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

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

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was the story of Roland Molineaux, a poisoner from the turn of the 20th century. He was the son of a famous and beloved General of the Civil War. He was accused of poisoning a rival for his intended wife and a man from his health club whom he had taken a severe dislike to. While the case added up, the motive seemed extreme for a gentleman of his class. The story was very interesting, especially as it was something of a "bad seed" affair. This is also another "Lizzy Borden" case in which there was a great deal of controversy about the verdicts which have not been agreed upon to this day.



Along with this is the story of the tabloid press or "yellow journalism" engendered by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Both men took over failing newspapers and turned them into wildly successful enterprises which left them multi-millionairs. What was especially interesting to me was the fact that the papers had detectives of their own and often managed to stay one step ahead of the police. This case changed journalism forever.



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The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans

The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans by Simon Winchester


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was an excellent book! I wanted to understand the Balkans and the tangled relationships between the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. Winchester does a great job of mixing history with interviews with the various people from each country. This may sound dry and uninteresting, but his combination of foreign correspondent/travel writer gives just the right mix to make the book fascinating.

What really surprised me was the beauty of the area. I had no idea that there are so many areas of every country that are incredible vacation spots. These countries could be more like the French Rivera than a war zone with just a little rationality.

I would recommend that the reader use the internet to look up the maps of the area and photographs of the places mentioned. It puts things into perspective.

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Black Water (Tango Key Mysteries

Black Water by T.J. MacGregor


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I first realized that this book relied on time travel, I was leery. I generally don't care for such books and especially not a mystery, but this was very good. Mira's daughter, Annie, was abducted by am man who was able to travel back to 1968 where he was keeping her with another surviving child he had brought back. Shep, Mira's FBI boyfriend is in the present and trying to find Mira and Annie.

For most of the book, I was able to keep straight the ramifications of people from the present and their influence on the past when brought from their own time, but I thought that the reason for kidnapping the children was a little weak. That did not really detract from the book and it was a very good read.

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