Pretty Evil New York: True Stories of Mobster Molls, Violent Vixens, and Murderous Matriarchs

by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

The newest series from Globe features regional history with a true crime twist! Written by true crime author-experts, each book focuses on the most significant (and prolific) violent female criminals from that state or region. Female killers are often portrayed as caricatures: Black Widows, Angels of Death, or Femme Fatales. But the real stories of these women are much more complex. The author provides a look at the lives of at each killer through primary source materials, including diaries and trial records. Readers will be glued to their seats as they follow the killers through broken childhoods, first brushes with death, and overwhelming urges that propelled these women to commit these heinous crimes. The kidnappings, murders, investigations, trials, and ultimate verdicts will stun and surprise readers as they live vicariously through the killers and the dogged investigators who caught them.

Genres: History

256 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2021

About the author

I'm a native New Yorker, amateur historian, ardent Anglophile, and ballroom dancer. For over 15 years I was a professional actress, played virgins and vixens in everything from Shaw to Shakespeare. Although I didn’t start writing seriously until ten years ago, I’ve always been a voracious reader. I think I came out of the womb clutching a book. While other kids were writing 500 word essays in English class, I was writing first chapters. I even submitted my first manuscript to Grosset & Dunlap (publishers of the Nancy Drew mysteries) at the tender of age of 10. Since I started writing, I have about 5 completed manuscripts underneath my bed. One of them, a YA novel MUCH ADO ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL was a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award. So it was surprising that when I finally sold, it would be not a novel, but non-fiction.

I’d always been fascinated by history, particularly women’s history. So in 2007, I launched the blog Scandalous Women (http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com). Since its inception, Scandalous Women has averaged over twenty thousand hits a month, and was named one of the 50 Top History Blogs by Zen College Life. My first book, SCANDALOUS WOMEN, was released in March 2011. Since the book’s release, it has been sold to Thailand, Poland and Korea, and was a best-seller in Singapore. The book has also been featured in the DAILY CANDY weekend section, and it was an RT Book Review Non-Fiction Pick of the Month for April 2011.

I am also a member of the Historical Novel Society, Sisters in Crime, RWA and RWA NYC, where she served for four years as President.

Reviews

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This superbly macabre book gets a permanent place on my research shelf. Mahon has dug up a treasure trove of sensational murders of the past, recounting them in a way that shows exactly why they were once front page news. Without embellishing, she lets each woman emerge from the tangle of rumor and headline. Certainly not always likable—often despicable. But each revelatory of the mores of their times and completely fascinating.

[Catherine Siemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched, enjoyably written compendium of historical murderesses and other woman criminals from New York, both the city and upstate, from the early 19th century through the Jazz Age. Some are largely forgotten and some are known primarily to folks with an especially interest in their historical era, but all have fascinating stories. I was especially intrigued by those who weren't murderers -- queenpin Gilded Age fence, Marm Mandelbaum; Celia Cooney, the Bobbed-Haired Bandit; and Stephanie St. Clair, the queen of the Harlem numbers racket in the 20s. Highly recommended.

[Maryka Biaggio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating tales of women and the world of crime. This is a very well researched book that captures the stories and times of women who lived on the wrong side of the law. Highly recommended for those who like to delve into fascinating tales from the past.