Greed: A True Story of Malice and Murder

by Timothy V Tousey

It was called the crime of the decade. Newspapers from across the country told of the mysterious death of the wealthy and eccentric Margretta Todd in 1905. In her younger years, Margretta had been the mistress of Napoleon III in Paris and was a favorite in the emperor's court. Later, she built an upscale apartment building in Manhattan at 29 W. Twenty-Sixth Street called the Von-Hoffmann Arms. The building still stands there today. Following Margretta's death, it would become the backdrop for deception and legal battles. Margretta's daughter, Rosalie, married the wealthy Frank Tousey, who owned one of the largest publishing companies in the country. They lived a charmed life until Frank's untimely death in 1902, which left Rosalie on her own for the first time in her life. The ensuing years would be filled with unscrupulous men plotting to control the estates of both mother and daughter. Two adversarial lawyers, Ingersoll Lockwood and George Hastings, would stop at nothing, including murder, in order to get their hands on the Todd and Tousey estates. One man succeeded. This is the story of how that happened.

236 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2022

Reviews

[Karen Sigl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this debut historical novel by Timothy V. Tousey. Included here is a mountain of information to sift through, and Tousey does an admirable job of researching and organizing multiple storylines in chronological order, while managing to avoid getting lost in the details.
This novel weaves together the lives of seemingly disparate, complex and colorful characters: from the eccentric and flamboyant central character, Mrs. Margaretta Todd, to the simple soft-hearted building manager, George Amory, and on down to the nasty street kid tyrant, Norma Hastings.
Several photos sprinkled throughout the book add flavor and help set the scene in the early 1900’s. Throughout this complex tale, we get views of period lifestyles – rich, poor, and in-between – all posturing to reach or maintain the elevated wealthy lifestyle. In other words, centering around “Greed.”
This synopsis of a complicated plot left me wanting to know more about the fate of these vivid characters. I hope we will see more from Mr. Tousey in the future, educating and entertaining his readers about turn of the century America, greed and all.