The Enigma Woman The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison |
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| Author:
| Cairns, Kathleen A. |
| Series title: | Women in the West Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8032-0692-2 |
| Publication Date: | May 2007 |
| Publisher: | University of Nebraska Press
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| Book Format: | Digital (delivered electronically) |
| List Price: | USD $16.95 |
Book Description:
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"Crack shot." "Enigma woman." "Good with ponies and pistols." "A much-married woman." What if such an unconventional woman--and the press unanimously agreed that Nellie May Madison was indeed unconventional--were to get away with murder? Shortly after her husband's bullet-riddled body was found in the couple's Burbank apartment, police issued an all-points bulletin for the "beautiful, dark-haired widow." The ensuing drama unfolded with all the twists and turns of...
More Description"Crack shot." "Enigma woman." "Good with ponies and pistols." "A much-married woman."
What if such an unconventional woman--and the press unanimously agreed that Nellie May Madison was indeed unconventional--were to get away with murder? Shortly after her husband's bullet-riddled body was found in the couple's Burbank apartment, police issued an all-points bulletin for the "beautiful, dark-haired widow." The ensuing drama unfolded with all the twists and turns of a noir crime novel.
In this intriguing cultural history, Kathleen A. Cairns tells the tale of Nellie May Madison, the first woman on Death Row in California. Her story offers a glimpse into law and disorder in 1930s Los Angeles while bringing to life a remarkable character whose plight reflects on the status of women, the workings of the media and the judiciary system, and the stratification of society in her time. Cairns's re-creation of the case from murder to trial to aftermath also casts an eye forward to our own love-hate affair with celebrity crimes and our abiding ambivalence about domestic violence as a defense for murder.