Queen of Thieves: The True Story of "Marm" Mandelbaum and Her Gangs of New York

Conway's (coauthor, Attack of the HMS Nimrod; King of Heists) latest book delves into the story of Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum, an early pioneering woman of crime. A German Jewish immigrant to 19th-century New York City, Mandelbaum created an empire based on stolen goods, which passed through her "legitimate" dry goods store. By 1880, it's estimated that her personal wealth was over $1 million and she controlled a large criminal network that provided services and bribed officials. Conway presents fascinating details about the grittiness of life during the Gilded Age in the nation's largest city, as well as smaller biographies of Mandelbaum's contemporaries and cocriminals such as Sophie Lyons, Adam Worth, George Leonidas Leslie, and Charles W. "Piano Charley" Bullard. While the book is well researched and well written, it is hard to know exactly how much of the story is fact or legend. No matter, it is a provocative read and a pleasing window into 19th-century crime with an unusual leader—an immigrant woman.