Posted by crazystengel on 4/11/2015 1:50:00 PM (view original):
The Mad Sculptor by Harold Schechter
A good non-fiction account of a 1930's murder that was a tabloid sensation at the time. Plenty of colorful characters and interesting period detail.
Schechter mentioned a 1967 novel that was based on this case,
Killing Time by Thomas Berger. I've always liked Berger (Little Big Man, Neighbors, Who is Teddy Villanova?, Being Invisible) but had never heard of this one, so I gave it a try. The writing's excellent, with plenty of humor and interesting characters. I'd recommend this even more highly than Schechter's book.