Murphy, Cait. Scoundrels in Law: The Trials of Howe & Hummel, Lawyers to the Gangsters, Cops, Starlet and Rakes Who Made the Gilded Age. Smithsonian Bks. 2010. 352p. ISBN 978-0-06-171428-3. $26.99.

The Gilded Age in New York was an exciting time, both colorful and violent, and Howe & Hummel were in the thick of it. Though almost forgotten now, the firm and its two partners were the go-to criminal defense lawyers for rich and poor alike. Their flamboyance (Howe was a flashy dresser who favored gaudy precious stones, and Hummel was a lover of Broadway) and sheer audacity made them eagerly sought after, though their track record was sketchy. Their success and fame was such that they moved between the stratified social classes with ease. Their shady dealings, including blackmail and political corruption, would finally topple the firm. VERDICT This lively account of the dark underbelly of Tammany Hall-era New York will thrill crime buffs and history lovers alike.

O?Brien, Geoffrey. The Fall of the House of Walworth: A Tale of Murder and Madness in Saratoga?s Guilded Age. Holt. Aug. 2010. 384p. ISBN 978-0-8050-8115-2. $30.

The 1873 shooting of Mansfield Walworth by his son Frank in a New York hotel room was the beginning of the abrupt end of the Walworth family, once the pride of Saratoga Springs, NY. Cultural historian O?Brien interweaves the stories of the family and the town itself; a once glamorous resort gradually overtaken by the gambling that became its chief attraction. The correlation is a bit overdone, but the story of the family?s drift into madness, and the account of the court system and its view of the insanity defense in the 19th century makes for a vivid social history. VERDICT A family history cum crime drama that will be most appreciated in regional collections.

Perry, Douglas. The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Viking. Aug. 2010. 320p. ISBN 978-0-670-02197-0. $25.95.

Jazz Age Chicago was well known as a town where a pretty woman couldn?t be convicted. In 1924, prim Maurine Watkins walked away from Radcliffe and into a job as the Chicago Tribune?s police reporter just in time to observe the freak run of homicidal wives and girlfriends that made up Chicago?s Murderess?s Row. Her disgust at a system, in which all-male juries let beautiful women literally get away with murder, caused her to work tirelessly for justice and to write a viciously satirical play, which morphed into the musical, Chicago. VERDICT The real lives and crimes of these deadly women, as well as the story of Watkins?s moral crusade, make for a spellbinding read for history, crime, and theater fans.

Smith, James R. and W. Lane Rogers. The California Snatch Racket: Kidnapping During the Prohibition and Depression Eras. Quill Driver. 2010. 380p. illus. ISBN 978-1-884995-63-7. $16.95.

Beginning in the 1920s, kidnapping for ransom became a criminal cottage industry in California. Newspapers played up the stories, breathlessly reporting on any tidbit?true, false or manufactured?to increase sales to a horrified public. Written in the yellow-journalistic style of their main sources, historians Smith and Rogers have combed through these accounts to present 15 cases, many real and tragic but some (like Aimee Semple McPherson?s) a fabrication. VERDICT Illustrated with period photographs, this book brings the era to vivid life for fans of California history as well as crime buffs.

Spicer, Paul. The Temptress: The Scandalous Life of Alice de Janze and the Mysterious Death of Lord Erroll. St. Martin. Jul. 2010. 304p. ISBN 978-0-312-37970-4. $25.99.

The 1941 murder of Joss Hay, the 22nd Earl of Erroll, in the British expatriate community of Kenya?s Happy Valley, was an international sensation. An unapologetic womanizer, Erroll was assumed to have been shot by a jealous husband. But the author, whose mother knew the participants, believes he was killed by Alice de Janze, his longtime mistress and a woman scorned. Spicer traces the life of the wealthy, selfish, emotionally unstable Alice?she previously had shot a man who threatened to leave her. The truth has died with the final witnesses, but the author presents a compelling case. VERDICT A fascinating peek into the famously decadent Kenya between the wars that will appeal to British and African history lovers as well as true crime fans.