The girls of Murder City : fame, lust, and the beautiful killers who inspired Chicago

The true story of the murderesses who became media sensations and inspired the musical Chicago. There was nothing surprising about men turning up dead in Jazz Age Chicago. Life was cheaper than a quart of illicit gin in the gangland capital of the world. But two murders that spring were special, or so believed Maurine Watkins, 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 zeroed in on murderers instead. She made 'Stylish Belva' Gaertner and 'Beautiful Beulah' Annan--both of whom had brazenly shot down their lovers--the talk of the town. 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.--From publisher description. & nbsp;Read more... A mad ecstasy. A grand object lesson ; The variable feminine mechanism ; One-gun duel ; Hang me? That's a joke ; No sweetheart in the world is worth killing ; The kind of gal who never could be true ; A modern Salome ; Her mind works vagrantly ; Jail school -- The girls of Murder City. The love-foiled girl ; It's terrible, but it's better ; What fooled everybody ; A modest little housewife ; Anne, you have killed me ; Beautiful, but not dumb! ; The tides of hell ; Hatproof, sexproof, and damp ; A grand and gorgeous show ; Entirely too vile ; The most monotonous city on earth The true story of the murderesses who became media sensations and inspired the musical Chicago 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.