The Wife, the Maid and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon
Inspired
by a real-life unsolved mystery, Lawhon’s first novel is a fascinating look at
the politics and social milieu of the 1930’s.
Joseph
Force Crater, a 41-year-old New York City Supreme
Court justice, vanished while out on a night on the town in
August of 1930. No one was ever charged with any crime. His body
was never found.
Ariel Lawhon
has taken these facts and woven an intricate story of three women in his life. The
book begins with Crater’s wife Stella, tired of his affair with his mistress
Sally Lou Ritz, slamming the car door on his hand. The Judge leaves for New
York City to see his mistress and within a day has disappeared.
The Crater’s maid, Maria, is a very attractive Castillian. She is married to Jude Simon, the lead
detective assigned to investigate the disappearance of Judge Crater. The main
suspect, the infamous gangster Owney Madden, owns Club Abbey, and uses his
power to influence politics and politicians.
Lawhon intersperses the story of Stella, Sally Lou Ritz and
Maria to tell the story of how she imagines the judge disappeared. The reader
is left to conjecture who really was responsible and how and why they did
it. As a reader, I couldn’t wait for the
conclusion. Although I think the ending was a little less believable than I
would have liked, I really enjoyed each of the women’s stories and especially
enjoyed all the historical facts included in the book. The author is adept at
bringing you into the story and really feeling what it was like to live at that
time. Recommended!
