Memoirs of a Murder Man

Carey was the head of the homicide division of the NY city police department, retiring in 1929. During his 40 years with the force, the last 30 dealt exclusively with murder. During Carey's tenure the world of policing changed with the introduction of a systematic approach to investigation and new techniques like fingerprints and ballistics. Carey saw it all.

Carey worked many big cases, including a long run of poisonings by well-to-do people and the 1921 bombing of Wall Street . The murder he worked on that is most known today is of the husband of Ruth Snyder. Ruth and her boyfriend Judd Gray--the corset salesman--were convicted and electrocuted. Snyder's execution was secretly photographed and made the paper.

Anyone with an interest in old true crime should enjoy this book. It sent me down a number of internet rabbit holes to find new spins on many of the crimes Carey solved

The book also introduced me to Thomas Byrnes' *Professional Criminals of America* a circa 1895 tome by the NY, NY chief of police. This work includes brief descriptions of well known criminals, and includes some mug shots. In Byrnes' book I learned about sawdust men, green goods men, bancos, and pennyweights. Almost as fascinating is the unreal nicknames of some of the criminals. A really amazing volume.