The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
The riveting story of how the murder of prostitute Vivian Gordon brought about the downfall of the mayor of New York City and an end to the dominance of Tammany Hall.

“Propulsive. . . . Unlike the sensationalist reporters of the era, Wolraich manages to handle even the seediest of underworlds with reportorial spareness and elegance, treating his material more as a nonfiction political thriller than a true-crime whodunit. . . . The Gordon murder and Seabury hearings might have long since faded from public memory, but their prism into corruption and ruthless opportunism remains ever relevant.”—New York Times

Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names—businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else: a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by the imperious Judge Samuel Seabury, the commission had uncovered a police conspiracy to frame women as prostitutes. Had Vivian Gordon been executed to bury her secrets? As FDR pressed the police to solve her murder, Judge Seabury pursued the trail of corruption to the top of Gotham’s powerful political machine—the infamous Tammany Hall.
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The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
The riveting story of how the murder of prostitute Vivian Gordon brought about the downfall of the mayor of New York City and an end to the dominance of Tammany Hall.

“Propulsive. . . . Unlike the sensationalist reporters of the era, Wolraich manages to handle even the seediest of underworlds with reportorial spareness and elegance, treating his material more as a nonfiction political thriller than a true-crime whodunit. . . . The Gordon murder and Seabury hearings might have long since faded from public memory, but their prism into corruption and ruthless opportunism remains ever relevant.”—New York Times

Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names—businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else: a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by the imperious Judge Samuel Seabury, the commission had uncovered a police conspiracy to frame women as prostitutes. Had Vivian Gordon been executed to bury her secrets? As FDR pressed the police to solve her murder, Judge Seabury pursued the trail of corruption to the top of Gotham’s powerful political machine—the infamous Tammany Hall.
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The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

by Michael Wolraich
The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

by Michael Wolraich

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Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A scandalous look at police corruption in the 1930s, The Bishop and the Butterfly is a true crime delight that will resonate with modern societal themes as well as give you an enticing window into the little-known story of a classic femme fatale. Perfect for fans of Erik Larsen, this is nonfiction that sizzles.

The riveting story of how the murder of prostitute Vivian Gordon brought about the downfall of the mayor of New York City and an end to the dominance of Tammany Hall.

“Propulsive. . . . Unlike the sensationalist reporters of the era, Wolraich manages to handle even the seediest of underworlds with reportorial spareness and elegance, treating his material more as a nonfiction political thriller than a true-crime whodunit. . . . The Gordon murder and Seabury hearings might have long since faded from public memory, but their prism into corruption and ruthless opportunism remains ever relevant.”—New York Times

Vivian Gordon went out before midnight in a velvet dress and mink coat. Her body turned up the next morning in a desolate Bronx park, a dirty clothesline wrapped around her neck. At her stylish Manhattan apartment, detectives discovered notebooks full of names—businessmen, socialites, gangsters. And something else: a letter from an anti-corruption commission established by Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Led by the imperious Judge Samuel Seabury, the commission had uncovered a police conspiracy to frame women as prostitutes. Had Vivian Gordon been executed to bury her secrets? As FDR pressed the police to solve her murder, Judge Seabury pursued the trail of corruption to the top of Gotham’s powerful political machine—the infamous Tammany Hall.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781454956921
Publisher: Union Square & Co.
Publication date: 02/04/2025
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 435,881
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Michael Wolraich is the author of the critically acclaimed Unreasonable Men (2014) and Blowing Smoke (2010). His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, the Daily Beast, New York magazine, Reuters, and CNN, and he is the founder and editor of dagblog.com. Wolraich grew up in Iowa and graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts before falling in love with New York City, where he has lived since 2000.
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