars. Good story. Hard to follow at times, but I enjoyed the read overall.
May 9, 2023
A bit draggy in a few places but I believe it captured the essence of the story.
November 25, 2023
Like many others before me, I like Ace Atkins as far as crime dramas are concerned. I could not get into this one!
November 1, 2014
The Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins is an enjoyable read, but not one that would encourage me to immediately seek out any of his other books and commit time to them; that's not to say, I won't read anything else by him, just that it won't be at the top of my reading list.
I didn't want to reveal too much about Devil's Garden, and one of the aspects is that the Pinkerton Detective we're following in the novel turns out to be Dashiell Hammett, however, this fact is revealed in the Amazon write-up promoting the book. There's more mystery to the book than that, although it's not spelled out in the book that it's Hammett and I only knew this when I skimmed the acknowledgements.
What Atkins attempted was interesting, a fictionalized account of the Fatty Arbuckle debacle in the 1920's. Fatty, of course, was a top movie star whose career was torpedoed when a Virginia Rappe died at a hotel party he was giving in San Francisco. Fatty was accused of being responsible for her death, although, if memory serves me, he was tried twice or three times and acquitted of being guilty of the crime. Nonetheless, his career was ruined. I knew this case and outcome when I started reading the book, however, you needn't be familiar with it to do so, and Atkins offers up his reason for Fatty's downfall.
It was a great idea, covering a case and movie star most people these days don't remember or know about, and despite being a good read, just wasn't that overly compelling in the long run. Definitely good, but not great.
I didn't want to reveal too much about Devil's Garden, and one of the aspects is that the Pinkerton Detective we're following in the novel turns out to be Dashiell Hammett, however, this fact is revealed in the Amazon write-up promoting the book. There's more mystery to the book than that, although it's not spelled out in the book that it's Hammett and I only knew this when I skimmed the acknowledgements.
What Atkins attempted was interesting, a fictionalized account of the Fatty Arbuckle debacle in the 1920's. Fatty, of course, was a top movie star whose career was torpedoed when a Virginia Rappe died at a hotel party he was giving in San Francisco. Fatty was accused of being responsible for her death, although, if memory serves me, he was tried twice or three times and acquitted of being guilty of the crime. Nonetheless, his career was ruined. I knew this case and outcome when I started reading the book, however, you needn't be familiar with it to do so, and Atkins offers up his reason for Fatty's downfall.
It was a great idea, covering a case and movie star most people these days don't remember or know about, and despite being a good read, just wasn't that overly compelling in the long run. Definitely good, but not great.
November 16, 2015
Before OJ, before Robert Blake, before Phil Specter, there was Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a million dollar a year silent film star whose legacy was his arrest for murder in 1919, following a drunken party in San Francisco, during which he was accused of murdering a small young woman whose bladder was claimed to have burst during forced sex by the big man.
Newspaper tycoon Willam Randolph Hearst, who may have had more than newspaper circulation in mind exploited the arrest to try and convict Arbuckle in public.
Ace Atkins has put together a novel that is more fact than fiction, interlacing the fascinating cast of often unseemly characters that weaved their way through this episode -- Arbuckle, Hurst, the mysterious woman with a shady past at the center of the claim but who was never called as a witness, and a Pinkerton detective named Sam Hammett, who within a decade would create the hard boiled detective novel under his middle name -- Dashiell Hammett.
This is a great read as a novel and a history. And in today's world of social media and press feeding frenzies, it may be more relevant now than at the time the events transpired.
Newspaper tycoon Willam Randolph Hearst, who may have had more than newspaper circulation in mind exploited the arrest to try and convict Arbuckle in public.
Ace Atkins has put together a novel that is more fact than fiction, interlacing the fascinating cast of often unseemly characters that weaved their way through this episode -- Arbuckle, Hurst, the mysterious woman with a shady past at the center of the claim but who was never called as a witness, and a Pinkerton detective named Sam Hammett, who within a decade would create the hard boiled detective novel under his middle name -- Dashiell Hammett.
This is a great read as a novel and a history. And in today's world of social media and press feeding frenzies, it may be more relevant now than at the time the events transpired.
February 24, 2012
Back in 1921, a silent film star by the name of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle held a swinging party in a fashionable hotel. During the party a young actress, Virginia Rappe, died and Arbuckle found himself on trial for her death. Before Arbuckle got his day in court he'd already been convicted in the newspapers, particularly the bastardly Hearst papers (who wouldn't have known decent journalism if it tapped them on the shoulder. Or rather, would have recognised it but would have kicked it in the teeth and run off to write a sensationalist account of its imaginary misdeeds) and had to sit and watch as they set about decimating his career. A scandalous and mysterious case that could have been ripped from the pages of a noir, it's the perfect frame for Atkins to imagine what might have happened.
Taking in famous folk, Prohibition and public piety, sexual jealousy, Pinkertons, the press and power, this was well-researched and immensely readable, and even though I knew quite a lot of the case and its outcome, this kept me gripped from start to end. Good stuff.
Taking in famous folk, Prohibition and public piety, sexual jealousy, Pinkertons, the press and power, this was well-researched and immensely readable, and even though I knew quite a lot of the case and its outcome, this kept me gripped from start to end. Good stuff.
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