The tragic, unsolved, 1931 Starr Faithful murder mystery, dissected under a microscope with meticulous research and a credible conclusion—though it’s fairly painful to get there! This “thriller” is written in anglophilic English (hat = bonnet, etc.), and full of mind-numbing detail, much with no apparent connection to the case. Woven in between is a fairly interesting mystery, featuring Starr’s sordid, clandestine love affairs (one with a former Boston mayor), her unconventional sex life and misuse of drugs and bootleg alcohol, and details of her stepfather’s unsavory business ventures, including his involvement in a murder investigation. Mindful of the still-unanswered question of whether her death resulted from an accident, suicide or murder, the author tries to demystify this enigmatic case. CF

Publisher: Kent State University
Paperback: 311 pages
Illustrated