THE TALENTED MRS. MANDELBAUM The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss

This relatively brief audiobook chronicles one of New York City's most colorful and flagrant criminals. German Jewish immigrant Fredericka Mandelbaum rose to shadowy eminence after the Civil War. Six feet tall, stout, and supremely wily, "Marm" Mandelbaum operated out of a store whose stock consisted mainly of stolen goods. Narrator Saskia Maarleveld keeps to a steady pace throughout a narrative that falls a little short on biographical information and fills in the gaps with background. The history of the Pinkerton agency, the evolution of modern crime-fighting methods, the rise of a leisure class in New York City are all fascinating but hardly fresh research. Maarleveld, happily, is a spirited narrator who holds the story together and keeps it moving, however wide its leaps. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]