Mob Queen
Bledsoe’s protagonist, Virginia Hill, is a footnote to history today, yet played an important role during the 1930s gangster crime spree. Ordinarily a mob story can carry itself on its own merit, but there is an alternate sense of urgency that pervades this narrative with its female viewpoint, as Bledsoe returns a deserving voice to the so-called Mob Queen. Virginia, broadly speaking, was a mob moll and trusted stolen goods courier. She and her only friend Madeline both work as waitresses in the early 1930s, but Madeline craves bigger things from life and hooks up with the Chicago mob, going absent for frequent periods. When her usual postcards from her travels stop coming, Virginia fears her friend may be in too deep, and she owes it to her to find her. After all, Madeline once saved her life.
During the following dull months at the racetrack, she rigidly obeys the Chicago mob’s rules to prove herself worthy. When considered trustworthy enough to deliver stolen goods across state lines, she excels at the job. Moving higher up the food chain, she is sent to New York to seduce Joe Adonis, the Italian American mobster who helped found the Cosa Nostra. But as events begin to sour, Virginia is no longer confident she will find Madeline before it is too late.
One excellent plot construct that is particularly intriguing is the treatment of Bugsy Siegel’s role. Dialogue is animated and snappy. Tension is in high gear throughout, and although the author must fill in a lot of blanks, I was caught up in this credible, compelling story. Bledsoe admits she writes about women who behave badly (indeed!) but here she paints a gracious picture of Hill’s vulnerability-to-pluck personality by exploring motivation and action despite their inevitable dark consequences. A thrilling and fascinating true crime tale.
