# Event Details

- **Event Name**: True Crime Book Club (April)
- **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 24 Apr, 2026 at 05:30 pm – Fri, 24 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm (-05:00)
- **Event Description**: Welcome to our newest book club, crime junkies! We'll meet every 4th Friday of the month at 5:30 pm to discuss con artists, dastardly deeds, and general menace. Our book for April is The Talented Mrs Mandelbaum by Margalit Fox.  https://threebellsbooks.com/item/DayRjyMnwHls509eNc-TtQ

About the book:

America’s first great organized-crime lord was a lady—a nice Jewish mother named Mrs. Mandelbaum.

“A tour de force . . . With a pickpocket’s finesse, Margalit Fox lures us into the criminal underworld of Gilded Age New York.”—Liza Mundy, author of The Sisterhood

A PARADE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In 1850, an impoverished twenty-five-year-old named Fredericka Mandelbaum came to New York in steerage and worked as a peddler on the streets of Lower Manhattan. By the 1870s she was a fixture of high society and an admired philanthropist. How was she able to ascend from tenement poverty to vast wealth?

In the intervening years, “Marm” Mandelbaum had become the country’s most notorious “fence”—a receiver of stolen goods—and a criminal mastermind. By the mid-1880s as much as $10 million worth of purloined luxury goods (nearly $300 million today) had passed through her Lower East Side shop. Called “the nucleus and center of the whole organization of crime,” she planned robberies of cash, gold and diamonds throughout the country.

But Mrs. Mandelbaum wasn’t just a successful crook: She was a business visionary—one of the first entrepreneurs in America to systemize the scattershot enterprise of property crime. Handpicking a cadre of the finest bank robbers, housebreakers and shoplifters, she handled logistics and organized supply chains—turning theft into a viable, scalable business.

The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum paints a vivid portrait of Gilded Age New York—a city teeming with nefarious rogues, capitalist power brokers and Tammany Hall bigwigs, all straddling the line between underworld enterprise and “legitimate” commerce. Combining deep historical research with the narrative flair for which she is celebrated, Margalit Fox tells the unforgettable true story of a once-famous heroine whose life exemplifies America’s cherished rags-to-riches narrative while simultaneously upending it entirely.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/mason-city/true-crime-book-club-april/200029728648830
- **Event Categories**: art, business, literary-art, parades
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 12

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Mason City
- **state**: IA
- **country**: United States
- **location**: 14 S. Commercial Alley, Mason City, IA, United States, Iowa 50401
- **lat**: 43.15158
- **long**: -93.20045
- **full address**: 14 S. Commercial Alley, Mason City, IA, United States, Iowa 50401

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: True Crime Book Club (April)
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/eb0b33b647dbf2cbed234093b647d19a260b3ff86ca630166d8b67a292998578-rimg-w1200-h900-dca37c61-gmir?v=1775872568

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is True Crime Book Club (April) being held?
  - **A:** True Crime Book Club (April) takes place on Fri, 24 Apr, 2026 at 05:30 pm to Fri, 24 Apr, 2026 at 06:30 pm at 14 S. Commercial Alley, Mason City, IA, United States, Iowa 50401.
- **Q**: Who is organizing True Crime Book Club (April)?
  - **A:** True Crime Book Club (April) is organized by Three Bells Books.
- **Q**: What has been the experience of attendees at Three Bells Books's events?
  - **A:** Attendees have given Three Bells Books a rating of 5/5 based on reviews from early attendees on AllEvents. Three Bells Books has a verified profile on AllEvents where you can read reviews and explore their upcoming events.
- **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me?
  - **A:** True Crime Book Club (April) is ideal for party-goers, social butterflies, and anyone looking for a great night out with music, drinks, and good vibes. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Mason City, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If True Crime Book Club (April) sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast.

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