Brooks on Books: Old-School true crime in New York and Los Angeles

Let me tell you how a certain true crime book begins, and you tell me if you want to read it or not:

Nearly 5 million men and women have served the United States as police officers. Only one has been executed for murder.

That's the start of the preface to "Satan's Circus" by Mike Dash, and while the book isn't quite as awesome as that intro leads you to believe it will be, it's still a fun ride. I am pairing it here with another recent read, Richard Rayner's "A Bright and Guilty Place," another fulfilling read. It sems silly to compare two books just because they're in the same broad genre and because I happened to read them recently, but, eh, here goes.

Each book focuses on a murder that occurred a long time ago, one involving someone on the "good side" of the law as a suspect--Dash's Charles Becker killing a gangster in early-1900s New York, Rayner's an ex-Assistant D.A., Dave Clark--a man running for judge, no less--shooting Los Angeles' chief crime boss and "fixer" plus another man in 1932.

Each book, however, goes well beyond its central subject to explore the endemic corruption and wrongdoing in its given sphere. Each offers a tremendously entertaining experience with numerous details about the shady characters and stories that add up to rather disheartening portraits of the histories of these major cities.

I believe Dash's book is better written. "Circus" is tighter and more focused. Even with its many amusing diversions to explore characters like Big Tim Sullivan, Clubber Williams, and Short Change Charley, it never strays too far from the central narrative. Rayner is perhaps a bit more ambitious in trying to use his chosen murder case as a springboard to depict the dark foundation of an entire city, yet his digressions tend to be a bit more distracting and somewhat overwhelming. It's telling (and probably a good idea) that he presents a list of names with brief descriptions at the beginning of the book, and it's easy to get lost in some of the details once the book gets going. Dash also offers a bunch of sidebars and such, but he uses footnotes during the text to avoid clogging the narrative, plus he sticks closer to the main action once the trial of the fallen cop gets underway.

However, Dash's book becomes somewhat less compelling as he sticks closer to the details of what happens after Becker is arrested. I respect Dash's discipline, but I have to say the book is more purely entertaining when it is taking a broader look at the colorful crime bosses, petty thugs, and crooked cops who set up the story. Becker's story intrigues in its own right, but the guy is just not as colorful as many of the other figures in "Circus."

"Place" is perhaps less skillfully written, but on some level more compelling, especially to someone who loves Raymond Chandler novels and other fictional explorations of the seedy side of early Los Angeles...like yours truly. There is a lot of juicy stuff in here about Teapot Dome, magnates like E.L. Doheny, and other key aspects of L.A. history, and much of it is new to me. Learning it enhances my appreciation for what Chandler did in fictionalizing much of it. In fact, Chandler himself is a prominent character here, as is Leslie White, a photographer/detective who is sort of the co-subject of the book.

So which one I'd recommend more depends on your interest in the subject matter and what you're looking for. Both "Circus" and "Place" in their way paint vivid portraits of corruption and vice in a given setting, and both have their own strengths and weaknesses. But don't feel the need to pick one over the other just because I contrived to bring them together here. True crime and history lovers have a lot to enjoy in each volume.