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

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

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65  ·  rating details  ·  494 ratings  ·  75 reviews
From renowned true-crime historian Harold Schechter, whom The Boston Book Review hails as “America’s principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers,” comes the riveting exploration of a notorious, sensational New York City murder in the 1890s, the fascinating forensic science of an earlier age, and the explosively dramatic trial that became a tabloid sensation a...more
Hardcover, 494 pages
Published October 16th 2007 by Ballantine Books
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Caroline
This is quite a lengthy book, which is eminently appropriate since the case related within at the time set a record for the longest trial in American history. From the date of the murders which set things in motion to the final result, it dragged on for over four years, through a coroner's hearing, an incredibly long and expensive trial, appeals, another trial. It makes the book somewhat hard-going, as the endless legal wrangling is somewhat tedious, but since it's in keeping with the events rel...more
Lori Summers
It is sometimes interesting to read two similar books at one time. I’ve been doing that for a week or so, although the other book is my lunchtime reading so I’m making far slower progress on it. Both are true-crime books about murders that took place in the last few years of the 19th century. This one is about Roland Molineux, who lent his name to an often-cited legal statute familiar to viewers of Law & Order (it has to do with the inadmissability of prior bad acts that aren’t part of the i...more
Jeb
The story is interesting. But, the writing is only average. In fact, this author commits what I think is the worst prose crime you can commit (other than removing all of the "e"s from your words). He ends many of his short chapters with plot forward movement sentences like "and she didn't know how important this fact would be." Or, "and, unknown to him, this would be a prescient statement." I just can't stand it when an author writes that way.

This is a court case story. Maybe there isn't more re...more
Ashley
This is my second dabble into true crime (the first was The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America). I liked The Devil's Gentleman much better, though I wasn't sure it should get another whole star (why aren't there half-stars?). It doesn't suffer from the problems of White City simply because Schechter only deals with one guy. However, he spends an awful lot of space on tangents (details of Gen. Molineaux's childhood and military career, history of...more
Anne Hawn Smith
This was the story of Roland Molineaux, a poisoner from the turn of the 20th century. He was the son of a famous and beloved General of the Civil War. He was accused of poisoning a rival for his intended wife and a man from his health club whom he had taken a severe dislike to. While the case added up, the motive seemed extreme for a gentleman of his class. The story was very interesting, especially as it was something of a "bad seed" affair. This is also another "Lizzy Borden" case in which the...more
James Cooper
**Publication Notes**
p. 332 in the 2nd paragraph the word import should be impact.
p. 361 in the 5th paragraph by & by
President McKinley's last words before he died show his loyalty to his faith. I found his words interesting because of all the possible things he could have said, he chose his faith to reflect on.

Maybe I completely lost track of events in the book, but at the end of the day Roland Molineux was vindicated of murder and got away with it all. Yes, he got away with it, but lea...more
Karen
This book is about a court case, that if were to happen now, would be on Headline News all the time, as so many other current 'trials of the century' are. This was a case which had its lurid points, and at the turn of the century when this took place, the rival newspaper organizations would send their reporters out alongside the detectives to find out information about the case. In this case, a young adult son (Roland Molineux) of a famous Civil War General who fancied himself as quite a ladies...more
Rebecca
I stumbled across this volume in a used book store, and, intrigued by the title, picked it up. (See? Sometimes you CAN judge a book by its cover, or at least by its title!) From the second I cracked the front cover, I was in love, and I plowed through it every chance I got. The only time I paused was to think "How have I never read about this before?", which, given how this set precedent for law, procedure, and the "trial of the century" escapades we've been subjected to ever since, is a valid q...more
Ron Chicaferro
Once and a while you get to read a true masterpiece - well, wait no longer; this is it! Harold Schechter has expertly researched and written about a true-life murder case that occurred around 1900 in New York City. Truth really is stranger then fiction. You'll meet all the participants in the original case; the suspects, their spouses and the legal teams - even a few of the jury members. Not to be outdone are the two principal news sources - the 'yellow' press of New York City. What an amazing t...more
Eddy Allen
From renowned true-crime historian Harold Schechter, whom The Boston Book Review hails as “America’s principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers,” comes the riveting exploration of a notorious, sensational New York City murder in the 1890s, the fascinating forensic science of an earlier age, and the explosively dramatic trial that became a tabloid sensation at the turn of the century.

Death was by poison and came in the mail: A package of Bromo Seltzer had been anonymously sent to H...more
Kristen
This was a surprisingly entertaining and engaging read, considering it is the account of a poison case and trial at the turn of the 19th century, and a sizable account of these crimes, at that. However, Schechter's writing is clear and the organization of the trial and the wave of media coverage it received was done incredibly by Schechter.

Like most readers, my attention wanders quickly without engaging people at the centre of the story. Even though these were real people, and not characters, S...more
Jennifer
***WARNING*** This review contains MANY SPOILERS!

I hesitate to call a book about murder by poison enjoyable, but this book really was. It read like a novel, and had so many twists that I really wasn't quite sure where we were going to end up.

