Blood & Ink

Starred review from July 25, 2022
Vanity Fair correspondent Pompeo debuts with a compulsively readable account of a sensational unsolved double murder a century ago. On Sept. 16, 1922, at an abandoned farm outside New Brunswick, N.J., the bodies of the Rev. Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills, who sang in the choir of his church, were found beneath a crabapple tree, posed in a manner to suggest intimacy. Hall was shot in the head, and Mills had been shot three times and her throat slit ear to ear. Both of their spouses were initially suspects, and Hall’s wife and her two brothers went on trial in 1926. The evidence wasn’t enough to convince the jury, however, and all three were found not guilty. Pompeo does a thorough job highlighting the questionable tactics of the scandal sheets of the period, such as a staged séance to elicit a confession. The Hall-Mills murders sold newspapers and brought thousands of curiosity seekers to the murder site before almost vanishing from memory as other scandals claimed the spotlight. Drawing on extensive documents related to the case that were lost until 2019, Pompeo provides the definitive account of the murders. This is essential reading for true crime buffs. Agent: David Marshall, Aevitas Creative Management.

September 1, 2022

Vanity Fair correspondent Pompeo tells two stories: a century-old unsolved murder and the rise of sensational and tabloid journalism. In 1922, the bodies of Reverend Edward Hall and choir singer Eleanor Mills, both married to other people, were found arranged in an intimate pose near a crabapple tree in New Brunswick, NJ. Phil Payne, editor of the New York Daily News, hired a top reporter to follow this case. Payne himself was soon scooped up by the New York Daily Mirror, launching an NYC tabloid war that would rage until the Mirror folded in October 1963. Pompeo shows how tabloid journalism was an unprecedented force that not only changed the course of justice in the murder investigation but also shaped the modern world. The accused, for example, were able to schmooze reporters in hopes of being portrayed more sympathetically, and the investigation and two trials resulted in aquittal. The case's physical evidence, transcripts, grand jury proceedings, and depositions survived, some by pure chance, which enabled Pompeo to present a full picture of what transpired. VERDICT This enthralling, well-researched book will be a nice addition to libraries' true-crime and mass communication sections.--Michael Sawyer

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2022
In 1922, a grisly New Jersey murder propelled a circulation war among New York newspapers. Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall, the charismatic rector of St. John the Evangelist church in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Eleanor Mills, a pretty young member of the St John's choir, were found murdered in the local lover's lane. Both were married to others, and their relationship had been the subject of gossip. The Daily News, then only a few years old, was struggling to gain circulation. Phil Payne, the managing editor, thought the murders were perfect for the tabloid paper's sensational style. His reporters, several of whom were women, highlighted scandal, sex, class, and money in their coverage, and the fledgling tabloid's circulation soared, delighting Payne and publisher Joseph Medill Patterson. The murders were never solved, possibly due to a high-level cover-up. Journalist Pompeo brings this story and its fascinating characters to life in a way that will captivate true-crime lovers. His insights into tabloid journalism then and now show that it has not strayed far from its roots in sensationalism and melodrama.

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