Inspector Oldfield and the Black Hand Society: America's Original Gangsters and the U.S. Postal Detective Who Brought Them to Justice (Hardcover)

I am in the midst of the 2019 reading challenge.  This is my second challenge year and I am 4 books behind schedule.  Yikes!  To make a framework for the books I would read, I established a reading protocol early in the year to make book selection easy and organized.  Each book chosen for this challenge must fall into one of the following categories:

     1. Authors recommended by other readers (author must be new to me)
     2. Any recommendations by my fellow readers of our online mystery reading group established in 1993 on Prodigy
    3. The next book in a series I have been reading
    4. The next book in a series I have abandoned (in an attempt to revive my interest)
    5. A book that references a historic event or period that is not in my lifetime  
    6. A book that references any historic event or a biography of a famous person who lived in my lifetime.  
    7. New mystery author with setting in USA.
    8. New mystery author with setting in western Europe.  

This novel satisfies Protocol #5

_____________________________________________

So--here is my review of a true crime, turn of the century story about life in America in the early days of the postal service.  I chose this book as my grandparents were young adults at the same time as the characters in this book .  I was curious to read about my grandparents' young adulthood and  American life.  

Also, I am not Italian so  I never  knew how the Mafia made their money.  But now I know.  And if you ever wondered how the postal routes were laid out as the country grew and took on new states and new migrations of Americans moving west, it is all in this book. 

This book is written by William Oldfield, (great grandson of Frank Oldfield) and Victoria Bruce, a journalist and historian.  Together they have delivered a cohesive story about Mafia's use of the postal service to execute their criminal activity.  The Mafia was using the Postal Service to extort money by mailing "pay up or die" letters to Italian immigrants.   William's great grandfather, Postal Service Investigator Frank Oldfield led the investigation and the take down of this Mafia ring.  It took years to bust this Mafia ring, but the effort resulted in the first international organized crime conviction in America.  The story flows smoothly from Investigator Oldfield's suspicions to discovery, to indictment, conviction and punishment of the Mafia's Black Hand Society, surprisingly to me, based in Columbus, Ohio.    I live in the NYC area and was sure it would be Brooklyn.  The investigative methods that Frank Oldfield used to break this case were fascinating.  Not so sure that any of them would work today.

This is not a spoiler:  The good guys always win, but this time, it was not so easy!!

So what happened to Frank Oldfield after the resolution of this investigation?  You will be surprised.  At minimum, he should have been awarded the "Stamp of Excellence".   But not so.  For years the story of Frank Oldfield's investigative work was kept hidden, unmentioned in  the postal service history and unknown to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.   It seems that for a century, Frank Oldfield's story was only known in the family stories shared during family events and holidays.  

When William Oldfield became the heir apparent to the investigation records and collateral preserved by his great grandfather...he authored this Frank Oldfield story and it came to life again. 

This book was a pleasure to read and obviously an effort devoted to family pride.

Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey. Outrageous fun chasing criminals and money.

This is book #30 of my 2018 Reading Challenge sponsored by Goodreads.com.  I pledged to read 40 books.  To make a framework for the books I would read, I established a reading protocol early in the year to make book selection easy and organized.  Each book chosen for this challenge must fall into one of the following categories:

     1. Authors recommended by other readers (author must be new to me)
     2. Any recommendations by my fellow readers of our online mystery reading group established in 1993 on Prodigy
    3. The next book in a series I have been reading
    4. The next book in a series I have abandoned (in an attempt to revive my interest)
    5. A book that references a historic event or period that is not in my lifetime
    6. A book that references any historic event or biographs a famous person who lived in my lifetime.
    7. New mystery author with setting in USA.
    8. New mystery author with setting in western Europe.  

This novel satisfies Protocol #3.

This is the second book I have read in the Florida series written by Tim Dorsey.  Tim is a great ambassador for Florida and reading his books is like a non-stop vacation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.     Florida Roadkill is the first book in this Florida criminal chaos series.

In case you have never been to Florida lets get acquainted:
--Nickname:  Sunshine State
--Capital:  Tallahassee
--Statehood:  27th state added to the union (1845)
--Famous for the Florida Keys—a few are well known but there are actually 1,700 islands making up the Florida Keys and the  Keys are geographically the southernmost part of the United States
--Florida has the most toll roads and the most bridges of any other state
--Florida is the 8th most populated state in the union
--Top tourist attraction:  Disney World
__________________________________________


The story of Florida Roadkill involves three main characters: 
--Serge—who is expert on the history of Florida and an expert criminal
--Sharon—who showers attention on wealthy, old men, but they end up dead
--Coleman—a goofy guy, a slow thinking but lovable cartoon freak

What is a good criminal chase novel without big insurance money fraudulently acquired
--Insurance money
--Missing valise full of insurance money
--Uncertainty about just who has the valise
--Several dead people associated with the big money chase

No mention in this novel:
--Disney World—because chasing criminals and big insurance money is not a “happy place” to be
--Use of toll roads and only slight reference to the bridges—because that would slow down the action and no one in the story gets an “easy pass”.

Dorsey jumps into action from page one.  He sets the pace as fast and furious.  There is comedic happenings, non-stop chaos and downright violent murder, totally unlikable characters in search of the money.  The main characters as a team are likable and  good at wooing victims, making lucrative deals and then come the violent murders.

Here is what is interesting about this book and Dorsey’s style of storytelling.  It is exhausting in a captivating way that forces the reader to keep going.  There are so many characters introduced in the early chapters, it is a little hard to know what is really happening without continuing to read. In addition there are so many different modes of violent murders—imaginative and bizarre.  And the persuasive style of deal making leads to endless chase and folly until the very last page.

I read through this book, moving from each crazy, wild action scene to the next.  From the group of characters introduced in the beginning of the story, every wild action eliminated at least one. . .and then after moving the action through the busy cities the remaining characters end up in the Florida Keys. Whew, what a ride!

Then, suddenly, the story relaxes and the action slows and there was time spent at admiring the scenery.  It’s almost like a little reading relaxation break in the warm sun and sand.  The author shares some interesting facts about the Florida Keys:
--The Dry Tortugas—the middle of nowhere and half way to nowhere else
--Eyebrow houses
--Stock Island
--A little presidential history—Harry Truman’s presidential winter home
--The Bait House
--The Seven Mile Bridge
--Fort Jefferson—largest brick masonry structure in the Americas

But don't get too comfortable and cozy, this lovely tour through the Keys does not last long.  Back to action the denouement begins and the story comes to a crashing end.  Two innocent bystanders end up being the good guys that bring this story to an end but not without that final twist. 

So, what about the main characters introduced in the beginning of the novel:  Serge, Coleman and Sharon. . .
--Are they still a team at the end of the caper?
--What happened to the money?
--Who are the innocent bystander good guys?  And will we ever see them again?

You have to read all the way to the end to find out-and that won’t take long.  Remember, it’s all about the money.  If I had to put the money on it, I would bet that this is not the last Dorsey novel you will read.