He Had It Coming

by Kori Rumore, Marianne Mather

You probably know Roxie and Velma, the good-time gals of the 1926 satirical play Chicago and its wildly successful musical and movie adaptations. You might not know that Roxie, Velma, and the rest of the colorful characters of the play were inspired by real prisoners held in "Murderess Row" in 1920s Chicago-or that the reporter who covered their trials for the Chicago Tribune went on to write the play Chicago.

Now, more than ninety years later, the Chicago Tribune has uncovered photographs and newspaper clippings telling the story of the four women who inspired the timeless characters of Chicago. But these photos tell a different story-and it's not all about glamour, fashion, and celebrity. They show a young mother in jail hugging her two-year-old daughter. They show an immigrant woman who doesn't speak the language of her judge, jury, and attorney. And they show women who used their images to sway public opinion-and their juries.

He Had It Coming collects stories from Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins and new analysis written by Tribune film critic Michael Phillips, theater critic Chris Jones, and columnists Heidi Stevens and Rick Kogan to build a fascinating history of women in crime in Jazz Age Chicago, a history that takes on new meaning in today's #MeToo moment.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime, Audiobook, Biography Memoir, Biography

Audiobook

First published November 19, 2019

Reviews

[Gemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but the editing was so bad it had the same sentence repeated multiple times and quite a lot of the narrative was repeated in the same ways students just reword thing to pad out the word count.
Shame as the idea was interesting.

[Tiffany Spano · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook. The narrator sounds like Siri.

I think these four women's stories have been already told in better books.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting but also so repetitive. If you want the tea, just go to wikipedia probably.

[Linds · Rating 3 out of 5]

The true stories of the women on murderer’s row in the play Chicago as well as a bio of the author of the original play in the 1920’s.

The most interesting murder was not the Roxie Hart or Velma’s stand ins, which was more or less accurate to the play, but the immigrant murderer.

She not only spoke no English she didn’t even have a proper translator during her trial because her remote Italian dialect was so rare.

Apparently her son got into a violent altercation weeks earlier with her Husband because the Husband cut the son off financially.

This son then went on to tell the police that “his Mother said” That she had an affair with the hired hand and threw his body in the river. Because no one could understand her this was just assumed to be true.

It takes a special sociopath to blame your Mother for the murder of your Father. Unlike the movie her death sentence was appealed and she was sent free after gross incompetence was revealed after some investigative reporting. So it was a “happy” ending in this case.

[Autumn Rybin · Rating 5 out of 5]

FASCINATING.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first five chapters were super interesting. The last two, not so much. Worth a listen/read for the first part if you have ever been interested in the seeds of truth behind the women of Murderer’s Row in the musical Chicago!

[Diane Mather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a fascinating book reviewing the lives of four women charged with murder and the female Chicago Tribune reporter who covered them. Life was very different for women in the 1920s when a lot of choices weren't available for them and their value was wrapped up in their prettiness, dress and social status. The judicial system, consisting of white men, was influenced by aspects not related to the murders. The prettiest and perkiest woman was not convicted of a crime that she probably committed whereas the "ugly" immigrant woman who understood very little English was convicted of a crime she probably did not commit. Have things changed over the years, especially when determining jail time?

Goodreads did not give me the option of selecting the paper copy as opposed to the audiobook. I read the paper and can not imagine listening to the audiobook because much of the richness comes from the old photographs which appear in almost half of the book. The story becomes more real when one looks into the faces of these women, views the all white juries or sees the mother hug her child.

This book made me again look at the struggles women have endured to be recognized as a person of equal value. We forgot how far we have come but more needs to be done.

Full disclosure - I am the mother of one of the authors. Both Marianne and Kori are journalists for the Chicago Tribune. They are experienced researchers and this is a factual account. I loved the way they brought the four women and the reporter to life. As I read the book I kept saying - OMG this actually happened.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most people have seen or at least heard about the play and film "Chicago". The two leads, Roxie and Velma, plus a few other roles were based on real women incarcerated for murder in Chicago during the 1920's. Their cellblock in the Cook County Jail was nicknamed "Murderess Row". In 1924 a young female journalist, Maurine Dallas Watkins, began interviewing the women and publishing her articles in the Chicago Tribune. Maurine only worked at the paper for a few months but she left with enough material to write her play which, to this day, has become the second longest running musical in the world ("Phantom" being number one).

