This is an auction for THE MAD SCULPTOR by Harold Schecter.

Subtitled "The Model, the Maniac, and the Murder Rocked America!"

"Lurid reporting of murders often “shook the nation” in post-Depression America. The tabloids sold well if they got the scoop, and if they invented much of it, few cared. The case of the Mad Sculptor was one in a string of “read-all-about-it” crimes, this one made more newsworthy because the primary victim, Veronica Gedeon, had modelled for true-crime pulps. So in addition to the details the newspapers whipped up, they also published photos of her posing, scantily clad, “a half-naked beauty in mortal distress”. The murderer, Robert Irwin, was a sculptor. Schechter adds another page-turner to his stable of atmospheric, highly readable true-crime works." - Booklist (US)

“Ambitious, bold, and evocative, Schechter’s storytelling grabs the reader in a similar manner to Capote’s 'In Cold Blood'.” - Publishers Weekly (US)

“Grisly. The novelist Raymond Chandler listed it as No. 3 on his list of the 10 greatest crimes of the 20th century.” - The New York Times

“This fascinating tale of a charismatic and savvy madman will thrill historical true crime fans.” - Library Journal (US)

Amazon.com review:

"THE MAD SCULPTOR is the story of the Easter Sunday 1937 murders - a case that sparked a nationwide manhunt and endures as one of the most engrossing American crime dramas of the 20th century. Harold Schechter's masterful prose evokes the faded glory of post-Depression New York and the madness of a brilliant mind turned against itself. It will keep you riveted until the last page."

See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Veronica_Gedeon

Large format (trade) paperback 2014.

352 pages + eight pages of photographs.

Very good/near new condition.

The cost of shipping is $8.95.

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect this book from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.