The Devil's Gentleman
Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century

Several things: 1. I was really not amused by the constant nudge-nudge suggestions that Roland Molineux might have been (stage whisper) gay. For one thing, there's no proof, and for another, who cares? Unless of course the writer is insinuating that Roland committed the crime BECAUSE he was (maybe, p......more

A true crime book by Harold Schechter about cold blooded cyanide poisoning murders back in the 1890's, committed by the handsome and privileged black sheep son of a revered Civil War general, one Roland Burnham Molineux. A major scandal at the time, and a big media sensation fanned using yellow jour......more

It is sometimes interesting to read two similar books at one time. I’ve been doing that for a week or so, although the other book is my lunchtime reading so I’m making far slower progress on it. Both are true-crime books about murders that took place in the last few years of the 19th century. This o......more

I stumbled across this volume in a used book store, and, intrigued by the title, picked it up. (See? Sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover, or at least by its title!) From the second I cracked the front cover, I was in love, and I plowed through it every chance I got. The only time I paused wa......more