
The Belle of Bedford Avenue
The Sensational Brooks-Burns Murder in Turn-of-the-Century New York
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lee Ann Howlett
About this listen
At the turn of the 20th century, many affluent Brooklyn teens and young adults were bucking the constraints of their immigrant parents and behaving badly: drinking, having sex, staying out all night, stealing, scamming local businesses, and engaging in other more serious activities.
When 20-year-old Walter Brooks was murdered in a seedy Manhattan hotel in 1902, the ensuing court case was front-page news throughout the country. The hearings featured testimonies about these young people’s secret lives that shocked parents and inspired much editorial commentary in the newspapers. From start to finish, the case was viewed as a cautionary tale for parents, for boys who could be led astray, and for girls who risked their reputations to be popular.
Set against the colorful backdrop of Coney Island, roadhouses, forbidden dance halls, and vaudeville, The Belle of Bedford Avenue follows the young woman at the heart of the case from her trial for the murder of Walter Brooks to her adulthood.
The crime itself, interestingly, occurred in the location of Ground Zero and today’s September 11 Memorial. The trial was conducted by William Travers Jerome, who went on to become a legendary New York City prosecutor.
©2019 The Kent State University Press (P)2019 Redwood AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
-
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
The Blue Edge of Midnight
- By: Jonathon King
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Freeman's old life ended on a night that will haunt him forever. The night he killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shootout. The night he stopped being a cop. Now he lives a solitary existence on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one but the demons that eat away at his conscience. When he finds the corpse of a child beside an ancient river and another child goes missing, all eyes turn to Freeman.
-
-
Florida swamp thriller
- By Donald on 12-23-10
By: Jonathon King
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
-
-
Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
-
The Ghosts of Eden Park
- The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers", writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new cars for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.
-
-
Quite entertaining
- By Buretto on 08-15-19
By: Karen Abbott
-
The I-5 Killer
- By: Ann Rule, Andy Stack
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young man, Randall Woodfield had it all; he was a star athlete with good looks and an award-winning student. Working in the swinging West Coast bar scene, he had more than his share of women. But he wanted more than just sex. An appetite for unspeakable violent acts led him to cruise the I-5 highway through California to Washington, leaving a trail of victims along the way. As the list of the dead grew, the police mobilized to stop a twisted killer who had 44 known deaths to his name.
-
-
Ann Rule always delivers
- By Anonymous User on 10-17-19
By: Ann Rule, and others
-
The Cases That Haunt Us
- From Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey, the FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Sheds Light on the Mysteries That Won't Go Away
- By: John Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did Lizzie Borden murder her own father and stepmother? Was Jack the Ripper actually the Duke of Clarence? Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? America's foremost expert on criminal profiling and 25-year FBI veteran John Douglas, along with author and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, explores those tantalizing questions and more in this mesmerizing work of detection. With uniquely gripping analysis, the authors reexamine and reinterpret the accepted facts, evidence, and victimology of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime.
-
-
John Douglas is AMAZING
- By Amazon Customer on 12-17-16
By: John Douglas, and others
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
-
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
The Blue Edge of Midnight
- By: Jonathon King
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Freeman's old life ended on a night that will haunt him forever. The night he killed a twelve-year-old child in self-defense in a Philadelphia shootout. The night he stopped being a cop. Now he lives a solitary existence on the edge of the Florida Everglades, where he answers to no one but the demons that eat away at his conscience. When he finds the corpse of a child beside an ancient river and another child goes missing, all eyes turn to Freeman.
-
-
Florida swamp thriller
- By Donald on 12-23-10
By: Jonathon King
-
Helter Skelter
- The True Story of the Manson Murders
- By: Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 26 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the 20th century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? Now available for the first time in unabridged audio, the gripping story of this famous and haunting crime is brought to life by acclaimed narrator Scott Brick.
-
-
Everything I remembered about the case was wrong..
- By karen on 06-22-12
By: Vincent Bugliosi, and others
-
The Ghosts of Eden Park
- The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro, Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers", writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new cars for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.
-
-
Quite entertaining
- By Buretto on 08-15-19
By: Karen Abbott
-
The I-5 Killer
- By: Ann Rule, Andy Stack
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young man, Randall Woodfield had it all; he was a star athlete with good looks and an award-winning student. Working in the swinging West Coast bar scene, he had more than his share of women. But he wanted more than just sex. An appetite for unspeakable violent acts led him to cruise the I-5 highway through California to Washington, leaving a trail of victims along the way. As the list of the dead grew, the police mobilized to stop a twisted killer who had 44 known deaths to his name.
