An Unspeakable Crime: the Prosecution and Persecution of Leo Frank, Alphin
This was a great and very difficult read. The author lets you grow fond of a man who is railroaded into prison because he’s the sort of person that people blame for the difficulties after reconstruction. The cruelty and callous manipulation of hate and fear to advance political careers is hard to accept. I find myself thinking of this story a lot. This is what injustice looks like, and I don’t think it would be easy for any one person (or even any one group) to stop, at the time or now. Five stars.
Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse Vol. 1 Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer, Templesmith
Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse Vol. 2 It Only Hurts When I Pee, Templesmith
A wonderful dark and funny detective/adventure story featuring a demon in the form of a maggot that animates a corpse to become more mobile and have more fun. Supernatural creatures are foiled with the assistance of his clockwork friend and newly-hired lady bodyguard with supernatural tattoos. Quite enjoyable story, characters, and the art is utterly glorious. Four stars.
The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare: a Tale of Forgery and Folly, Stewart
So much information from the time was used by the author to construct the story of a forger in the 1700s that the story felt quite contemporary in the level of detail in the interactions between the various people. It paired very well with the crime writing anthology from last month. Three stars.