The Murder of the Century question

I really liked this book. This was an audio-read for me. It's based on a 19th century NYC crime that no Chicagoan I know ever heard of. The author gives a good foundation on the mindset of the era. Interesting what the press got away with and what cops did & didn't do. The best part for me was the role this case had in the creation of today's tabloid news & paparazzo. Great epilogue rounds out what happened to all the players even the newspapers in the aftermath & into the 20th century.

I enjoyed this book for the author's perceptive representations of the newspapers' competitions, along with law enforcements' ineptitude. This book accurately describes a murder 'investigation' as it happened in that era. I appreciated the author's writing style also.

Second Stephanie's and Kate's above comments.

I think Kate's response nailed it.

I agree with Kate, but unfortunately, I found the newspaper angle so hard to get through, I actually didn't finish the book. I don't remember the last time I couldn't get through a book, but I was truly bored with it.

I greatly enjoyed it and passed it on to my husband. He's from Brooklyn and comes from a family heavily into law enforcement. He was a government agent, his sister a judge, a couple of nephews are cops and one is a lawyer.

I loved the incredible detail of the work. Every single quote was noted. The locations were carefully described as were the characters/participants. Any work, fiction or non-fiction, needs to show me where I am and who I am listening to. This book did that quite well.

The book was ABOUT the beginnings of tabloid journalism. Of course it concentrated on the newspaper angle, but it showed a great deal about the police procedures (or sometimes lack thereof) as well.

In short, I found it fascinating and will now look for other stories the author has told.

I second several of the readers in favor of the book. There are three stories here,; The Murder, Pulitzer v. Hearst, and an inept police force. Not particularly sexy to begin with, but interesting unto itself.
If you enjoyed this book, read The Killer of Little Shepherds. This is not only the story of a serial killer, but an interesting insight of the development of forensic science.

I think "Murder of the Century" is an excellent book. It provides a particularly intimate look at "the bad old days." It is especially exciting to be a "fly on the wall" watching the various characters react to the horror around them. The author keeps up the pace and the book reads like a well-written novel. The fact that it is nonfiction makes it even better. For those interested in the era, "Murder of the Century" opens a lot of windows for further research.

Maybe it was just me but I really liked it. The first part went so well, actually the parts abut the trial began to seem slow. Overall I liked it a lot.

Possibly had more information come out about and had there been more a more definite account, things would be better. But overall this book is also as much about the newspaper wars of the period as it was the murder of Guldensuppe.

The book begins well and has a very interesting story behind it, but I agree that in general there was something missing from this account that didn't make it especially gripping.

I agree with the comments that it seemed poorly organized or focused on the wrong bits - it reads like a case of the author setting out to write one story (the evolution of the tabloid war with this murder as the backdrop) and not wanting to let go of this thesis when the more interesting drama was all in the murder.

Unfair comparisons, perhaps, but I'd just come off reading "The Monster of Florence" and "In Cold Blood" and had perhaps too high hopes this book would scratch the itch.

I generally liked it. The murder mystery itself was so-so, but I thought it did a good job describing the atmosphere / lives of people in the 19th century... wasn't a book that blew me out of the water, but was entertaining enough. If you like this type of non-fiction, I think it's worth a read.

I enjoyed this book, particularly the 19thC sensationalist journalism aspect, but if you are going to read just one 19thC crime book, I'd recommend either Larson's _Devil in the White City_ (NF) or Carr's _The Alienist_ (F).

I enjoyed it a lot, but you must be aware that it is more about how the media (newspapers) dealt with a sensational murder, than the actual murder itself. The subtitle does describe that, but some people still do not catch on.

Not well organized - I was forever going back to see who/what he was talking about. Easy to put down. Not sure how the title applies, it was just a disjointed account of forensics & media during a particular period of time.

I enjoyed it a lot. Very interesting to see how different ... and yet the same ... things were "way back when."

I really enjoyed this book and the two different stories that were intertwined ( the murder and the newspaper wars ). It was very interesting to hear about the technology of both crime investigation and newspaper printing at that time.

I felt this one fell a little flat. The story is pretty sensational, but the author was more focused on the behavior of the papers. While both the murder investigation and the journalistic angle could have been both pursued, the balance tipped in favor of the newspapers, and the murder story was left to languish.

I liked it. It was entertaining for a NF crime/mystery

I read it last summer at the beach--it's good beach reading but not spectacular.