Read About The Most Scandalous Murder Case Of The 1920s In Oxygen Book Club's October 2022 Pick

Oxygen Book Club highlights books in the crime sphere each month and features exclusive interviews, guided discussions, and more.

When you picture the 1920s, you probably envision flapper haircuts, speakeasies, dazzling parties, and general debauchery. But the Roaring '20s sometimes had a dark side — as seen in "Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime" by Vanity Fair reporter Joe Pompeo, which is Oxygen Book Club's October 2022 pick.

In this gripping nonfiction read, Pompeo dives into the slayings of Revered Edward Hall and his mistress, Eleanor Mills. The two were found dead in 1922 on a farm in New Jersey, with their bodies "in a pose conveying intimacy," per the book's synopsis.  But it wasn't just the shocking nature of a double murder that led to extensive coverage of the killings.

Hall was married to an heiress with ties to many influential people, Francis Hall, while Mills was a choir girl at the church Hall worked at and married herself. Naturally, this added a hefty dose of scandal to the killings, which propelled it to the front page of newspapers across the country. It soon became one of the most famous murder case of the time and helped fuel the tabloid industry, then only in its infancy.

Hall explores the relationship between Hall and Mills, the impact the crime had on both high society and journalism, and the way the media pushed for a trial. It's the kind of nonfiction book that keeps you up reading all night, with its thoughtful examination of scandal, death, tabloids, and the Jazz Age.

Read  "Blood & Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime" along with Oxygen Book Club, and keep an eye out for our video interviews with the author, as well as guided discussion questions. Happy reading!