July 2023 MBR The Criminology Shelf

The Criminology Shelf

In Search of the Blonde Tigress
Silvia Pettem, author
The Lyons Press
www.lyonspress.com
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
www.globepequot.com
9781493068630 $29.95 hc / $21.49 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Blonde-Tigress-Untold-Eleanor/dp/1493068636

Synopsis: Beginning in 1933, Eleanor Jarman was sensationalized by the press as the "blonde tigress" and "the most dangerous woman alive." But a closer look at her life shows that she was an otherwise ordinary woman who got caught up in a Chicago crime spree, then was convicted as an accomplice to murder and sent to prison. In 1940, Eleanor escaped and managed to live out her life as, perhaps, America's longest-running female fugitive.

Following the murder of an elderly shopkeeper, with the publication of "In Search of the Blonde Tigress: The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman" by Silvia Pettem readers are given a front-row seat for Eleanor's arrest, trial, conviction, and sentencing (all documented with recently unearthed primary-source police records, court transcripts, and prison files) and her subsequent prison years.

Deftly woven in are comparisons and contrasts between Eleanor's and her escape partner's criminal histories, as well as speculation on their lives on the lam. Whether Eleanor deserved her sentence, or whether it was too harsh, is left for the reader to decide.

"In Search of the Blonde Tigress: The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman" sets the mystery and intrigue of this wanted woman into historic context. It also includes her family's plea, in 1993, for Eleanor to come forward and apply for clemency. Most revealing at the time was Eleanor's alias. With that information (and considering that Eleanor, born in 1901, is most certainly now deceased), biographer Silvia Pettem documents her search for Eleanor's remains -- right up to a visit to her likely grave.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, compelling, and combining biography and prison reform in the 1930s with modern-day evidence that has helped to unravel a long-standing mystery, "In Search of the Blonde Tigress: The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman" will have immense appeal to readers with an interest in criminology and true crime. While an unreservedly recommended pick for community and academic library American Biography collections, it should be noted personal reading lists that "In Search of the Blonde Tigress: The Untold Story of Eleanor Jarman" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $21.49).

Editorial Note: Silvia Pettem (silviapettem.com) is a Colorado-based historical researcher, writer, and author. After local history research led her to the identification of a decades-old murder victim, Pettem switched from writing about history to the genre of true crime. Pettem's other books that relate to cold case investigations include Someone's Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe (2009); Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases (2013); The Long Term Missing: Hope and Help for Families (2017); and Cold Case Chronicles: Mysteries, Murders, and the Missing (2021).

Bloody Savannah
Derek Smith
Exposit Books
c/o McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476691831, $25.00, PB, 249pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Savannah-Citys-Violent-Reporter/dp/1476691835

Synopsis: Savannah, Georgia is one of America's most beautiful and historic cities. Yet underneath the mint juleps, oaks bearded with Spanish moss and the splendor of colonial architecture, there lurks a deadly undercurrent.

With the publication of "Bloody Savannah: The City's Most Violent Era as Seen by a Crime Reporter", Derek Smith offers a first-person account of his career as an award-winning newspaper crime reporter who covered scores of murders in the Savannah area, including one of the bloodiest eras in the city's history: in 1985, metro Savannah earned notoriety with the nation's highest homicide rate.

"Bloody Savannah" describes a wide range of crimes, including murders over a 14-year-old lover, $4 for hamburgers or a baby carriage; the grisly murder of a voodoo priest; bound corpses in the waterways and interstate body dumping grounds; the Scarecrow and "Say Cheese" Killers, serial killer Wade Sheffield; and many more.

Critique: With a special appeal to readers with an interest in True Crime histories, "Bloody Savannah: The City's Most Violent Era as Seen by a Crime Reporter" is informatively enhanced with the inclusion of a four page Introduction, a Prelude (Beginnings), an Epilogue, six pages of Chapter Notes, and a ten page Index. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Bloody Savannah" is an extraordinary history of an extraordinary American city and highly recommended for personnel, community, and academic library True Crime collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Bloody Savannah" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Derek Smith (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08XS9T3JV/about) was a crime reporter in Savannah, Georgia, for almost ten years and has written extensively on the Civil War. He lives in Bishopville, South Carolina.

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