-
-
Ann Rule always delivers
- By Anonymous User on 10-17-19
By: Ann Rule, and others
-
The Cases That Haunt Us
- From Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey, the FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Sheds Light on the Mysteries That Won't Go Away
- By: John Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did Lizzie Borden murder her own father and stepmother? Was Jack the Ripper actually the Duke of Clarence? Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? America's foremost expert on criminal profiling and 25-year FBI veteran John Douglas, along with author and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, explores those tantalizing questions and more in this mesmerizing work of detection. With uniquely gripping analysis, the authors reexamine and reinterpret the accepted facts, evidence, and victimology of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime.
-
-
John Douglas is AMAZING
- By Amazon Customer on 12-17-16
By: John Douglas, and others
-
Journey into Darkness
- By: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the number-one New York Times best seller Mindhunter, John Douglas, who headed the FBI's elite Investigative Support Unit, told the story of his brilliant and terrifying career tracking down some of the most heinous criminals in history. Now, in Journey into Darkness, Douglas profiles vicious serial killers, rapists, and child molesters. He is straightforward, blunt, often irreverent, and outspoken, but takes pains not to glorify any of these murderers.
-
-
I returned this book because it disturbed me
- By Adam on 10-21-19
By: John E. Douglas, and others
-
The Queen
- The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth
- By: Josh Levin
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this critically acclaimed true crime tale of "welfare queen" Linda Taylor, a Slate editor reveals a "wild, only-in-America story" of political manipulation and murder (Attica Locke, Edgar Award-winning author). Part social history, part true-crime investigation, Josh Levin's mesmerizing book, the product of six years of reporting and research, is a fascinating account of American racism, and an exposé of the "welfare queen" myth, one that fueled political debates that reverberate to this day.
-
-
Very compelling story!
- By Marilyn on 06-24-19
By: Josh Levin
-
Evidence of Love
- A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs
- By: John Bloom, Jim Atkinson
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore had a lot in common: They sang together in the Methodist church choir, their daughters were best friends, and their husbands had good jobs working for technology companies in the North Dallas suburbs known as Silicon Prairie. But beneath the placid surface of their seemingly perfect lives, both women simmered with unspoken frustrations and unanswered desires. On a hot summer day in 1980, the secret passions and jealousies that linked Candy and Betty exploded into murderous rage.
-
-
FINALLY!!!
- By leelee8888 on 01-30-19
By: John Bloom, and others
-
A Cold-Blooded Business
- Adultery, Murder, and a Killer's Path from the Bible Belt to the Boardroom
- By: Marek Fuchs
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1959, Olathe, Kansas was made famous by the murder of the Clutter family and Truman Capote's ground-breaking book on the crime, In Cold Blood. But fewer know that Olathe achieved notoriety again in 1982, when a member of Olathe's growing Evangelical Christian population, a gentle man named David Harmon, was bludgeoned to death while sleeping - the force of the blows crushing his face beyond recognition.
-
-
GOOD TRUE CRIME STORY
- By The Louligan on 08-17-14
By: Marek Fuchs
-
Out of the Shadows
- A Detective Amy Sadler Mystery, Book 1
- By: Michelle Arnold
- Narrated by: Lisa L Wiley
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A woman who has been missing for three months is found dead with over 200 tally marks carved into her skin. For Detective Amy Sadler, who is still recovering mentally from a past undercover operation gone wrong, the case is as unsettling as it is frustrating. As more bodies appear with the same tally marks, Amy's only solace from the seemingly unsolvable case is the romance blooming between herself and forensic pathologist Dr. Lira Ward, a beautiful soul with a past even she doesn't understand.
-
-
Brilliant story
- By Kris on 11-04-18
By: Michelle Arnold
-
Moral Compass
- A Novel
- By: Danielle Steel
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this compelling novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the dark side of one drunken night, with its tragic consequences, from every possible point of view. As the drama unfolds, the characters will reach a crossroads where they must choose between truth and lies, between what is easy and what is right, and find the moral compass they will need for the rest of their lives.
-
-
Disappointed
- By Michelle Gish Saulsberry on 01-31-20
By: Danielle Steel
-
Yesterday
- By: Fern Michaels
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised on her father's South Carolina plantation, Callie Parker wanted for nothing, and now she is about to marry wealthy local scion Wyn Archer. But her wedding wouldn't be complete without the three people she grew up with under the sheltering branches of the angel oaks at Parker Manor.
-
-
The worst book I've ever "read".
- By Trisha Wamsat on 05-07-23
By: Fern Michaels
-
The Michigan Murders
- The True Story of the Ypsilanti Ripper's Reign of Terror
- By: Edward Keyes
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, 19-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body stabbed over 30 times and missing both feet and a forearm was discovered on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of 20-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Over the next two years, five more bodies of female students were uncovered around the area.
