The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago Kindle Edition

As a native of Chicago, I simply ate this book up. I've always been interested in Chicago history, but this book offered a different wrinkle. It's based on the story that lead to the writing of the play Chicago - yes, that Chicago, which was turned into an Oscar winning musical. Perry tells the story of the actual Girls of Murder City - the murderesses who were sensationalized in the late teens in Chicago, and the "girl reporter," Maurine Watkins who covered their stories (and wrote the original play) for the Chicago Tribune. Overlapping the last chapters was the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder, which helps put the whole story in a familiar time and place. And also very interesting were the late chapters of the book detailing Ms. Watkins' story following the production of the play and her stint in Hollywood. A must read for fans of true crime, Chicago history and the early years of the 20th century.

The Girls of Murder City tells two real-life stories:- The first looks at the trials of several "girl gunners" in Chicago in the 1920's- The second looks at the development of the play "Chicago", based on these trialsThe first part of the book focuses largely on the crimes, trials, and eventual acquittals of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, the "Most Beautiful Girl" and the "Most Stylish Girl" on Murders' Row, respectively. By killing men who weren't their husbands and being acquitted of their crimes, Beulah and Belva perfectly represented the booze-soaked, sensation-hungry 1920's. The stories of several other female murderers are included, but Beulah and Belva are the stars of the show.The second part of the book covers Maurine Watkin's development of the play "Chicago" based on Beulah and Belva's stories. As a Chicago Tribune reporter covering the girl-gunner beat, Maurine refused to buy into the commotion Beulah and Belva stirred up. In her articles, she used sarcasm and wit to highlight the manipulative nature of each woman and call out how they played both the media and their jurors. Her play "Chicago" turned the same critical eye to the sensationalism and media-madness that had gripped the country.I knew "Chicago" had some basis in reality, but I didn't realize just how much had been lifted from Beulah and Belva's trials. If you've seen the play or the musical, then you'll immediately recognize Roxie Hart in Beulah. The character of Velma Kelly is based on Belva but the comparison is less obvious. You'll also recognize "the characters" Billy Flynn, Mary Sunshine and the other "mistresses of Murder's Row". There are even some nicknames and lines lifted wholesale from newspaper articles of the time and placed in the play's dialogue ("They both reached for the gun!").Being the history nerd that I am, I appreciated the chance to check out the real-life characters that inspired the play and read some of the source material. It also became clear just how much Maurine nailed the prevailing mood of Chicago in the 1920's with her play. If you're interested in Chicago history or "Chicago" the play, I recommend this one.In a nutshell: A good look at the people and crimes that inspired a great play. Four stars.

Let me say I liked the book. It is primarily the story of a novice Chicago Tribune crime reporter by the name of Maurine Watkins, who began her career covering female killers in the Windy City of 1924. Most of the book is taken up with her coverage of two major murder trials of the day in which one extremely beautiful woman named Beulah Annan killed her lover and then claimed he was trying to rape her while she was pregnant. She wasn't pregnant and she gave him the money to buy the cheap wine they drank as they made out on her sofa while her husband was at work. The other femme fatale was Belva 'Belle' Gaertner, a twice divorced socialite with important connections throughout the area due to her ex-husband, who seemed to relish the role being known as Chicago's biggest cuckold. Belva whacked her younger boyfriend in her car down the block from her house when he wanted to break it off and then claimed she couldn't remember anything about that night. Beulah and Belva both faced all male juries, who would never convict beauty regardless of the evidence, especially when they each had high powered legal help. Those of lesser beauty and/or sophistication did not always fare as well at the time. Before you think that couldn't happen today, perhaps consider the goings on with Paris, Lindsay, and Britney.The hook to the story is that Maurine quit her crime reporting shortly after these two trials and went back to grad school at Yale, wanting to be a playwright with a Broadway hit. She fashioned her play on all the girls murder trials she covered in Chicago, even using direct trial dialog calling the play 'The Brave Little Woman', but on advice from her mentor changed the name to CHICAGO  CHICAGO The Original 1927 Film Restored  and as we know that was done several times on Broadway and internationally plus had several versions with the 2002 version winning the Best Picture award  Chicago (Widescreen Edition) .Maurine covered several other murder stories and the book details them also and her rivalry with the other female crime reporters from other more feminist papers and derisively referred to as the 'SOB SISTERS' , but the book basically focuses on these two 'girl gunners' as they are so often called in the book. She even covers part of the Bobby Franks murder by Nathan Leopold and Dicky Loew, but was disgusted by their motivation for the crime even more so than the reasons that Beulah and Belva gave for theirs. The story is pretty much told in a a Damon Runyonesqe voice moderated by Joe Friday's close clipped accounts. It was a nice friendly read at only 304pp and it may not want to make you become a crime reporter or attend law school, but it should provide some satisfaction on how the story finally ends for both these and other women discussed in the book. It's a great book to curl up by the fire with.

Great read!!! I used it as research for a dance theater/cabaret performance

Great condition