Book cover of The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars

Book description

"No writer better articulates our interest in the confluence of hope, eccentricity, and the timelessness of the bold and strange than Paul Collins."--DAVE EGGERS
 
On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Murder of the Century as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In June of 1897, a group of New York children discovered a human torso, catapulting the city into a brutal mystery. Who was this man? And who killed him? I could not put this book down.

The central mystery kept me riveted, and the cold-blooded woman at the heart of it truly chilled me to my core. I also found my jaw on the floor reading about the antics of reporters for the warring New York Journal and New York World as they threw ethics out the window to get the best scoop.

If you love The Murder of the Century...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like The Murder of the Century?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 61 books like The Murder of the Century.

Browse books like The Murder of the Century

Book cover of The Trial of Lizzie Borden
Book cover of La Grande Therese: The Greatest Scandal of the Century
Book cover of The Witch of Lime Street: Seance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,343

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Murder of the Century, you might also like...

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

5 book lists we think you will like!