We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Author:
Perry, Douglas
Narrator:
Berkrot, Peter
Published:
Tantor Media, Inc. 2010
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
Chicago, 1924. There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in the Second City. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special-worthy of celebration. So believed Maurine Watkins, a wanna-be playwright and a "girl reporter" for the Chicago Tribune, the city's "hanging paper." Newspaperwomen were supposed to write about clubs, cooking, and clothes, but the intrepid Miss Watkins, a minister's daughter from a small town, zeroed in on murderers instead. Looking for subjects to turn into a play, she would make "Stylish Belva" Gaertner and "Beautiful Beulah" Annan-both of whom had brazenly shot down their lovers-the talk of the town. Love-struck men sent flowers to the jail, and newly emancipated women sent impassioned letters to the newspapers. Soon more than a dozen women preened and strutted on "Murderesses' Row" as they awaited trial, desperate for the same attention that was being lavished on Maurine Watkins's favorites. In the tradition of Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City and Karen Abbott's Sin in the Second City, Douglas Perry vividly captures Jazz Age Chicago and the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal. Fueled by rich period detail and enlivened by a cast of characters who seemed destined for the stage, The Girls of Murder City is crackling social history that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the age and its sober repercussions.
Also in This Series
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
Sample Sample 
OverDrive Listen
Sample Sample 
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
Choose a Format
Book
      Show Edition
On Shelf
South Natomas
364.1523 P462 2010
Place Hold
CD Audiobook
      Show Edition
On Shelf
Fair Oaks
CD 364.1523 P462 2010
Franklin
CD 364.1523 P462 2010
Place Hold
Hoopla eAudiobook
      Show Edition
Available Online
Online Hoopla Collection
Check Out Hoopla
Large Print
      Show Edition
On Shelf
Central
LARGE PRINT 364.1523 P462 2011
North Highlands-Antelope
LARGE PRINT 364.1523 P462 2011
Wanderer Bookmobile
LARGE PRINT 364.1523 P462 2011
Place Hold
OverDrive eAudiobook
      Show Edition
Available Online
Online OverDrive Collection
Check Out OverDrive
OverDrive eBook
      Show Edition
Available Online
Online OverDrive Collection
Check Out OverDrive
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
Subjects
Subjects
Biography & Autobiography
History
Nonfiction
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
08/05/2010
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781400197699
Librarian Reviews
Published Reviews
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Douglas Perry. (2010). The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Unabridged Tantor Media, Inc.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Douglas Perry. 2010. The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Tantor Media, Inc.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Douglas Perry, The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Tantor Media, Inc, 2010.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Douglas Perry. The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago. Unabridged Tantor Media, Inc, 2010.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
6f869c0e-db61-779d-68f1-ae413accbbe3
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 17:41:14
Date Updated:
Dec 08, 2020 17:40:21
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 21, 2024 09:13:43
Last Metadata Change:
Oct 09, 2023 18:27:46
Last Availability Check:
Apr 21, 2024 09:13:46
Last Availability Change:
Mar 02, 2024 22:34:55
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 25, 2024 02:10:18

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1219-1/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1219-1/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1219-1/889/FF9/61/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1219-1/889/FF9/61/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: tantor_audio#9781400187690
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781400197699
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: tantor_audio#9781400187690
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781400197699
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
mediaType
Audiobook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Douglas Perry
title
The Girls of Murder City
dateAdded
2014-12-29T11:02:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=1395974
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Girls of Murder City Fame Lust and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
crossRefId
1395974
subtitle
Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
id
889ff961-50d4-41c3-b079-15c23e5c0a9b
starRating
3.6

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • duration: 10:11:46
      • fileName: TheGirlsofMurderCity_9781400187690_1395974
      • partCount: 10
      • fileSize: 293732752
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: tantor_audio#9781400187690
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781400197699
      • rights:
            • type: PlayOnPC
            • value: 1
            • type: PlayOnPCCount
            • value: -1
            • type: BurnToCD
            • value: 1
            • type: BurnToCDCount
            • value: -1
            • type: PlayOnPM
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToNonSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferCount
            • value: -1
            • type: CollaborativePlay
            • value: 0
            • type: PublicPerformance
            • value: 0
            • type: TranscodeToAAC
            • value: 1
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • onSaleDate: 8/5/2010
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1219-1/1395974-TheGirlsOfMurderCity.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • duration: 10:11:51
      • fileName: GirlsofMurderCity9781400187690
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 293690510
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: tantor_audio#9781400187690
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9781400197699
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 8/5/2010
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1219-1/1395974-TheGirlsOfMurderCity.mp3
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: 20th Century
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Perry, Douglas
      • bioText: Douglas Perry is coauthor, with Jeff Guinn, of The Sixteenth Minute: Life in the Aftermath of Fame.
