The Girls of Murder City

by Perry, Douglas

• ISBN13: 9780143119227
• ISBN10: 0143119222
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-26
• Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary

The untold true story of the murders that inspired the iconic musical Chicago. With a thrilling, fast-paced narrative, award-winning journalist Douglas Perry vividly captures the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal- and gave Chicago its most famous story. The Girls of Murder Cityrecounts two scandalous, sex-fueled murder cases and how an intrepid "girl reporter" named Maurine Watkins turned the beautiful, media-savvy suspects-"Stylish Belva" and "Beautiful Beulah"-into the talk of the town. Fueled by rich period detail and a cast of characters who seemed destined for the stage, The Girls of Murder Cityis a crackling tale that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the Jazz Age and its sober repercussions.

Table of Contents

Characters	p. xi
Chicago, 1924	p. xii
Prologue	p. 1
A Mad Ecstasy
A Grand Object Lesson	p. 11
The Variable Feminine Mechanism	p. 22
One-Gun Duel	p. 39
Hang Me? That's a Joke	p. 57
No Sweetheart in the World Is Worth Killing	p. 68
The Kind of Gal Who Never Could Be True	p. 82
A Modern Salome	p. 91
Her Mind Works Vagrantly	p. 104
Jail School	p. 113
The Girls of Murder City
The Love-Foiled Girl	p. 129
It's Terrible, but It's Better	p. 143
What Fooled Everybody	p. 153
A Modest Little Housewife	p. 160
Anne, You Have Killed Me	p. 175
Beautifulùbut Not Dumb!	p. 191
The Tides of Hell	p. 200
Hatproof, Sexproof, and Damp	p. 210
A Grand and Gorgeous Show	p. 224
Entirely Too Vile	p. 230
The Most Monotonous City on Earth	p. 240
Epilogue	p. 256
Acknowledgments	p. 267
Notes	p. 269
Bibliography	p. 293
Index	p. 297
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