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Benedict and Murray cowrote two historical/biographical novels—The Personal Librarian, about Belle da Costa Greene, J. Pierpont Morgan's curator, and First Ladies, featuring Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Their new collaboration dramatizes the 1930s and the lives of Manhattan madam Polly Adler and attorney Eunice Carter, then the only woman and possibly the only Black person in the New York U.S. Attorney's office. Eunice and Polly meet in the station house, where Polly is being held after being arrested for pandering. Eunice, a member of the special prosecutor's team on organized crime, has been assigned to question her regarding mob connections in sex work. As the interrogation proceeds, the women slowly gain each other's trust and realize their shared goal: building a case against mob boss Lucky Luciano and sending him to prison. Despite great risk to themselves and threats to Eunice's family and Polly's "ladies," the two women prove themselves to be two aces in a suspenseful and deadly game. VERDICT Readers of Benedict and Murray's first two collaborations may find their latest a bit of a shock after the worlds of the Morgan Library and civil rights, but the plot is engaging, the main characters are brave and relatable, and the pacing is brisk.—Marcia Welsh

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Benedict and Murray’s third collaboration, following The First Ladies (2023), provides yet another detailed and dazzling exploration of an unlikely alliance between two women often overlooked by history but whose contributions to real-life events were pivotal. Polly Adler’s brothel was the epitome of New York Jazz Age elegance, making her a prime target for organized crime’s extortion carried out by mob boss Lucky Luciano. Taking down the syndicate was the chief mission of Manhattan district attorney Thomas Dewey, but his attempts to arrest and charge Luciano proved fruitless until attorney Eunice Carter, the only female and only Black woman in his office, gained access to Adler’s world. Toggling between the alternating points of view of the madam and the prosecutor, the authors take readers deep into two very different realities. In one sphere lie the sexism and racism inherent in 1930s society in general and the legal profession in particular. In the other, readers learn of the humanity and risk involved in participating in the world’s oldest profession. What emerges are lively and lasting portraits of two heroic women.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Benedict and Murray's previous historical novels are major best-sellers and book group favorites, ensuring an eruption of requests for their latest.