The Murder of the Century

The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars

By: Paul Collins

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In Long Island, a farmer found a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discovered a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumbled upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime were turning up all over New York, but the police were baffled: There were no witnesses, no motives, no suspects.

The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives headlong into the era's most perplexing murder. Seized upon by battling media moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the case became a publicity circus. Re-creations of the murder were staged in Times Square, armed reporters lurked in the streets of Hell's Kitchen in pursuit of suspects, and an unlikely trio - an anxious cop, a cub reporter, and an eccentric professor - all raced to solve the crime. What emerged was a sensational love triangle and an even more sensational trial: an unprecedented capital case hinging on circumstantial evidence around a victim that the police couldn't identify with certainty - and that the defense claimed wasn't even dead.

The Murder of the Century is a rollicking tale - a rich evocation of America during the Gilded Age and a colorful re-creation of the tabloid wars that have dominated media to this day.

©2011 Paul Collins (P)2011 AudioGo

Critic reviews

“Wonderfully rich in period detail, salacious facts about the case and infectious wonder at the chutzpah and inventiveness displayed by Pulitzer’s and Hearst’s minions. Both a gripping true-crime narrative and an astonishing portrait of fin de siecle yellow journalism.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

"A dismembered corpse and rival newspapers squabbling for headlines fuel Collins’s intriguing look at the birth of 'yellow journalism' in late 19th-century New York. [A]n in-depth account of the exponential growth of lurid news and the public’s (continuing) insatiable appetite for it." ( Publishers Weekly)

Read The Cliffnotes instead.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anyone who is interested in listening to true crime novels will enjoy this story, just an abridged version.

Would you ever listen to anything by Paul Collins again?

Ill give another one a try, this story was just a tad thin.

What aspect of William Dufris’s performance would you have changed?

I prefer someone who just reads in one voice. Some of his voices just sound dumb.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The crime was macabre.

Any additional comments?

This story could have been told in half the time. If I hear the name Guldensuppe one more time, Ill snap.

This was interesting.

What did you like best about The Murder of the Century? What did you like least?

The history was what I liked best. It was a little slow moving.

If you’ve listened to books by Paul Collins before, how does this one compare?

I don't think that I have listened to other book by Paul Collins.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

It was a good performance.

Do you think The Murder of the Century needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

This was interesting. It was about the murder and about the tabloid wars that this murder started. Very interesting times for sure.

A murder long Ago not forgotten

What did you love best about The Murder of the Century?

All the details and backgound in a relatively quick read

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

How time has changed things but things are pretty much the same

Have you listened to any of William Dufris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Did a great job

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The things the media did not report and the things they did

Any additional comments?

I like how they followed the lifes of the people after the trial

Loved it

Didn't know what to expect. I had been looking for a book to spark my interest in audio again, and this was it. Very tight writing. Intriguing story intermingled with a background of newspaper rivalries. Narration was perfect.

Great Crime Story

What did you love best about The Murder of the Century?

Being a history buff I was fascinated to listen to a story about how life was back at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th. I really enjoyed learning about how police work, and court proceedings how they differ (and for that matter how they led to today's forensic evidence handling) today.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Murder of the Century?

The description of the execution proceeding and it's aftermath.

Which scene was your favorite?

The description of the trial proceeding and how well it was arranged and conducted.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, but it was fascinating.

Messy Murder

I say messy because of their rookie mistakes so to speak.
I really liked this book. It's based on a 19th century NYC crime that no Chicagoan I know ever heard of. The author really gives a good foundation on the mindset of the era. Wow, what the press got away with and what cops did & didn't do really catches your attention. The best part is the role this case had in the creation of today's tabloid news & paparazzo. Great epilogue rounds out what happened to all the players even the newspapers in the aftermath & into the 20th century. First time I've heard the narrator, haven't decided about him yet.

No lines between Press and Police

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Interesting story of a real murder at the turn of the century. Shows how the newspapers of the day were given direct access to information, and sometimes impacted the case.Good book - but I have one big criticism. The narrator has an odd way of swallowing some of his constants, particularly "f" and "th" sounds. I don't know if this is an intentional technique - but after a while it was distracting.

Would you be willing to try another book from Paul Collins? Why or why not?

Sure

How could the performance have been better?

I don't like the way the narrator speaks. He had an odd way of "swallowing" his "f"'s and "th" sounds.Stop trying do hard to sound professional. It would have been a more relaxed read if the narrator would just speak naturally - and less like a performance.

Was The Murder of the Century worth the listening time?

yes

Any additional comments?

I wish we would have heard more about how the Police worked at the time, and less about how the Press worked.

Murder of the Century a good listen.

If you could sum up The Murder of the Century in three words, what would they be?

Interesting, informative, funny.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hearst was my favorite character. He was creative and driven.

Have you listened to any of William Dufris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. NA

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was like watching a good movie.

Interesting

I didn't know what to expect from this book, but found it interesting. The narrator does a good job.

What Happened to Guldenzuppa?

Where does The Murder of the Century rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the top 5

What did you like best about this story?

A twist in the plot happened everytime I thought the plot was about to deadend.

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like?

His use of accents to bring alive the dialogue

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was shocked a couple of times, but I don't want to spoil the plot and tell you about it.

Any additional comments?

It has been one of my favorite audio listens this year. I couldn't stop listening.