The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison

By Kathleen A. Cairns

Book Overview

"Crack shot." "Enigma woman." "Good with ponies and pistols." "A much-married woman."
What if such an unconventional woman--and the press unanimously agreed that Nellie May Madison was indeed unconventional--were to get away with murder? Shortly after her husband's bullet-riddled body was found in the couple's Burbank apartment, police issued an all-points bulletin for the "beautiful, dark-haired widow." The ensuing drama unfolded with all the twists and turns of a noir crime novel. In this intriguing cultural history, Kathleen A. Cairns tells the tale of Nellie May Madison, the first woman on Death Row in California. Her story offers a glimpse into law and disorder in 1930s Los Angeles while bringing to life a remarkable character whose plight reflects on the status of women, the workings of the media and the judiciary system, and the stratification of society in her time. Cairns's re-creation of the case from murder to trial to aftermath also casts an eye forward to our own love-hate affair with celebrity crimes and our abiding ambivalence about domestic violence as a defense for murder.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803224508
• ISBN13: 9780803224506
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Well done book

This book is about my aunt(through marriage) and I personally know the author did a lot of research. I commend her.

Compelling crime drama and cultural history

This book has something for everyone. It's a compelling crime drama, a carefully layered character study and a cultural history that provides insights into gender roles, the legal system and the media of the 1930s and the 1940s. Nellie May Madison was an unusual and at times a desperate woman, but she found the inner strength to avoid being a victim on two occasions. The author masterfully re-creates her story, including pain-staking research about her Montana pioneer family. The book has lots of surprising legal twists and turns. But what sets it apart is the larger story it tells about the life and times of Southern California during that period. One note of caution: don't start the book if you need to go to bed early, I couldn't put it down.

Fantastic book-well researched, great topic!

I first became aware of Nellie Madison in the summer of 2006 when I was told that she was buried at the historic Mountain View Cemetery in San Bernadino, CA. Well, I was told that a "woman who was on death row" was buried there, but no further information was given. A few months later I located Nellie's victim, her husband Erik Madison, at Vallhala Cemetery in North Hollywood and the pieces of the puzzle all came together. Then I heard that Proferssor Cairns was about to publish a book about the entire case! Talk about it being a small world. The book is excellent. Sources are cited throughout, no tabloid style writing, no sensational prose. A welcome relief from most true crime stories. She did an amazing amount of research, interviewing people connected to Nellie, obtaining archival photos, everything you would hope to see but rarely do. Nellie Madison's story deserved to be told, and Ms. Cairns did an excellent job sharing it.

Enthralling!

I really enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it. Ms Cairns has managed to achieve a perfect balance between academic quality and readability. Personally I always think that a well written biography or history book should fire the interest of the reader into wanting to find out more about peripheral characters mentioned in the book or the historical period in general, once you have read this book you will want to do both. "The Enigma Woman: The Death Sentence of Nellie May Madison" would appeal not only to those interested in true crime but also to anyone interested in the history of California or the 1930's generally. The main focus of the book is obviously the trial of Nellie Madison which was fascinating however Ms Cairns does her best to provide a good overview of Nellie Madison's life which is extremely interesting and unconventional, especially for the period in which she lived. The author now has a web page which includes different pictures of Nellie Madison after she left prison and remarried. If you are interested it is called Inside Info on Uncle John's Nellie.