Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York

by Stephen J. Riegel

On the night of August 6, 1930, Joseph Force Crater, a newly appointed judge and prominent figure in many circles of Manhattan, hailed a taxi in the heart of Broadway and vanished into thin air. Despite a decades-long international manhunt led by the New York Police Department’s esteemed Missing Persons Bureau, the reason for Crater’s disappearance remains a confounding mystery. In the early months of the investigation, evidence implicated and imperiled New York’s top officials, including then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mayor Jimmy Walker, as well as the city’s Tammany Hall political machine, lawyers and judges, and a theater mogul. Drawing on new sources, including NYPD case files and court records, and overlooked evidence discovered years later, Riegel pieces together the puzzle of what likely happened to Joseph Crater and why. To uncover the mystery, he delves into Crater’s ascension into the scintillating and corrupt world of Manhattan in the Roaring Twenties and Jazz Age. In turn, the story of the judge’s vanishing amid the Great Depression unfolds as a harbinger of the disappearance of his lost metropolis and its transformation into modern-day New York City.

Genres: True Crime, History, Nonfiction, Mystery

304 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2021

Reviews

[LAWRENCE GUTTMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so much enjoyed reading Stephen Riegel’s New York City historical drama Finding Judge Crater - A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York and highly recommend this book to all lovers of true-crime non-fiction and stories of the history of New York City. Riegel expertly unravels the mystery of the disappearance of the notorious, politically connected judge Crater and, along the way, paints a canvas of characters filled with rivalries, political opportunism, and deceit, the hallmarks of the corrupt Tammany political machine. Riegel delves into NYPD archives and untangles a web of conflicting reports and false leads, and presents a new and compelling narrative that explains the murder, identifies possible motives, the likely killer and hidden resting place of the murdered judge. It would make a great movie.

[Anne Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Riegel vividly presents the scintillating and corrupt world of Manhattan in the Roaring 1920s, and shines its light on one of the most perplexing missing person cases in American history, the disappearance of Judge Crater in 1930 from the streets of Broadway. Based obviously on extensive original research on the case, the book is well-paced like a detective/true crime story, as the many theories of what happened to the missing man are considered. The book concludes with a convincing explanation of what happened to Crater and why. I strongly recommend it for readers interested in New York's history, historical mysteries, unsolved cold cases and anyone who wants a good read!

[Rosalind Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ongoing mystery of the disappearance of Judge Crater comes to life in this extremely well written and exciting book. Steve Riegel brings the reader into the world of Tammany Hall politics and the reader gets to know the missing justice all too well. I found myself turning to read many of the footnotes to discover many details, something I rarely do. I learned a great deal more about FDR than I had known and enjoyed every minute of the book, reading it straight through, unable to put it down. I highly recommend Finding Judge Crater!!

[Larry R · Rating 5 out of 5]

This enthralling non-fiction story brought to life a meticulously researched accounting of Judge Joseph Crater’s disappearance. The descriptive atmosphere of the decadent Roaring Twenties in NYC was palpable. The author put together a complex puzzle of facts and reasoned speculations to come to a believable conclusion as to what happened to the Judge. It’s a true crime mystery with many compelling characters and surprising narrative twists. I would love to see this book made into a movie or TV series.

[Michael L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. It is obvious that the author did very extensive research. Riegel's writing style is clear and concise and every word was agonized over. The author's grasp of the times and familiarity with the key actors is impressive. The judge almost becomes secondary to the storyline centering on "governance" of New York city. Although, looking back through a modern retrospectroscope, it all seems so tame when compared to the disaster that was the Trump years.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a meticulously researched accounting of Judge Joseph Crater’s disappearance. In writing this book, the author convincingly pulls together the facts in an extremely complicated tale to draw a convincing conclusion as to what happened to the judge.

[David Cervantes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judge Crater and Tammany Hall

Interesting look at the career and end (?) of Judge Joseph Crater. Also a look at the corrupt and sleazy dealings of Tammany Hall in the Jazz Age. A tragic story.

[Reva]

DNF @ 14%