How to Commit a Murder

by Danny Ahearn

How To Commit a Murder (and all the Major Crimes of the Calendar and Get Away with It)

A non-fiction how-to about committing major crimes, by a gangster and ex-con.

chapters include: "How to Rob a Jewelry Store,"How to Stick Up a Fur Joint," "Straight Stickups," "Easy Money," More Rackets", "Taking a Crap Game," etc.

“We honestly believe that the author, Danny Ahearn, could commit any crime and get away with it.”
—Wilmington News-Journal

“I cannot see any good purpose or any social benefit to be derived from such a book. This might be otherwise but for the very exactness with which the author lays down the best and most certain rules for committing a murder, for robbing a jewelry store, for stealing an automobile . . . for the commission of every crime on the calendar ‘and getting away with it.’”
—Nashville Banner

“a truly dangerous book”
—Lansing State Journal

“a thoroughly vicious book”
—Monrovia News-Post

“So genuine is the picture and so is the criminal psychology revealed that it is difficult for the uninitiated to realize that there is in our midst a group of people who think differently, live differently, and react differently to all social standards and customs.”
—Wichita Falls Times

“Danny Ahearn tells everything but one essential—how to acquire the nerve to kill a man and how to get rid of a guilty conscience after it is done.”
—Victoria Daily Times

“Even salacious or sexy trash is less harmful . . . One hopes to read some day soon that the person responsible for letting [this] volume get into the hands of the two Winnipeg boys has been apprehended and fittingly punished. He is more responsible for the eight burglaries said to have been committed by the boys than are the lads themselves.”
—Edmonton Journal

“Members of the several fact-finding commissions now examining the breakdown in national law enforcement would do well to read and digest ‘How to Commit a Murder’ by Danny Ahearn.”
—Wichita Beacon

“When you’ve finished the book—and you owe it to yourself to read it—you’ll understand what Oscar Wilde meant when he made that crack about society not prohibiting theft but merely regulating it.”
—Massillon Evening Independent

“the epitome of gangster ideals, if there are any”
—Nebraska State Journal

“Critics have acclaimed it the frankest account of modern gunplay in a great city ever written.”
—Wayne News

“Danny’s book gave me a cold chill more than once. I cannot honestly recommend his book, save to a very restricted clientele.”
—Rock Island Argus

How to Commit a Murder is not merely absorbing—it's astounding.
—True Detective Mysteries, July 1930

Genres: Crime, Nonfiction

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1930

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published about 1930, How to Commit a Murder provides Danny Ahearn’s (1901–1960) first-hand account of a slew of criminal activities, divided into chapters on jewelry stores, fur joints, straight stickups, car theft, politicking, protection, rackets, crap games, defending yourself after a pinch—and the crowning jewel of the title: murder—and how to get away with it. A fascinating account of the author’s life as a hardcore criminal.

Ahearn didn’t exactly write this baby, he narrated it. His editor, John S. Clapp—who wrote the original introduction for the first edition (which is reprinted here)—actually recorded Ahearn’s sometimes rambling account of this “how to” textbook and then painstakingly transcribed the whole thing. What you get is Ahearn’s authentic voice, oozing in big city street-savvy vernacular, and informed by his in-depth knowledge of that which he speaks. You can tell in short order, he knows exactly what he’s talking about. It’s captivating, immersive, and richly embellished. The only minor annoyance is Ahearn’s penchant to ramble. He doesn’t always connect the dots in his stream-of-consciousness revelations and sometimes jumps from one thought to another—all relevant to the chapter at hand—but not always sewn up tight with no loose ends.

That said, if you’re a fan of true crime exposés, this book’s hefty convictions far outweigh any petty offenses. Staccato Crime series co-editor Jeff Vorzimmer provides a short Preface to Gary Lovisi’s engaging 21st Century introduction to this Stark House Press jazz-age nonfiction gem.

Advance Review Copy provided by Stark House Press.
Release Date: June 2022

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the logistics of criminal enterprises written in the vernacular of the late 1920s.