Mystery Man. Gangsters, Oil, and Murder in Michigan
Robert Knapp
Cliophile Press, 2014
Clare's Crime of the Century was only the final chapter in a tale of ambitious men, Purple Gangsters, and oil speculators. Isaiah Leebove and Jack Livingston come alive in this lively history that ended in murder. For a table of contents and first chapter, click HERE
Order at cliolibri@gmail.com for $17 including shipping and tax, or from Amazon.com
Order at cliolibri@gmail.com for $17 including shipping and tax, or from Amazon.com
Mystery Man. Gangsters, Oil, and Murder in Michigan
On the spur of the moment, Livingston decided he had to kill Leebove, now. He went through the hotel lobby and up to his room. There he took a gun from a trunk. It had five bullets in it. He put the gun in his coat pocket and went back downstairs. He then re-entered the lounge and sat down exactly where he had been sitting before, with the Barrs. His entrance went unnoticed by Leebove, who had his back to the entrance from the lobby. Livingston sat with the Barrs for another three or four minutes, thinking over what he was going to do. Then he rose to his feet. He was delusional from drink and stress as his eyes darted about the room. He thought that he saw Leebove glancing up at him three times while talking with Geller and his other friends. To Livingston, it looked like Leebove was trying to get the jump on him. Nervously jerking his hand in and out of his coat, he took a few short steps to the booth where Leebove and his friends had been amicably conversing for the past twenty or twenty-five minutes. He halted beside Betty Geller. He was standing directly in line with Leebove, who was turned slightly as he talked with Pete Geller. Blinded by his rage, fear, and resolve, Livingstone saw only Leebove as he pulled the .38 revolver from his coat pocket and took aim at the man who had once been his close friend...
Mystery Man is the story of Isaiah Leebove, Jack Livingston, and a cast of innocents and not-so-innocents. Oil barons from Oklahoma like Nathan Livingston and Henry Sinclair, New York gangsters like Arnold Rothstein and "Legs" Diamond, Detroit's Purple Gang, even Charles Lindbergh's baby all figure in the unfolding drama that ultimately played out in the days of Michigan's oil boom. A personal grudge led to Leebove's murder--or was it the perfect gangland slaying?
Available April 15, 2014 from Cliophile Press, Clare, Michigan. Email cliobooks@gmail.com to order, or go to the Amazon website.
On the spur of the moment, Livingston decided he had to kill Leebove, now. He went through the hotel lobby and up to his room. There he took a gun from a trunk. It had five bullets in it. He put the gun in his coat pocket and went back downstairs. He then re-entered the lounge and sat down exactly where he had been sitting before, with the Barrs. His entrance went unnoticed by Leebove, who had his back to the entrance from the lobby. Livingston sat with the Barrs for another three or four minutes, thinking over what he was going to do. Then he rose to his feet. He was delusional from drink and stress as his eyes darted about the room. He thought that he saw Leebove glancing up at him three times while talking with Geller and his other friends. To Livingston, it looked like Leebove was trying to get the jump on him. Nervously jerking his hand in and out of his coat, he took a few short steps to the booth where Leebove and his friends had been amicably conversing for the past twenty or twenty-five minutes. He halted beside Betty Geller. He was standing directly in line with Leebove, who was turned slightly as he talked with Pete Geller. Blinded by his rage, fear, and resolve, Livingstone saw only Leebove as he pulled the .38 revolver from his coat pocket and took aim at the man who had once been his close friend...
Mystery Man is the story of Isaiah Leebove, Jack Livingston, and a cast of innocents and not-so-innocents. Oil barons from Oklahoma like Nathan Livingston and Henry Sinclair, New York gangsters like Arnold Rothstein and "Legs" Diamond, Detroit's Purple Gang, even Charles Lindbergh's baby all figure in the unfolding drama that ultimately played out in the days of Michigan's oil boom. A personal grudge led to Leebove's murder--or was it the perfect gangland slaying?
Available April 15, 2014 from Cliophile Press, Clare, Michigan. Email cliobooks@gmail.com to order, or go to the Amazon website.