Saturday Reads

I'm on a Victorian/1920s theme between this blog and the Bridgette ní Brian site. If you're interested in learning about the unusual Victorian woman, click here to link to today's book review, Wild Women.

Here in Buffalo it is currently cold. We're expecting to be in the mid-thirties today which will feel like a heat wave. Since the temperatures have run close to twenty degrees below normal, all of Western New York has had to bundle up and stay inside. I have the perfect book for you to read - well, perfect if you like murder, mayhem, mob and money.

Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters by Michael F. Rizzo tells the stories of Buffalo criminal underworld. It is a collection of stories that focus on organized crime and the small time gangs that robbed Buffalo.

I picked the book up from the library to research for one of my current series which takes place in 1920s Buffalo. The first murder the main characters investigate is connected to the mob in Buffalo.

I found the book and easy and enjoyable read. There are plenty of photographs to give you a sense of what the city looked like at the time. For me, the only element I didn't like was the fact that most of the books focused on the time period between 1930 and 1960. Still, I found even those stories entertaining, and helpful as I develop storylines for characters.