From Library Journal
Former Columbia law professor Cooper (Lost Love: A True Story of Passion, Murder and Justice in Old New York, LJ 8/93) re-creates a sensational but forgotten crime of the 1930s. Working from newspapers, archival records, and interviews, he reconstructs the story of three men in Philadelphia who convinced Italian immigrant wives to solve their domestic problems in drastic fashion. After taking out life insurance policies on their husbands, the women were provided with a special "white powder." The mystery powder turned out to be arsenic or antimony, and the ringleaders, two cousins named Herman and Paul Petrillo and their partner Morris Bolber (a.k.a. Louie the Rabbi), received a healthy cut of the insurance. Cooper focuses on the two attorneys who rose to fame during the trials: Vincent McDevitt, an up-and-coming assistant district attorney, and Raymond Pace Alexander, the first black lawyer to defend a white client successfully. Their stories are as remarkable as the crime itself. Recommended for large true crime collections. [Cooper is the husband of novelist Judy Blume.AEd.]AMichael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, N.
-AMichael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-AMichael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The narrative flair that Cooper demonstrated in his first book, Lost Love: A True Story of Passion, Murder, and Justice, New York 1869 (1993), deserts him in this tale, which delivers less sting than its title promises. He still retains, though, a gift for re-creating a moment in history, in this case, the South Side of Philadelphia in the 1930s and '40s, with its immigrant population. The story involves arsenic, insurance scams, shady characters, and other deliciously lurid details, but Cooper, a former Columbia University law professor, falls flat in his attempt to bring the tale to life. The main characters are Morris Bolber, a.k.a. Louie the Rabbi, and Paul and Herman Petrillo, all of whom connive to convince certain immigrant wives (some unsuspecting, others not) to take out insurance policies on their husbands. The plotters then ``send them to California,'' a euphemism for killing them, after which the widows, and Louie the Rabbi and gang, collect on the insurance policies. All told, 30 defendants were tried, many of them ultimately sent to jail or executed for their part in the Great Arsenic Murder Ring. Cooper is at his best evoking immigrant life in 1930s and '40s Philadelphia, in particular the role of superstition and witchcraft in many of these people's lives. The author's research is impressive as well. In addition to reading contemporary newspaper accounts and court transcripts, Cooper also talked to the sons of Stella Alfonsi, one of the women tried but ultimately acquitted for poisoning her husband. Fine as a record of a historical moment, but a definite step down from the terrific story told in, say, Arsenic and Old Lace. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
