This book, co-authored by William Oldfield and Victoria Bruce, is an homage to Oldfield’s great grandfather,
Frank Oldfield made a name for himself in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an intrepid United States Post Office inspector. One might think that an incongruous statement – what about being a Post Office inspector would engender any sort of excitement?
Post Office inspectors are actually law enforcement officers who investigate cases involving misuse of the postal system. As such, they carry weaponry and can execute federal search warrants.
In the early 1900s Frank found himself on the case of ferreting out a gang of Sicilian-Americans, all businessmen of one sort or the other. Known as La Mano Nera, or Black Hand, they extorted money from their fellow Sicilians living in America. With the help of a man called the “Italian Sherlock Holmes” he and his fellow inspectors finally broke the case in 1909.
The Black Hand Society, a precursor of The Mafia, was a ruthless band of thugs. Frank was relentless in his pursuit of justice. The book is not only a well-written account of Frank’s service, but includes a fair amount of history about the United States postal system founded by Benjamin Franklin.
Anyone interested in true crime history will enjoy the read.

I found this book to be very informative. First I did not know how much authority that a United States Postal Inspector once had and how many crimes that they investigated. Well before the FBI. Second most of the stories about the Black Hand that I have read about are usually from New York and New Orleans. The author does a good job first taking you through the life of Inspector Oldfield and his rise to Postal investigator. The author then takes you through some of the more famous crimes of the Black Hand especially in New York where they actually formed an Italian squad that was led by Joseph Petrosino who fought the Black Hand until his assignation in 1909. They then take you to New Orleans and the lynching that took place in 1894, so you can get a back ground. Then they go into the crimes that took place and the problem that Oldfield would have finding anyone who would come forward to testify against the Black Hand. He also needed someone to translate the letters that had been sent through the mail showing how a crime had been started. This was not some easy investigation this would go on for some time but he was convinced he could and would get a conviction. During this time he would continue to go after other crimes as well. When he felt he had enough evidence he would be stopped by the District attorney and he went out to find more witnesses so the D.A. would feel more at ease to take the case to court in order to get convictions. He would be successful but like in most jobs his higher ups now were upset with him because the case was a successes and hid name was in the papers he would come under more scrutiny by his superiors who sat in their offices in D.C. and would make his job more difficult he would retire. I found this to be a very good read.

An intriguing true crime story that, perhaps, lets itself get bogged down in details and narrative threads. These are fascinating and probably worthy of several different books, so I can understand the author's reluctance to leave anything out, but it doesn't make for the swiftest of reads. A recommend for fans of the genre but possibly not for the newbie.

I received a review copy free and early, thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster/Touchtone. This book is for sale now.

Who knew that the U.S. Postmaster has the authority to commander an entire ship or airline in pursuit of justice? Needless to say, it doesn’t happen often; think of the press if that were to happen today! But Inspector Frank Oldfield was a man on a mission.

Once the introduction is over, I find an uneven quality to the narrative. The aspect that describes the gangsters and the formation of the Black Hand is fascinating; after the buildup, however, I find the inspector himself less riveting and the writing not as tight as I’d prefer. The research is a little spotty and the sources are not well integrated.

However, if true crime is your wheelhouse, you may want to get a copy of this one-of-a-kind biography.

I am not a nonfiction reader because they can be very dry and boring but I really enjoyed this one. This is a mafia story and the inspector that took them down. It takes place in Ohio which is not really where you would expect an Italian Mob story to take place.
The structure of the book is perfect for this story. It starts by giving chapters to each of the main players and then moves to the investigation and the trial. I will say I was initially thrown by the first couple of chapters because the Prologue is the delivery of two letters to Inspector Oldfield after a murder and then the book jumps to pre-Revolution America and the story of the creation of the US postal service.
I would recommend this to anyone that likes small story American history. Even if you are not a nonfiction reader pick up this book and give it a try.

I started reading this book but had to put it down. I got too bored and was more interested in the "crime aspect", but instead ended up getting a history lesson on the post in colony time America.

