The Rope

November 16, 2020
In this vivid history, journalist Tresniowski (coauthor, The Foundling) intertwines the story of journalist Ida B. Wells’s anti-lynching crusade with the case of a Black man wrongfully accused of murder in 1910. Between 1882 and 1968, Tresniowski notes, nearly 3,500 African Americans were lynched in the U.S. In speeches, articles, and a book, Wells documented the killings and pushed for a federal anti-lynching law. After a white mob destroyed her newspaper’s offices in Memphis, Tenn., in 1892, Wells moved to New York and then Illinois, where she stopped a white sheriff from getting his job back after he failed to prevent the lynching of a Black prisoner. Wells also helped to create the NAACP, whose lawyers worked to free innocent Black men, including Tom Williams, who was accused of murdering 10-year-old Marie Smith in Asbury Park, N.J. Tresniowksi paints a colorful portrait of private detective Raymond Schindler, who was hired by the Asbury Park police and a local businessman to investigate the murder, and skillfully builds momentum as Schindler attempts to elicit a confession from his prime suspect before Williams stands trial. This thrilling true crime story documents a critical chapter in the crusade against racial violence in America.

December 15, 2020
Journalist Tresniowski links the work of a fearless detective and the anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells as he reconstructs the case of a Black man arrested on a trumped-up murder charge. This suspenseful, well-written true-crime tale will be an eye-opener for anyone who assumes that after Reconstruction, lynching remained a serious threat only in the South. The author tells the story of Thomas Williams, a Black odd-jobs man wrongfully accused of murdering Marie Smith, a 10-year-old White girl who was also sexually assaulted, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in 1910. Shortly after the crime, the police arrested Williams on circumstantial evidence and had to sneak him out of town to protect him from a lynch mob. With the consent of the police, a businessman skeptical of Williams' guilt hired private detective Raymond C. Schindler--later praised as "the most brilliant and charismatic investigator of his time"--who developed his own theory of the case. In order to get a more plausible suspect to confess, the resourceful Schindler set up an elaborate sting, full of cloak-and-dagger intrigue that unfolds with mounting tension. Wells wasn't involved in the Asbury Park murder, but the author gives that case a broad context by weaving in accounts of her anti-lynching campaigns and of her role in founding the NAACP, which helped with Williams' legal defense. Unfortunately, Tresniowski supplies no endnotes, bibliography, or other data on how he reconstructed the details of his narrative, and their absence leaves open to question some aspects of his story. The section recounting the killer's confession will be painful reading for sexual assault victims or parents of sexually abused children. Still, Tresniowski more than proves his point that early in the 20th century, "even in a northern state like New Jersey, a black prisoner had no guarantee of any safety in jail anywhere." High-velocity historical true crime lacking supporting data that would have enhanced its credibility.

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January 1, 2021

Tresniowski (The Vendetta) breathes life into a largely forgotten murder mystery in this gripping true crime story. When 10-year-old Marie Smith was murdered in Asbury Park, NJ, in 1910, no one suspected that the event would catapult the creation of the NAACP, whose lawyers worked to free someone who was falsely accused of the crime. Marie's murder, which took place in the tumultuous years between the Civil War and the civil rights movement, brought together individuals across racial and class divisions to develop methods for criminal detection, challenging Jim Crow standards, and seeking justice for all of those unjustly killed. Tresniowski's storytelling focuses on each of the major players, including schoolgirl Marie Smith, civil rights crusader Ida B. Wells, and rookie New York detective Ray Schindler, who helped arrange a sting operation to catch the killer. Tresniowski richly details the investigation into Marie's murder, and how the techniques for criminal detection used in this case helped to form the early basis of forensic criminology at the turn of the century. VERDICT This gripping story is an important reminder of the many layers of injustice still present in the United States, and would be a timely, relevant addition to most true crime and history collections.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
In 1910, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Marie Smith, a 10-year-old white girl, disappeared. When her battered body was found a few days later, a local reporter implicated Tom Williams, an African American. After Williams' arrest, a lynch mob marched on the jail. Williams was spirited away, and while he remained in custody and continued to protest his innocence, a months-long investigation led by detective Ray Schindler, and employing some rather questionable techniques, including a staged murder, gradually shifted attention to another suspect who eventually confessed to the crime. Journalist and author Tresniowski winds this account around chapters detailing the life and career of anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells, and her work with the newly formed NAACP as they launched their first legal battles to defend wrongly-accused victims, including Williams. The parallel stories are engrossing, and the action continues apace as the two strands come together. The satisfying conclusion describes the trial and its aftermath, and fills in the later lives of Williams, Tarbell, and Schindler. A condemnation of lynching on a stark, personal level.

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