Devil’s Garden, by Ace Atkins

From the critically acclaimed, award-nominated author comes a new noir crime classic about one of the most notorious trials in American history.

Critics called Ace Atkinss Wicked City gripping, superb (Library Journal), stunning (The Tampa Tribune), terrific (Associated Press), riveting (Kirkus Reviews), wicked good (Fort Worth Star-Telegram), and Atkins best novel (The Washington Post). But Devils Garden is something else again.

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—crushing her under his weight—and brings him up on manslaughter charges. William Randolph Hearsts newspapers stir up the public and demand a guilty verdict. But what really happened? Why do so many people at the party seem to have stories that conflict? Why is the prosecution hiding witnesses? Why are there body parts missing from the autopsied corpse? Why is Hearst so determined to see Fatty Arbuckle convicted?

In desperation, Arbuckles defense team hires a Pinkerton agent to do an investigation of his own and, they hope, discover the truth. The agents name is Dashiell Hammett, and hes the books narrator. What he discovers will change American legal history—and his own life—forever.

The historical accuracy isnt what elevates Atkins prose to greatness, said The Tampa Tribune. Its his ability to let these characters breathe in a way that few authors could ever imagine. He doesnt so much write them as unleash them upon the page. You will not soon forget the extraordinary characters and events in Devils Garden.
(From the YouTube description)
Publisher: Putnam Adult (April 2, 2009)