The trials for some of these women border on the farcical as jurors and the public judged them on appearance more than evidence. Beaulah Annan, the model for Roxie Hart, was called the 'most beautiful woman on muderess row. Her sweet face and demure mannerisms earned her a not guilty verdict without much deliberation. The woman based on Velma, Belva Gaertner, was considered the 'most fashionable' of the Cook County Jail. Her stunning outfits were celebrated in the newspapers as was her exoneration of murder charges. On the other hand, a poor Italian immigrantnamed Sabella Nitti who did not speak nor understand English, was convicted of murder, without a body to prove the crime had taken place, because she was deemed 'too ugly' and 'animalistic'. Not surprisingly she was convicted and sentenced to hang. Fortunately for Sabella, her guilty verdict was eventually overturned.

The stories are interesting and the book is full of photographs that capture the era and the women from nearly 100 years ago. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ours is the era of true crime coverage and He Had It Coming fits right in. Chicago Tribune visual reporter Kori Rumore and photo editor Marianne Mather give readers the low down on the women from Cook County Jail's Murderess Row circa 1924. These are stories that titillated readers in an earlier era, although editors assigned novice reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins to cover them. Watkins dutifully observed and produced stories on Beulah Annan, Belva Gaertner, Katherine Baluk and Sabella Nitti. Watkins covered those women plus the Leopold and Loeb trial. After eight months, she left the Windy City.
By December 1926, she'd processed Beulah, Belva, Katherine and Sabella into Roxie Hart and three other characters in the play Chicago. That play, the silent film (1927), the talkie (1942 renamed Roxie Hart), the stage musical (1975 plus road shows and revivals) and the wildly successful film musical made Watkins wealthy. Even after her death in 1969, Chicago royalties continued to go to her heirs.
Readers of the hardcover book (Goodreads only lists audiobook editions—big mistake) are treated to ephemera from the Chicago Tribune's morgue including newspaper clippings and photographs. Rumore and Mather are careful to note when photographs were staged. To be fair, candid photography was in its infancy in Watkins' time covering Murderess Row. Feminism was also just a tyke, as readers will learn from verdicts meted out by all-male, all white juries.
Five stars for the hardcover edition ISBN 978-1-57284-277-9.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated. The crimes, the research into the lives of both victims and perpetrators were interesting, but often times facts were repeated later on in the story. Since I listened to this all in one day, it was very noticeable.

I learned more than I had expected- I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know Chicago the musical was based on the play by Maurine Watkins, who wrote about the real life Chicago murderers who inspired the fictionalized tale. I did know about the real life women behind Roxie and Velma from previous deep dives into True Crime, but this book definitely delves even deeper. The authors also explore the life of Watkins, who was a pretty interesting character, and what became of her after she wrote the play. Knowing that her descendants still to this day get to make money off of Chicago because of a truly generous contract is one of those factoids I'm hoping to win at trivia with some day. ;)

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I’d like to thank Marianne Mather, Kori Rumore, HighBridge!, and Libro.fm for allowing me to listen to this audiobook.

I went into this book knowing very little about the musical Chicago (or any of its other forms). Despite this, I found this to be an interesting read. It is the perfect length for a weekend getaway, or a quick read to catch up on your yearly goal. The narrator is pleasant, and the book repeats some facts. This helped me, since I knew so little going into the book.

The content of the book is also interesting and well done. There are bits of real-life dialogue included, and gives lots of information about Maurine Dallas Watkins and the prisoners on “Murderess Row.” I imagine that I would have enjoyed this even more if I had knew more about the musical Chicago. Overall, I recommend this for individuals looking for a quick read, who like to learn a bit from their reading, or those who are already fans of Maurine Dallas Watkins.

