One of 75 books Recommended for Summer Reading, 2019, by The New York Times Book Review"Everybody loves a bad girl — in crime stories, if not in life. One person who meets that description is Florence Burns, the subject of Virginia A. McConnell's juicy biography, THE BELLE OF BEDFORD AVENUE: The Sensational Brooks-Burns Murder in Turn-of-the-Century New York. Coming of age at the turn of the 20th century, the American-born sons and daughters of immigrants were not so keen on living by the austere moral codes their parents brought over from the home countries. There were so many amusing enticements in New York City: dance halls, gin mills and roadhouses for the adventures, the amusements at Coney Island for excitement, and fast cars with darkened back seats for sex.... McConnell's droll speculation offers a fair example of her extremely readable writing style, which is often sharp, but never nasty. She doesn't even make a big deal out of Florence's habit of carrying a gun in her muff — maybe not to the trial, but years later, she drew a piece from her muff and challenged the officer who was trying to arrest her: 'One false move and there'll be one less cop.' Spoken like a true lady." — The New York Times Book Review
