Broadway Butterfly - by Sara Divello (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

New York in the Roaring Twenties--a riveting true-crime novel, based on one of the most notorious unsolved murders of the era, where power, politics, and secrets conspire to bury the truth.

Manhattan, 1923. Scandalous flapper Dot King is found dead in her Midtown apartment, a bottle of chloroform beside her and a fortune in jewels missing. Dot's headline-making murder grips the city. It also draws a clutch of lovers, parasites, and justice seekers into one of the city's most mesmerizing mysteries.

Among them: Daily News crime reporter Julia Harpman, chasing the story while navigating a male-dominated industry; righteous NYPD detective John D. Coughlin, struggling against city corruption; and Ella Bradford, the victim's Harlem maid, closest confidante, and keeper of secrets. Adding fuel to the already volatile crime: a politically connected Philadelphia socialite, an Atlantic City bootlegger, Dot's dicey gigolo lover, a sultry Broadway dancer, and a cagey sugar daddy guarding secrets of his own.

From Broadway's glittering lights to its sordid underbelly to the machinations of the country's most powerful men, Julia embarks on a quest for justice. What she discovers, twist after breathtaking twist, might be even more nefarious than murder.

Review Quotes

"DiVello maintains a breakneck pace from one brief, datelined chapter to the next. Her pulpy, over-the-top prose credibly evokes the era's crime magazines, while her fidelity to the characters and the well-documented facts surrounding the unsolved murder give the story extra interest." --Kirkus Reviews

"[T]his kaleidoscopic mystery impresses with its thoroughness and poignancy. Fans of historical true crime and stories set in the 1920s will be rapt." --Publishers Weekly

"Based on a confounding, never-solved true crime and featuring real-life figures, DiVello's latest offers readers all they need to reach their own verdict...DiVello will delight readers with this foray into fiction highlighting Julia Harpman and her remarkable career." --Booklist (starred review)

"This page-turner of a story with tentacles reaching from Broadway to the White House exposes the influence of money and power. Fans of true crime and true-crime podcasts will be hooked." --Library Journal (starred review)

"Precise and transportive...DiVello's passion for the genre is evident both in the writing and by her role as creator and host of a mystery and thriller podcast. The end result is a fascinating murder mystery packed with history." --Associated Press

"The research on this is intensive and detailed--the dark side of Broadway fame during the Roaring Twenties. A very compelling story." --Montecito Journal

"[Sara] DiVello provides an expansive overview of her process during the nine-year journey to uncover the unadulterated story of Dot King's unsolved murder. It is clear that DiVello doesn't want us to forget her. I certainly won't--and I'll be looking forward to DiVello's next novel. Highly recommended." --Historical Novels Review (Editors' Choice)

"Broadway Butterfly is thrilling, surprising, and page-turning. The drama in this Pulitzer-worthy book--like the events and characters in it--is very real, and Sara DiVello more than does it justice." --Crimespree Magazine

"Sara DiVello has written a tour-de-force from the opening scene to the twist in the tale ending. Broadway Butterfly brings the world of the Roaring Twenties to life with consummate historical research resonating from every page. A gripping account of the notorious Dot King murder and its consequences, any fan of true crime will welcome this in their collection." --Authorlink

"Glamour and greed collide in this whip-smart mystery set against the glittering backdrop of 1920s New York. The characters had me hooked. The incredible twists and turns kept me racing back for more." --Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Step Too Far

"Sara DiVello transports us to a glitzy, glamorous, and dangerous 1920s New York City in this pacy, twisting mystery. Through her layered, intriguing cast of characters, DiVello boldly takes on issues of class, gender, race, and corruption, while ratcheting up the tension page after gripping page. Broadway Butterfly is classic noir suspense with a beating heart, and DiVello is a writer to watch." --Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

"Corruption and secrets collide in this roller coaster of a read that reminds us truth is stranger than fiction. I was fully immersed in learning about one of the most infamous crimes of the century, which illustrates that the struggle for power and privilege--those who have it, those who want it, and those who would kill to keep it--is eternal." --Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of The Younger Wife

"Richly imagined and impeccably researched, Broadway Butterfly instantly transported me to another place and time. Sara DiVello revisits the glory and hardships of being a woman during the Roaring Twenties in this smart, enthralling story of obsession, scandal, and murder. With Broadway Butterfly, DiVello has proved herself a refreshing, exciting new voice in crime fiction. I'm a fan for life." --Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest

"Broadway Butterfly reads like an edge-of-your-seat movie. This impressively researched, fascinating true-murder story will have readers guessing and re-guessing on every page." --Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice and Remember

"A rip-roaring historical mystery with a true crime at its heart, Broadway Butterfly captures both the seedy underbelly and the glamour of New York in the 1920s--flappers and murderers and plots and gangsters and intrepid reporters and gruff detectives abound--and provides a pitch-perfect whodunit. DiVello's impeccable research and depiction of crimes and morality in Jazz Age New York will delight true-crime fans. Don't miss this!" --J. T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of It's One of Us

"Calling all Hitchcock fans, Sara DiVello takes you into the gritty noir underworld of 1920s Manhattan with a page-turning glimpse into a real-life murder. I raced through the retelling of the investigation while trying to stay one step ahead in solving the crime." --Isabella Maldonado, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Nina Guerrera series

"1920s Manhattan. A dead party girl. A list of suspects worthy of a killer game of Clue. Yes, please. Broadway Butterfly is the cat's pajamas. What a ride!" --Tracy Clark, author of the Cass Raines and Detective Harriet Foster series

"DiVello's blisteringly immersive investigation of an unsolved 1923 murder doesn't just make for high-octane catnip for any true-crime reader; it also bends and transcends the genre for a read as gripping as a page-turning novel and as thrilling, cinematic, and full of mind-boggling wonder as a big-screen blockbuster. About injustice and justice, and murder and passion, all set against the loudly Roaring Twenties and the reign of the worst president America might ever have had, this who- and why-dunit should come with a warning label: buy extra press-on nails because you're not going to be able to stop biting yours." --Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

"Sara DiVello is a wonderful and oh-so-talented new voice in true-crime fiction! Her spellbinding Broadway Butterfly--Gatsby meets Ragtime--is completely entertaining, with its jazz babies and gigolos, high-society galas and gritty newsrooms, tough cops and fast-talking criminals. Impeccably (and impressively) researched and ingeniously written, it's as cinematic and riveting as a classic film, where vibrant and passionate characters and their fascinating settings come to life--and history becomes even more compelling. This mix of true crime and stylish voice is simply terrific storytelling. I devoured it." --Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest

"Sara DiVello's Broadway Butterfly is a hypnotic thriller with characters you won't soon forget wrapped up in a mystery that is as complexingly seductive as the glitz-and-glam era it takes place in. You will be rooted in your seat until you hit 'The End.'" --Yasmin Angoe, bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Nena Knight series, Her Name Is Knight and They Come at Knight

"Sara Divello has written a vibrant, interesting, and exciting mystery that embodies the best of the hedonistic time in which it's set. Fantastic work." --S.A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland

"Instantly immersive and authentic--a great story, beautifully told." --Lee Child, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Jack Reacher Series

"Broadway Butterfly is such a propulsive, thrilling read while engaging on a deeper level with themes of privilege, sexism, racism and class. I was seduced from the very first page. I loved this book!" --Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author