-
-
Give It Some Time
- By Thomas on 08-16-18
By: Edward Keyes
-
Sinclair: The World's End Murders through the Eyes of a Killer
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On October 15 1977, Christine Eadie and Helen Scott left the World's End pub after a fun-filled night with two men in their arms. They had their whole lives ahead of them. They had nothing to fear and everything to look forward to. Their naked bodies were discovered the following day. They were found six miles apart from each other. No attempt had been made to conceal their bodies, and both girls had been beaten, gagged, tied, raped and strangled. The case attracted widespread media attention and despite the Police's best efforts, they were unable to identify a culprit.
-
-
Excellent
- By timj26 on 07-17-19
By: Ryan Green
-
Man-Eater
- The Terrifying True Story of Cannibal Killer Katherine Knight
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On February 29, 2000, John Price took out a restraining order against his girlfriend, Katherine Knight. Later that day, he told his coworkers she had stabbed him and that if he were ever to go missing, it was because Knight had killed him. The next day, Price didn’t show up for work. A coworker was sent to check on him. They found a bloody handprint by the front door, and they immediately contacted the police. The local police force was not prepared for the chilling scene they were about to encounter.
-
-
Very interesting
- By timj26 on 02-26-19
By: Ryan Green
-
Ten Vintage True Crime Stories Rescued from Obscurity
- Famous Crimes the World Forgot, Book 1
- By: Jason Lucky Morrow
- Narrated by: Charles Huddleston
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook uncovers 10 amazing true crimes that exploded into the national news, shocking Americans from coast to coast - crimes that were eventually forgotten - until now. Many of these incredible cases went unexplored for decades.
-
-
The Narrator Makes It Great
- By Laurie on 03-09-19
-
The Bloody Century
- True Tales of Murder in 19th Century America
- By: Robert Wilhelm
- Narrated by: Charles Huddleston
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A murderous atmosphere pervaded 19th-century America marked by lurid newspaper accounts and remembered in ballad and verse. The Bloody Century presents 50 of the most intriguing murder cases from the archives of American crime. It is a collection of fascinating stories - some famous, some long-buried - of Americans, driven by desperation, greed, jealousy, or an irrational bloodlust, to take another’s life.
-
-
Fun true crime with many a twist!
- By Lee Pollock on 08-04-21
By: Robert Wilhelm
but this one didn't grab me.
I feel badly writing a so-so review because I was given it at no charge for an honest review. But that's
what this is.
Narration was excellent.
Thank you!
Okay but my mind wandered..........
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
this book was given to me at my request for review
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Narration was well done, offering an easy to absorb delivery as the audiobook progressed.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.
Interesting
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Turn of the century setting and true crime are 2 things I dig, so when I saw this title I immediately got interested.
The flow of the narrative was good. This is not a very well-documented case, and the author had to rely mainly on newspaper reports and editorials of that time, so it is understandable for her to base a lot on speculation.
The narration was also good. Her voice was clear and enunciation perfect and not distracting.
Right up my alley.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Good Read
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
This girl is scandalous!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
The story is a piece of little history that shows how life was in the early 1900 hundreds cor a young woman.
Narration by Lee Anne Howlett is both compassionate and concise in detail.
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this review.
A good read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
It’s the tale of a scandalous, cliquey group of affluent young adult children (both male and female) of well to do families around the beginning of the 20th century in New York, who devote all of their time to cons, delinquent hijinks, debauchery, and promiscuity. Along the way, a murder occurs, and the bulk of the book is focused on the before/during/after periods of that murder. The level of research into the time, the place, and the people involved - utilizing contemporary newspaper coverage and court records - are for me the real strength of the book. And as events progress, narrator Lee Ann Howlett keeps us interested, with a calm, yet engaging delivery.
If the book has a shortcoming, it is just in the fact that the life of the so-called “Belle” herself gets gradually less interesting, the older she gets. But I can’t bring myself to fault the book for that, considering it’s a true story.
I took this book more as an interesting bit of forgotten history, than as you typical true crime book. I very much enjoyed it, and I encourage you to listen to it - so long as you don’t go into it with too narrow a field of expectation.
Also, expect to dedicate some of your free time to trying to finding photographic or film documentation of the quirky, short-lived, very localized fad of “kangaroo walking” mentioned multiple times throughout the book. I myself am still looking.
A fascinating look back at a scandal of yesteryear
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Highly recommended.
This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this review voluntarily.
The Old is Forever New
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
I said some things never change because of the people involved. They were young and came from wealthy families that apparently saw nothing wrong with their "boys' being rapists, extortionists, liars, cheats and just basically rotten people and one girl in particular was really someone not to mess with.
It took me a few days to listen to the whole book. I would listen for a while, get a little bored and come back to it and listen some more. I like the true crime books that take place in the late 1800's and early 1900's. There really wasn't too much difference between Brooks-Burns of that era and some of the uber wealthy of 2019.
I was given a free copy in exchange for a review. If you are a history and true crime person you may like it. To me, the book is okay and the narrator was pretty good. You may like it. Never know until you try.
Some things never change.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.