Kate L. (katethegreat) reviewed Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction & Betrayal on + 69 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Since it is written by a reporter it doesn't build up like a novel would. It also simply states the facts.
Mary S. (mscottcgp) -
Helpful Score: 2
If you enjoy historical true crime without a lot of gory details, you would enjoy this book. It's a fascinating look into a sensationalized murder and resulting trial in the beginning of the 20th century. For those who think political intrigue, celebrity worship and police corruption are recent phenomena, you only have to read this book to find that they are not.
Sandi K W. (Sandiinmississippi) reviewed Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction & Betrayal on + 265 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I agree with another reviewer who points out this book is really a condensation of newspaper articles & historical accounts of an interesting incident in the early 1900s. It isn't gripping or mysterious, but I found it a very good read. The research shows both sides of the story and there is enough information on the characters for the reader to get a good feel for what type of people they were. I just thought it was a good and factual book with a lot of interesting mood setting about the times. Particularly liked the way the writer used phrases from the language of the times in a natural way so that accounts taken from articles written in that time period didn't have a jarring change from his narrative. the pictures are also good quality and let us see how the individuals (an adventuresome, beautiful woman married to money; her moneyed & ambitious older husband; her show-off boyfriend who enjoyed his hobbies; and the obsessive and favor-currying 2nd boyfriend who viewed himself as her protector) fit into their social circle and the morals of the times. Unlike some who write this type book, the author added just enough historical and general info about the city of Denver to place the story, but didn't get overwhelmed and turn it into anything boring. He stayed focused on an age-old story or silly romance turning into tragedy.
jjares reviewed Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction & Betrayal on + 3414 more book reviews
Having read several books about the lawlessness of Denver during western times, I thought it might be interesting to read about the law and Denver in the early 1900s. Newspaperman Dick Kreck has written a true story about a beautiful woman who was married to a famous Denver politician but involved with two other men at the same time. Those two men got into arguments and finally to murder.
The story is readable but that's about all that can be said for it. The characters are one-dimensional and fairly uninteresting. Probably the most interesting thing about the novel is the end -- telling what happened to each of the main characters after the trials.
The story is readable but that's about all that can be said for it. The characters are one-dimensional and fairly uninteresting. Probably the most interesting thing about the novel is the end -- telling what happened to each of the main characters after the trials.
