The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century

by Harold Schechter

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384	12	70,810	(3.82)	2
True Crime. Nonfiction. The wayward son of a revered Civil War general, Roland Molineux enjoyed good looks, status, and fortune-hardly the qualities of a prime suspect in a series of shocking, merciless cyanide killings. Molineux's subsequent indictment for murder led to two explosive trials and a sex-infused scandal that shocked the nation. Bringing to life Manhattan's Gilded Age, Schechter captures all the colors of the tumultuous legal proceedings, gathering his own evidence and tackling subjects no one dared address at the time-all in hopes of answering a tantalizing question: What powerfully dark motives could drive the wealthy scion of an eminent New York family to murder?… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 12 (next | show all)

This is an enjoyable read. Will I remember it in a month? Probably not. But it was still good enough that I tore through it in less than 24 hours. It held my interest and had me unsure as to what would come next -- excellent traits in a crime tale. (

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SwitchKnitter | Dec 19, 2021 |

Comprehensive and well-researched. This story was perfectly readable, but I found it lost quite a bit of intrigue early on. Pretty much as soon as the murders were committed the suspense seemed to dissipate completely. (

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klnbennett | Oct 7, 2020 |

A little slow, but beautifully written, fascinating story. (

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TiffanyHow | Oct 3, 2017 |

Did not like this book as much as I did his other true crime books but still a good read nonetheless.

Did not realize that those yellow papers as they call it came from that time period and also did not know there was so much crime even back then.

There were so many interesting tidbits about crimes committed back in the days like the murderess Ruth Snyder and the famous photo of her in the electric chair.

The photo apparently was for 30 years the most infamous picture in the history of tabloid journalism.

A very interesting story about a man Roland Molineux and about his trial. Some of the things that were decided during this trial (or in the appeal) are still being used today.

a criminal case should be tried on the facts and not on the basis of a defendant's propensity to commit the crime charged. It is axiomatic that propensity evidence invites a jury to misfocus, if not base its verdict, on a defendant's prior crimes rather than on the evidence (or lack of evidence) relating to the case before it. We have repeated this theme throughout the last century

Marlene-NL | Mar 12, 2016 |

It was a definite page turner but the ending was a bit of a letdown. (

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AliceaP | Jan 20, 2016 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Harold Schechter	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Becker, Royce B.	Cover designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Daboll, Susan	Cover artist	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Turner, Susan	Designer	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2007 (copyright)

People/Characters

Edward Leslie Molineux

Roland Molineux

Blanche Molineux Scott, nee Chesebrough

Henry Barnet

Harry S. Cornish

(show all 6 items)

Important places

New York, New York, USA

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For Will and Mary Molineux

First words

At the start of the twentieth century, death by electricity was a relatively recent form of capital punishment. (Prologue)

On July 15, 1852, Edward Leslie Molineux--still three month shy of his nineteenth birthday--began what he called his "scrapbook." (Chapter 1)

Quotations

Last words

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Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Marrow, Linda

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

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Wikipedia in English (2)

George W. McClusky

People v. Molineux

▾Book descriptions

True Crime. Nonfiction. The wayward son of a revered Civil War general, Roland Molineux enjoyed good looks, status, and fortune-hardly the qualities of a prime suspect in a series of shocking, merciless cyanide killings. Molineux's subsequent indictment for murder led to two explosive trials and a sex-infused scandal that shocked the nation. Bringing to life Manhattan's Gilded Age, Schechter captures all the colors of the tumultuous legal proceedings, gathering his own evidence and tackling subjects no one dared address at the time-all in hopes of answering a tantalizing question: What powerfully dark motives could drive the wealthy scion of an eminent New York family to murder?

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Table of Contents
Prologue
Part I: The Soldier and the Clubman
Part II: Blanche
Part III: Degenerate
Part IV: Inquest
Part V: The People vs. Molineux
Part VI: The Man Inside
Part VII: Aftermath
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments

Haiku summary