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Devil's Garden Audiobook
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(3.06) - 246 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Quinn Colson series comes a noir crime classic about one of the most notorious trials in American history.
San Francisco, September 1921: Silent-screen comedy star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle is throwing a wild party in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel—girls, jazz, bootleg hooch … and a dead actress named Virginia Rappe.
The D.A. says it was Arbuckle who killed her—crushed her under his weight—and brings him up on manslaughter charges. William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers stir up the public and demand a guilty verdict.
In desperation, Arbuckle’s defense team hires an operative from the famed Pinkerton detective agency to investigate and, they hope, discover the truth. The agent’s name is Dashiell Hammett … and what he discovers will change American legal history—and his own life—forever.
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"Excellent! Fascinating historical account of how Fatty Arbuckle was framed for murder & tried 3 times before finally being found not guilty. He was accused of squishing a woman to death while raping her. He was framed by billionaire William Randolf Hearst because Fatty had once been intimate with Hearst's movie star girlfriend. Although Fatty was found innocent, he was blackballed from show business for the rest of his life. The narrator of this story is Dashiell Hammett, a Pinkerton agent, who goes on to become a famous detective writer (the Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade)."
— Sandra (5 out of 5 stars)
Devil's Garden Listener Reviews
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" I just couldn't get into this book! "
— Jennifer, 2/4/2014 -
" I would give 4 stars except the ebook version I had was hard to read. It might have been the format. 1921 San Francisco comes alive. Dashiell Hammett, William Randolph Hearst, and Fatty Arbuckle (far different from his moving picture persona) populate this captivating fact based tale of corruption, intrigue, scandal, and ruin from almost a century ago. "
— Alex, 1/31/2014 -
" A fictionalized account of the Fatty Arbuckle trials, the silent film star who was framed for a murder charge "
— Martha, 1/27/2014 -
" Ace Atkins, former reporter for the Tampa Tribune, has delivered another book based on a historical crime. This time the subject is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. "
— Alice, 1/7/2014 -
" This plot is based on the Fatty Arbuckle scandal of the early 1920s. The detective in this case in no other than Sam Hammett, working for the Pinkertons. Sam is newly married and newly a father, suffering from TB and not really the settling down sort. Arbuckle is caught up in a plot to ruin his career which is reported daily in the Hearst papers. Good period feel. "
— Debbie, 12/16/2013 -
" Great book, almost 5 stars. So true to the period of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle and Randolph Hearst it would seem to be comtemporary with that time. It breaks one's heart to consider the corruption and injustice that ruins lives as portrayed in this story. "
— Mom, 12/15/2013 -
" An entertaining fictionalized account of the Fatty Arbuckle trial. "
— Bob, 12/9/2013 -
" This was a pretty good historical mystery with Dashiell Hammett (aka Sam Hammett) as the detective and the Fatty Arbuckle/Virginia Rappe scandal as the main story. WR Hearst also serves as a main character. I thought it was pretty well written. "
— Jennifer, 11/14/2013 -
" Pretty good take on the infamous Fatty Arbuckle case and a good description of 1920s San Francisco. "
— Alan, 11/6/2013 -
" a bit slow and hard to read, but forced myselk to finish "
— Leah, 10/30/2013 -
" this is a really interesting book about people who behaved outrageously. Genre? I don't know. Most of the characters are real, so maybe it's historical fiction. In the news accounts, rumor and fact are hard to separate. I liked the book "
— Ellen, 8/14/2013 -
" I really enjoyed this audio book. I think Dick Hill did an excellent job as reader - his voice just fit the story. "
— Michele, 8/4/2013 -
" I read it because I have always been interested in the "Fatty" Arbuckle case. Honestly, that case still deserves a good book, this is not it. "
— Elpheaba, 7/17/2013 -
" I really enjoyed this - Atkins keeps Hammett's noir feel but uses language and pacing differently enough that it doesn't feel derivative. A good companion to Joe Gores's Spade and Archer. "
— Jessica, 1/30/2012 -
" I knew Dashiel Hammet was a detective before writing The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon, but I had no idea he was an investigator in the Fatty Arbuckle case. "
— Stu, 11/17/2011 -
" God, I loved this book. It had it all (for me, anyway): Dashiell Hammett, early Hollywood, yellow journalism, murder and mayhem, chippies and dicks, Fatty and The City. "
— Rebecca, 10/23/2011 -
" I didn't really like the way this was written, but the story of Fatty Arbuckle and his trial for rape and murder, and the private detective assigned to the case, (none other than Sam Dashiel Hammett) is really interesting. "
— Jo, 10/2/2011 -
" I didn't really like the way this was written, but the story of Fatty Arbuckle and his trial for rape and murder, and the private detective assigned to the case, (none other than Sam Dashiel Hammett) is really interesting. "
— Jo, 12/19/2010 -
" Ace Atkins, former reporter for the Tampa Tribune, has delivered another book based on a historical crime. This time the subject is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. "
— Ajaxwriter, 10/10/2010 -
" God, I loved this book. It had it all (for me, anyway): Dashiell Hammett, early Hollywood, yellow journalism, murder and mayhem, chippies and dicks, Fatty and The City. "
— Rebecca, 8/4/2010 -
" I really enjoyed this audio book. I think Dick Hill did an excellent job as reader - his voice just fit the story. "
— Michele, 1/6/2010 -
" Great read about SF in the 1920's, the murder trial of actor Fatty Arbuckle, and the evil doings of that asshole William Randolf Hearst.. FA's defense attorney hires a Pinkerton investigator named - drum roll - Dashiell Hammett - and the rest is history. "
— Veralene, 10/16/2009 -
" An entertaining fictionalized account of the Fatty Arbuckle trial. "
— Bob, 9/16/2009 -
" Pretty good take on the infamous Fatty Arbuckle case and a good description of 1920s San Francisco. "
— Alan, 7/29/2009 -
" This was a pretty good historical mystery with Dashiell Hammett (aka Sam Hammett) as the detective and the Fatty Arbuckle/Virginia Rappe scandal as the main story. WR Hearst also serves as a main character. I thought it was pretty well written. "
— Jennifer, 7/15/2009 -
" I knew Dashiel Hammet was a detective before writing The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon, but I had no idea he was an investigator in the Fatty Arbuckle case. "
— Stu, 5/16/2009 -
" I read it because I have always been interested in the "Fatty" Arbuckle case. Honestly, that case still deserves a good book, this is not it. "
— Elpheaba, 4/22/2009
About Ace Atkins
Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of the Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which—The Ranger and The Lost Ones—were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel. In addition, he is the author of several New York Times bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and, in college, played defensive end for the undefeated Auburn University football team, for which he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
About Edoardo Ballerini
Edoardo Ballerini, an American actor, director, film producer, and multiaward–winning narrator. He has won several Audie Awards for best narration, including for 2019’s Best Male Narrator of the Year. He was named by Booklist as winner of their 2023 Voice of Choice Award, and was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. He has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, from classics to modern masters, from bestsellers to the inspirational, from Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners to spine-tingling series, and much more. In television and film, he is best known for his roles in A Murder at the End of the World, The Sopranos, 24, I Shot Andy Warhol, Dinner Rush, and Romeo Must Die. He is also trained in theater and continues to do much work on stage.