[Nann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicago Tribune researchers Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather combed the archives to tell the stories of four women in 1920's Chicago who were put on trial for murder. Rookie reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins covered their cases for the Trib. She used the stories as the basis for a play called "Chicago" that premiered on Broadway in 1926. It was adapted by Hollywood for a silent movie in 1927. Bob Fosse recreated it as a Broadway musical in 1975. Its 1996 revival is still playing. A 2002 movie musical received Oscar nominations.

But, back to this book: Rumore and Mather dig deeper into the backgrounds of these four women and to put their stories into context. They follow up to find out what happened after they served their time. (One died in prison; another a couple of years later. Two moved to California and died at 77 and 80.)

[Bec]

While I don't know anything about the movie/play 'Chicago' I was really hopeful about this audiobook. I was expecting something like The Five - a journalistic, female-focused modern true crime narrative - which I loved.

Instead, I got a lot of discussion which didn't feel relevant, resulting in jolty storytelling by a narrator who, while I wasn't entirely adverse to her narration style, reminded me of a university textbook.

Maybe this will work for someone who loves this particular set of crime stories, but it didn't work for me.

Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for providing me an ALC in exchange for an honest review!

[chats · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a journalism nerd, I loved the archival look at the women who inspired Chicago. My favorite parts were the clips - I think it’s the strongest aspect of the book, and I read nearly all of them. What also struck me through reading those clips, though, is that there were two additional women also tried for murder in Chicago around that time - both of them Black. To not mention them at all, even to acknowledge their absence from the rest of the archives, strikes me as a grievous oversight, even as the book takes stabs at rectifying others. (The chapter on Sabella Nitti is particularly good in that regard.)

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie Chicago long ago, enjoyed it but had no idea the story was based on the lives of real women and their crimes. It was interesting to learn about the actual crime, the trial and what happened to the women after that. It was also interesting how the women were treated in the courts in the mid twenties. With an all male jury, the outcome for beautiful women was far better than, what could be described as, a plain women's outcome. Sad, but true.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up as a supplemental to Girls of Murder City which I was teaching. I appreciated the photos (many of which aren’t available in Google image searches) and some of the information was new to me (and not covered in Girls of Murder City). It’s very accessible and easy to read, and worth a read if you’re interested in the subject matter and want an overview of each or the women and their cases. If you’re already familiar with their stories it won’t have new info for you.

[Morgan Kail-Ackerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted this to be about the murderous history of these women, not a history of the musical. I was sadly disappointed to know that the focus was different. I thought it was more like a history book about women who murderer their husbands, but that was barely in the book, compared to the history of the movie and musical.

[Nicolas D.L · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to hear the true stories of the cases on which one of what I could call my favorite musical film of the moment is based, but in the end it becomes quite dense, with many dates and data that are really not easy to digest, and the voice narrating it feels a bit robotic for my taste.

[Judi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stars of the musical Chicago in real life. I usually really like this type of book but I found this one to be light on facts and kind of dry. It may be that isn't much about these women that has survived the test of time.

[Ely Cortez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chapters detailing the stories of the women who were tried for murder were fascinating at times. The final chapters about the play and movie Chicago were dry dry dry. I had a hard time finishing this book.

[Hari Brandl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry, reportorial writing, although with a fair amount of repetition. Lots of pictures and reproduced newspaper clippings.
The story of the reporter cum playwright is at least as interesting as the stories of the killers she wrote about.

[Rebecca Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a thoughtful, well-researched book. The pictures are phenomenal and it's obvious the authors took care to find every scrap of information available about the playwright. I recommend for anyone interested in theater, journalism or murder!

[Bailey Gathany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sound like interesting stories, but I feel like I didn't end up hearing much of them. Book seemed repetitive for how short it was. Ended up being more about the original playwright than the stories the play was based on.

[BarbieAlexander · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is truly a photo album that reads like a Wikipedia entry.

[Amber Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.
So interesting. Now I need to go watch Chicago.

[Robin Brink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history for something you didn't know about. Good backstory for Chicago

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be disorganized and lacking information that would distinguish itself from Wikipedia pages about the murderesses and the trib reporter who wrote about them.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting background story on the newspaper articles that became a play that became a musical and a movie.

[Katie Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing archives and look into the origins of the show I love so much

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting, and now I want to watch CHICAGO