The Big Policeman: The Rise and Fall of America's First, Most Ruthless, and Greatest Detective - Paperback

by J. North Conway (Author)

A story bursting with murder, mayhem, and intrigue--the astonishing career of Thomas Byrnes, the 19th Century New York City detective who closed the city's most notorious murders and robberies and became one of the most celebrated detectives in American history. The second in the New York City Gilded Age Crime Trilogy by J. North Conway.

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A fascinating, fast-moving account of one of the most polarizing and influential figures of nineteenth-century New York. --Daniel Stashower, author of The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder "An essential read for those interested in police work, detective stories, and New York City history." --Library JournalFrom 1854 to 1895, Thomas Byrnes rose through New York City's police department to become one of the most celebrated detectives in American history, a giant who captured Manhattan's Jack the Ripper copy-cat killer, solved the murder of prostitute Maude Merrill, cracked the largest bank heist in American history, and "shaped not just the New York City Detective Bureau but the template for detective work . . . in every modern American metropolis," according to the New York Times. Byrnes pioneered crime scene investigations, was the first to use mug shots, and perfected the brutal interrogation process called "the third degree," but he was forced to resign amid widespread corruption that had plagued the department for decades. Author J. North Conway narrates in vivid detail the crimes, corruption, and gritty police work associated with the man history has dubbed "the big policeman."

Author Biography

J. North Conway is the author of King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America and the upcoming Bag of Bones: The Sensational Grave Robbery of the Merchant Prince of Manhattan; in addition to seven other nonfiction books. He has been a daily newspaper reporter and editor, and a columnist and feature writer for the Providence Journal and Bostonia, the alumni publication of Boston University. He has worked as an editor/writer for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second oldest international learned society in the country. He teaches at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth and Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts. He previously taught at Boston University, Northeastern University, and Fisher College. He lives in Assonet, Massachusetts.