      • name: Douglas Perry
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Berkrot, Peter
      • name: Peter Berkrot
imprint
Tantor Audio
publishDate
2010-08-05T00:00:00-04:00
edition
Unabridged
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
The Girls of Murder City
fullDescription
Chicago, 1924. There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in the Second City. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special-worthy of celebration. So believed Maurine Watkins, a wanna-be playwright and a "girl reporter" for the Chicago Tribune, the city's "hanging paper." Newspaperwomen were supposed to write about clubs, cooking, and clothes, but the intrepid Miss Watkins, a minister's daughter from a small town, zeroed in on murderers instead. Looking for subjects to turn into a play, she would make "Stylish Belva" Gaertner and "Beautiful Beulah" Annan-both of whom had brazenly shot down their lovers-the talk of the town. Love-struck men sent flowers to the jail, and newly emancipated women sent impassioned letters to the newspapers. Soon more than a dozen women preened and strutted on "Murderesses' Row" as they awaited trial, desperate for the same attention that was being lavished on Maurine Watkins's favorites. In the tradition of Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City and Karen Abbott's Sin in the Second City, Douglas Perry vividly captures Jazz Age Chicago and the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal. Fueled by rich period detail and enlivened by a cast of characters who seemed destined for the stage, The Girls of Murder City is crackling social history that simultaneously presents the freewheeling spirit of the age and its sober repercussions.
popularity
175
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1B3gEAAA2d/products/889ff961-50d4-41c3-b079-15c23e5c0a9b/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
889ff961-50d4-41c3-b079-15c23e5c0a9b
starRating
3.6
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1219-1/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1219-1/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1219-1/889/FF9/61/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1219-1/889/FF9/61/{889FF961-50D4-41C3-B079-15C23E5C0A9B}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Biography & Autobiography
      • value: History
      • value: Nonfiction
publishDateText
08/05/2010
mediaType
Audiobook
shortDescription
Chicago, 1924. There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in the Second City. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special-worthy of celebration. So believed Maurine Watkins, a wanna-be playwright and a "girl reporter" for the Chicago Tribune, the city's "hanging paper." Newspaperwomen were supposed to write about clubs, cooking, and clothes, but the intrepid Miss Watkins, a minister's daughter from a small town, zeroed in on murderers instead. Looking for subjects to turn into a play, she would make "Stylish Belva" Gaertner and "Beautiful Beulah" Annan-both of whom had brazenly shot down their lovers-the talk of the town. Love-struck men sent flowers to the jail, and newly emancipated women sent impassioned letters to the newspapers. Soon more than a dozen women preened and strutted on "Murderesses' Row" as they awaited trial, desperate for the same attention that was being lavished on...
sortTitle
Girls of Murder City Fame Lust and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
crossRefId
1395974
subtitle
Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
publisher
Tantor Media, Inc.
bisacCodes
      • code: BIO022000
      • description: Biography & Autobiography / Women
      • code: BIO024000
      • description: Biography & Autobiography / Criminals & Outlaws
      • code: HIS036060
      • description: History / United States / 20th Century