Queen of Thieves, by J. North Conway (2014)
Queen of Thieves is ostensibly the story of Fredericka
“Marm” Mandelbaum, a German-Jewish immigrant who became one of the most
notorious fences in organized crime during New York’s Gilded Age. The book spends a lot of time discussing the
politically corrupt environment of New York City during the latter part of the
1800s.
Fredericka and her husband, Wolf, immigrated to America in
the 1850s. Like many other immigrants,
they became peddlers. Fredericka soon
learned, however, that it was far more lucrative to peddle in stolen
goods. Bribes went a long way in her new
profession. For over twenty-five years,
she was the reigning “Queen” of fencing stolen property. She ruled over a network of gangs who aided
in the illicit business. In the process,
she became incredibly wealthy. By 1880,
she had a personal wealth of over $1M.
Her empire came to an end when she was arrested by a
Pinkerton detective. The ensuing court
battle was more of a fight between the court system and the police department,
however, with each side accusing the other of corruption. Ultimately, Fredericka made her escape and
fled to Canada, which at the time had no extradition agreement with the United
States. She lived quietly in Canada
until her death. Her body was returned
to New York where she is buried. People
flocked to her funeral. In keeping with
the nature of her work, many people who attended her funeral found their pockets
were picked!
The book was interesting.
The best parts were the chapters describing the court scenes of her
trial with the arguments between her attorneys and the judge.
Read: March 23, 2018
3.5 Stars
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