Something new in the works
I'm returning to historical fiction, but this time looking to my home state for inspiration.
“If you're looking for a mobster you haven't seen in a while, you can find him in one of three places: in jail, in the morgue, or in St. Paul.” - From my forthcoming novel, Black Cordite, White Snow
When one thinks of the Roaring ‘20s or the Dirty ‘30s, it’s not uncommon to first envision scenes set in Chicago or New York, where infamous mobsters such as Al Capone or John Dillinger smuggled bootlegged whiskey and engaged in shootouts in the streets using “Chicago Typewriters.” What would almost certainly not be first to come to mind is those same mobsters in a quiet northern city known as St. Paul, Minnesota.
A lesser-known place of refuge for the criminal element of the period, St. Paul was so popular with mobsters, it was given the moniker “Crook’s Haven.” The sobriquet was fitting. The St. Paul police and mayor had a different perspective on organized crime and Prohibition than many of their contemporaries: Rather than trying to do what they perceived to be the impossible and stopping criminal elements from tearing their city apart by maintaining rule of law, they actually welcomed mobsters to their city—with conditions. Namely, check in with the police when you arrive, pay city officials a bribe, and take your criminal activity outside the city limits.
Anywhere would do. Duluth. Minneapolis. Des Moines. Just not St. Paul. Those who complied with those rules would even get courtesy notifications from the St. Paul Police when federal law enforcement came to town or was planning a raid. This arrangement even became codified as the O'Connor Layover Agreement. That agreement remained in place for almost forty years before the federal government stepped in.
What a cool backdrop for a historical crime novel! And just my luck, the city of St. Paul is in my backyard. Since beginning work on Black Cordite, White Snow, I’ve leveraged my familiarity with my home state and paired it with visits to historical sites in St. Paul to ensure I’m capturing the character of the city and aligning it with the zeitgeist of the 1920s.
I’m anticipating a February publishing date. Stay tuned!