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)

true to the age

What made the experience of listening to The Murder of the Century the most enjoyable?

the newspaper angle and how tabloids got started

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like?

engaging and good performance

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

long but excellent

Any additional comments?

iloved the deatails of police work in late 18s00

Not very interesting

This book centered on solving a crime. Part of a body washed up on shore, and the police had to figure out the victim's identity and nab the perp. The competition among the NY newspapers at this time was intense, and Pulitzer and Hearst tried to out-sensationalize each other's papers.

This sounds really interesting, right? But it wasn't. The investigation itself wasn't exciting, and the people involved were not complex or fascinating.

The criminals in this book were German immigrants, so an important factor in the performance was the reader's ability to nail a German accent. He was way off. He improved as he went along, but it was never consistent or convincing.

With so many good books out there, I wouldn't opt for this one.

Should have been shorter

This was not a bad book, but not a great book either. It tells the story of a fascinating murder case and of the era of yellow journalism wars. That part of the book was quite interesting although I do feel that there was miscarriage of justice as Augusta Nack should have been executed also.

The most interesting bits of the story are the search for the identify of the victim once various body parts come to the surface and then the trial. The running back and forth and the dirty tricks of the various reporters and the papers were fascinating, but in part went on too long and too much was made of a lot of events.

The incompetence of the prosecutor was astonishing. He went on to prosecute someone where if he had revealed all the evidence he would have lost. Also it shows the sloppy forensic work of the time and how little forensics actually played in the case, although if a full discussion of the wounds on the body had come out in court, Mrs. Nack would have been found guilty. The fact that the prosecutor cut a deal with her so he could get at least one conviction shows the low quality of courts at the time especially in a major case.

The narrator was rather a monotone, although in the part of the trial the narrator was excellent in portraying the defense attorny Howe, who was the leading defense attorney of the time. I found it hard to believe that he lost the case. However, Victorian sensibilities played a role here -- and it is noteworthy that women were excluded from the court after a discussion of how the identification was made, despite the lack of a head.

However, large sections of the books simply go on too long. The whole ending of book was dragged out to the point I stopped listening to it. The writing was on the whole a bit too wordy and an editor should have cut it down in length. There was a lot of unnecessary detail which was dragged out beyond their merit.

Graphic details

Endless details and descriptions turn this novel into a word picture book. The reader sees, imagines and even smells the action and squables. The newspapers part in the drama is interesting and perhaps something that all these years later would be overlooked. I am not sure I needed this much information about this henious crime but I did enjoy being transported into the tabloid wars.

Couldn't stop listening

What a story! Learned more New York history and was riveted by the events of the crime. Loved how it was all tied up at the end with what happened to all the persons involved. Highly recommend.

A specific time gives insight into today

Fascinating how much of the news cycle of today draws it roots from events of the past.

TMZ has nothing on these cats

Any additional comments?

Story: I really enjoyed this tidbit of media history. Growing up in an era that idolizes reality tv stars, looks to perez hilton as a sooth sayer, instant everything via the internet, and gives more credit to people who are interested in being famous than being interesting/talented/smart....etc... its a phenomenon i consider very new, and part of the identity of this generation. murder of the century makes a point to do away with that notion. that the frustrations i have with the media now, have been there for over a century. some of the most interesting and vivid moments were in the conflict between hearst and pulitzer, as well as the moments of "normal" life.
Narrator: i'm not desperate to hear Dufris' voice again, it's not stuck in my head the way other narrators have been. but the pace moved smoothly enough and i didn't get that annoying "girl" or "child" voice that some narrators are prone to use. however i do feel that it could have been more dynamic.

Fun story really got to know the people

Very descriptive, good mix of business and murder. I have this picture of a torso stuck in my mind.

Very Interesting perspective.

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

I liked the fast pace and the descriptions of the New York that was.

If you could give The Murder of the Century a new subtitle, what would it be?

Read all about it!

How Did I Not Know About This?????

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

fascinating authentic evocative

What other book might you compare The Murder of the Century to and why?

It has been some time since I read Caleb Carr's books about this same period, but they immediately come to mind.

What about William Dufris’s performance did you like?

The narrator was able to step into the various voices without sounding like a one-man theatre troupe.

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

It would have been nice!

Any additional comments?

I was fascinated to learn about these events--thought I knew a fair amount about the period. The evocation of the newspaper wars is entertaining, and the facts of the crime are presented in an almost cinematic fashion.