This was a fascinating read about a postal inspector who took down a criminal organization that was a prelude to the mafia. Before the FBI, the Postal Inspectors handled investigations. This is a part of America's history that I knew nothing about prior to reading this book. The author did a great job researching his ancestor and this time period.

I haven't read a true crime book in ages but the synopsis of this book just piqued my curiosity. First of all, my grandfather and his twin came to Ellis Island at the age of 14 from Sicily in 1901. Second, my father was a postal worker in Cleveland, Ohio, and third, The Godfather is my all-time favorite movie. With all that, I eagerly dug into this book. This is a font of information here and is one of the most informative books I have read. Meticulously researched about a period of history that I had no clue about, I heartily recommend this book (no my father wasn't a Post Office Inspector or in the mafia). If you love history, true crime and/or mafia stories, please pick up this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review

This was a good true crime book set in the early 20th century dealing with a group of Sicilians who sent out letters to other Italians threatening them with harm if they didn’t pay protection money. The letters were called Black Hand letters and if ignored for very long, usually led to the death of the recipient or their family members. This eventually led to an investigation by a postal inspector, since the crime involved the US mail. Luckily, it drew the attention of Inspector Oldfield who happened to be a very good and creative detective, and he stuck with the case until managed to make headway, where others had failed for years. My thanks for the advance electronic copy provided by Netgalley, authors William Oldfield & Victoria Bruce, and the publisher for my fair review.

Touchstone
Pub: Aug 21st, 2018

This is historical true thriller stuff at its best. It will change your views of the postal service as a hold and perhaps of the romanticized mafia too! EVEN TODAY the postal service does have a small group of select well trained, and armed investigators!! Great book

Historical non-fiction is a genre I greatly enjoy. I tend towards the civil war era when picking historical non-fiction, but I really enjoyed this caper set in the early 1900s. I had no idea how much investigative power the Post Office Inspector has. Oldfield is quite the character and I found myself really rooting for him to bring the Black Hand Society to justice.

Something I liked about this book is that it’s set in a time just long enough ago to feel like some aspects of life were different, but still recent enough that it was only a few generations ago. The mafia storyline is also fascinating and kept me on my toes.

This is the fascinating story of Frank Oldfield, a postal inspector who was all but forgotten until his family uncovered the archives that remained from Frank’s illustrious career. The book starts off with a detailed history of the birth of the United States Postal Service in July 1775 and, in turn, the creation of the Post Office Inspection Services, which would soon become the most robust law enforcement service of the United States government.

When Frank Oldfield was 21 years old, his father was appointed as the local postmaster. This paved the way for Frank to land a good job in the post office. From there he went on to dabble in politics, and at age 29 he was appointed county sheriff.

In 1899, at the age of 32, Frank Oldfield became a U.S. Post Office Inspector. He was known as one of the most aggressive and successful Post Office Inspectors in the service. In 1908 Oldfield was hunting members of the Black Hand Society. He believed that they were responsible for an international organized crime ring spanning across America and all the way to Palermo, Sicily. The Black Hand carried out acts of extortion and coercion through the postal service, often ending in bloodshed. The members were cunning and the operation was quite simple yet sophisticated. Using the power and authority of his badge to exhaust all resources, Frank would lead the investigation that ultimately brought the Black Hands to justice.

One thing I learned from this book was just how powerful and revered Postal Inspectors we’re back in this time. U.S. Post Office Inspectors were the country’s most powerful federal law enforcers at the turn of the century. Long before the FBI came into being, U.S. Post Office Inspectors had jurisdiction of the world. The FBI wouldn’t be founded until July 1908. The presidentially appointed position gave a Post Office Inspector authority to take over an investigation from any law enforcement agency in the country if the United States mails were used in any fashion.

I would recommend this book to fans of true crime, history, and anyone with an interest in the United States Postal Service. I received this as a free ARC from Touchstone on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.