There weren't a lot of likable personalities in this book, which one would expect, being a book about murder. The General was very likable, if a bit naive in his unfailing trust of his son. For me, the most unlikeable personality was Roland's wife, Blanche....more
Brett Devall
May 06, 2011 Brett Devall rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone
Covering the trial of Roland Molineaux, this was a great look at the criminal courts and shoddy medical practices of the late 18/early 1900's. Filled with a plethora of interesting facts, this book created a literal window into the world of the time period...which was fitting, seeing as it was assigned in an American History class. You see how amazingly different and illogical the court proceedings of the time were, how anybody with a persuasive voice and a bottle of tonic could be considered a...more
Cynthia
Feb 16, 2008 Cynthia rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of Caleb Carr and The Devil in the White City
Fantastic book!!! I highly recommend it. The story is fascinating and the author brings it to life with amazing skill. He's like steven spielberg, in complete control of your emotions at every step of the way — and he does it so well that you don't even mind.
It's a literally "incredible" story, with so many twists and turns and odd coincidences, truly one of those stories that, if you tried to make it up, no one would believe you. The ending is a surprise, too, an added bonus; you never feel li...more
Dianne
Since I like this kind of book, I'm probably too biased to be objective. I found this to be a quick, enjoyable read, filled with interesting facts. The only part that dragged on a bit was Roland's first trial, but that only added to the author's point that that trial seemed to go on forever. No one came off as likable; other than the general, there really were no wholly "good" characters. But then, isn't that what the real world and real people are like? Looking forward to reading more of Schect...more
Jill
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Becky
I really enjoyed this book. If you liked Devil in the White City, this is a similar account of true crime at the turn of the 20th century.

The Devil's Gentleman describes the events that lead up to the crime, through the trial of Roland Molineux. The book touches on legal precedent, yellow journalism, the popularity of patent medicines, and Victorian social mores, giving the full background to the trial and the crime.

A quick, easy read.
Rachel Pollock
Interesting enough, i guess, but much of this book droned on. Odd to find a scandalous murder trial boring in places. At times the author relies so heavily on Blanche Chesebrough's unpublished memoir that i found myself thinking, why didn't he just annotate the memoir and publish THAT? The book felt somewhat phoned-in on the whole, and suffered perhaps more than it otherwise might by the fact that i'd just finished reading Paul Collins' Murder of the Century, which was a far superior book on a v...more
Matt
Really good book on a murder by poison case in the late 1800's. It is amazing what the Yellow press could get away with back in the day. Found myself liking the defendant, Molineaux, in the case because of his father who was an old Civil War General. I only gave this book four stars due to the brevity of the ending. I think the author could have gone into greater details during the retrial. The ending won't be what you expect.
Vicki
I love Harold Schechter, and this book is right up there with his others. This guy sure can write! I stayed up waayyy too late reading -- just had to finish it -- and now I'll be tired all day, but it was worth it. I loved all of the "fun" stuff about the journalism of the time, the behavior of the lawyers and the general public, etc. This book was like candy for me!
Christine
The trial of Roland Molineux in 1899/1900 was really a precursor to the sensationalistic crime obsession that would only continue to grow throughout the 20th and into the 21st century. In his way, Molineux was the Paris Hilton of his generation, famous for his upbringing of privilege and the fact that he didn't do too much with it (although to be fair, at least he maybe killed someone...Paris not so much). The look into the criminal proceedings at the turn of the last century is encouraging and...more
D. Ennis
An interesting and enjoyable read. Could be a little tighter but overall it was more or less a page turner. I like the way Schechter tied this early 20th century crime and trial into the beginning of the media/celebrity craze that would develop through the following 100 years and counting.
Tom
A good account of a famous trial I was not familiar with. Very interesting description of how the "yellow papers" began sensationalizing current events; it's easy to see how we progressed from those newspapers to the media circus that attends every major trial.
Meaghan
Meh. Much as I enjoyed finally seeing a Schechter book that was properly footnoted, this one just dragged on. And on. And on. Of course, Roland Molineaux's trial also dragged on. And on. And on. But that's no excuse. I kept slogging through the chapters hoping for something better, but the only time I felt any suspense was almost at the very end, when [SPOILER ALERT] Roland's conviction was overturned and he had the second trial and everything. [END SPOILER]

The author deserves kudos for painting...more
Ben
Overall, this book is pretty good. The author did a great job of researching and detailing the events that took place. My main gripe was the redundancy within the story lines. I think it could have been tightened a bit.
Tim Nordstrom
Fascinating book about a 19th century dandy who poisoned his rivals, one of the first 'tabloid' crimes, and the beginning of media sensationalism. Also a great read if you want to learn about the late 19th century.
Katrina
While, Schechter has a talent for writing and trying to keep the reader interested, the story just got too bogged down in detials. Schechter wrote about people in the trial and the life of Roland that just did not matter. Which bogged down the book and just didn't move. Interesting stuff though!
Bev Hankins
Better pacing would have helped this book immensely. But overall--very interesting and a good look at one of the early crime sensations of the 20th Century. Well-researched.
Dave
The back of the book brags that it's a true-crime novel that reads like fiction, and they're right. It just reads like mediocre fiction.
By the time I was 3/4 of the way through it I gave up and just started flipping through chapters, scanning for juicy bits.
Laura Chandler
I learned about the way of our country in the late 1800s. Very well written and documented. Interesting and tragic. Interesting how people are able to believe what they want to believe about someone, no matter what evidence indicates otherwise. I imagine we all do this to some degree.
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The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century (ebook)
The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century (Kindle Edition)
51490
Aka Jon A. Harrald (joint pseudonym with Jonna Gormley Semeiks)

Harold Schechter is a professor of American Literature and culture at Queens College, the City University of New York. Among his nonfiction works are the historical true-crime classics Fatal, Fiend,Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved. He also authors a critically acclaimed mystery series featuring Edgar Allan Poe, which includes The Hum Bu...more
More about Harold Schechter...
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho" The Serial Killer Files: The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World's Most Terrifying Murderers The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers Deranged Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-Of-The-Century Chicago

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