A pair of aces / Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

By:

Benedict, Marie [author]

Contributor(s):

Murray, Victoria Christopher [author]

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Reese's book clubPublisher: New York : Berkley, [2026]Description: 390 pages ; 24 cmContent type:

text

Media type:

unmediated

Carrier type:

volume

ISBN:

9780593637937
0593637933

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Pair of acesDDC classification:

[Fic] 23

LOC classification:

PS3620.E75 P44 2026

Summary: "A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law-a prosecutor and a madam-who team up to bring down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian. Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan's first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City's five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they've all focused on the crime syndicate's traditional businesses-bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing-or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its hand in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can't get Luciano alone. Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all. Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they're trying to convict. It is this very alliance-of two women from vastly different worlds-that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen"-- Provided by publisher.

List(s) this item appears in: New Adult Fiction

Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Shelving location	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
Adult Book	Phillipsburg Free Public Library	Adult Fiction	New Books	FIC BENEDICT	Available		36748002652552

Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law--a prosecutor and a madam--who team up to bring down notorious Mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian.

Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan's first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City's five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they've all focused on the crime syndicate's traditional businesses--bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing--or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its role in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can't get Luciano alone.

Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all.

Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they're trying to convict. It is this very alliance--of two women from vastly different worlds--that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen.

"A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law-a prosecutor and a madam-who team up to bring down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian. Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan's first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City's five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they've all focused on the crime syndicate's traditional businesses-bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing-or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its hand in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can't get Luciano alone. Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all. Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they're trying to convict. It is this very alliance-of two women from vastly different worlds-that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen"-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Benedict and Murray cowrote two historical/biographical novels--The Personal Librarian, about Belle da Costa Greene, J. Pierpont Morgan's curator, and First Ladies, featuring Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Their new collaboration dramatizes the 1930s and the lives of Manhattan madam Polly Adler and attorney Eunice Carter, then the only woman and possibly the only Black person in the New York U.S. Attorney's office. Eunice and Polly meet in the station house, where Polly is being held after being arrested for pandering. Eunice, a member of the special prosecutor's team on organized crime, has been assigned to question her regarding mob connections in sex work. As the interrogation proceeds, the women slowly gain each other's trust and realize their shared goal: building a case against mob boss Lucky Luciano and sending him to prison. Despite great risk to themselves and threats to Eunice's family and Polly's "ladies," the two women prove themselves to be two aces in a suspenseful and deadly game. VERDICT Readers of Benedict and Murray's first two collaborations may find their latest a bit of a shock after the worlds of the Morgan Library and civil rights, but the plot is engaging, the main characters are brave and relatable, and the pacing is brisk.--Marcia Welsh

Booklist Review

Benedict and Murray's third collaboration, following The First Ladies (2023), provides yet another detailed and dazzling exploration of an unlikely alliance between two women often overlooked by history but whose contributions to real-life events were pivotal. Polly Adler's brothel was the epitome of New York Jazz Age elegance, making her a prime target for organized crime's extortion carried out by mob boss Lucky Luciano. Taking down the syndicate was the chief mission of Manhattan district attorney Thomas Dewey, but his attempts to arrest and charge Luciano proved fruitless until attorney Eunice Carter, the only female and only Black woman in his office, gained access to Adler's world. Toggling between the alternating points of view of the madam and the prosecutor, the authors take readers deep into two very different realities. In one sphere lie the sexism and racism inherent in 1930s society in general and the legal profession in particular. In the other, readers learn of the humanity and risk involved in participating in the world's oldest profession. What emerges are lively and lasting portraits of two heroic women.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Benedict and Murray's previous historical novels are major best-sellers and book group favorites, ensuring an eruption of requests for their latest.