A Pair of Aces | Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

A Pair of Aces

Extended Synopsis

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 prosecutors 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.

Reader Targeting

• Fans of immersive 1930s Manhattan noir and historical thrillers.
• Readers of gripping biographical and African American historical fiction.
• Book club members seeking powerful stories centered on trailblazing women taking down systemic corruption.

About the Authors

Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray are acclaimed New York Times bestselling authors. Following their massive success with the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian, they have reunited to bring another forgotten, phenomenal piece of women's history to the forefront of modern literature.

Accolades & Features

This elegant clothbound hardcover edition features a stunning dust jacket highlighting an atmospheric 1930s Manhattan noir aesthetic. The volume includes detailed biographical timelines, co-author archival postscripts, historical trial notes, and comprehensive book club reading matrices engineered for group discussion.

Bust-Down Books: More Than a Bookstore