Blood and Ink tells the twisty tale of a double murder in 1920s New Jersey that is fascinating in its own right and as a story of national intrigue and enthusiasm that was sustained by the then-nascent but on-the-rise tabloids. This true crime doesn't so much seek to solve or unravel a killing but rather considers its complicated aftermath. What followed these murders was decades of hot mess with people lying, disagreeing, plotting, and messing up. This morass of humanity easily fills an entire book and provides ample entertainment for a reader. Each new revelation brought to light by investigators or journalists offers another potential series of events to explain two deaths. But while these twists are riveting, don't expect a tidy answer at the end. The author makes suggestions about what is and isn't likely, but he abstains from contributing to the already dense field of accusations and theories populating around the murders even now. If we don't have the evidence, we don't have it. I was surprised by the lack of closure given my experiences with the genre, but I respected the approach.

The book shows how tabloids started as a means of making news accessible and entertaining. By amplifying photos and keeping text concise, more people were likely to pick one up. Scandals, gossip, contests, and stunt reporting kept people coming back for more. An incident in the book exemplifies the type of reporting made popular by tabloids. An editor hired someone to play a spiritualist in the hopes that she would elicit a confession from a victim's widower. It didn't work, but enough harebrained schemes went well that they sparked more. Reporters probably both helped and hindered the investigations surrounding these murders. What is perhaps most interesting is their impact-- not only on public opinion but also on the official investigation, courtrooms, and legacy of the crime.

For a reader who would like to read a story about secret love, murder, and the privileges of old money, this true crime narrative is a great option. It doesn't dive much into other spectrums of privilege, however. Though there are some obvious angles on gender and a moment where race plays a part, it's not dissected in the same way. The impact of women as crime reporters is a notable exception though not deeply examined. There's also a brief attempt to consider how a likely neurodivergent person was viewed by his peers, but the author's language and understanding of the experience lack finesse. On the plus side, the book uses a meaty example to demonstrate the rise of tabloid reporting in the U.S. for those who are interested in the history of journalism and the role of the press. Thanks to William Morrow for my copy to read and review!

Edward Hall, Episcopal minister married to Frances, a wealthy high society woman, is having a secret affair with Eleanor Mills, a married woman who sings in the choir and spends much of her time on her "church work". They are found brutally murdered under a crab tree out in the countryside. All sounds quite salacious for 1922!

However, a great deal of this book focuses on the role the media played in this investigation. The author did a great deal of research on the investigation, the many publications going after this tantalizing story of the day, and the many people investigated as having played a part in this murder which remains unsolved to this day.

For me there was too much on the parts I wasn't interested in with the media of the day and not enough on the murder investigation. But it was a well-research, well-written book.

My thanks to Net Galley and William Morrow for an advanced copy of this e-book.

{NG kindle, Audible}

I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this book. I was iffy about it when I read the description so it sat in my "to read pile" for a while. Once I started reading it, I simply could not put it down. I read it in a little over a day and would have finished it much quicker if it hadn't been a very busy day!

In September of 1922, two bodies were discovered murdered in a field and they appeared to be stagged to look as to have had relations. The man was a local minister married to FrancesHall a Heriss of the Johnson and Johnson family. The female was a young woman and so the talk was starting as soon as the discovery happened. The investigation would also be handled improperly from the very beginning when the author takes you through all of the steps that were missed, and some that they tried to go back and do but could not. This was also a case that would talk the press as a tabloid, so you can see where this whole thing is going. A good book slow at times but still good.

To me, it feels like Pompeo started examining the case, couldn't solve it, and needed some padding, which is why there's such a focus on the actual reporting of the case. It's not a bad thing, the newspaper war was really interesting! But it does seem to divert from the case itself, and feels a little bit like two different stories.

Extremely detailed while painting a picture of the crime as well as the people involved. I didn’t want to put it down and finished it within a day.

I'm a fan of books that cover true crime around the turn of the 20th century. The details that are so focused on societal narrative and newspapers trying to sell papers by sharing scandalous details (both true and false) are so interesting. This case, especially, is fascinating. Everyone has a possible motive, and the author of Blood & Ink successfully laid them all out for us to see and make our conclusions. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys the true crime genre. I give Blood & Ink 4/5 stars.

Blood and Ink is an excellent look at a murder that occurred over 100 years ago in New Brunswick, NJ. Reverend Edward Hall and his mistress, choir singer Eleanor Mills were found murdered beneath a crabapple tree down a secluded lovers lane, love letters strewn around the bodies. This book details how the newspapers, police department and courts worked together at that time to try to solve this gruesome double murder. Joe Pompeo offers his well researched opinion as well as that of other authors and scholars. I love true crime and this one was a win for me!

In 1922, the bodies of Eleanor Mills and Reverend Edward Hall were found posed in an act of intimacy beneath a tree at an abandoned farm outside of New Brunswick, New Jersey. When local authorities failed to bring forward anyone to stand trial for the crimes, most thought that would be the end of it. Afterall, Reverend Hall's wife, Frances Hall, had connections. She was an heiress with ties to the Johnson & Johnson dynasty. Her deceased husband being found alongside a choir singer from the church shocked locals.  In the end, the Hearst tabloids took up the charge and renewed interest in the case.

Blood & Ink by Joe Pompeo explores the history of the case as well as how the rise of American tabloid journalism catered to the masses and exposed cases. The book isn't just a true crime tale, but rather that and an exploration of the time period and the media. Pompeo keeps the history interesting and the personalities fascinating, making Blood & Ink an enjoyable ride.

Blood & Ink is available now.

Blood and Ink is a great title because as the subtitle says it is about a jazz-age murder mystery that got us hooked on true-crime and sensationalist news. This book effectively takes us on a rollicking ride through the lives and details of the murdered couple and the various suspects and witnesses (very colorful characters themselves). But this is not your average "whodunit" - rather this is a detailed and meticulously researched examination of the lengths the emerging tabloid press as well as prosecutors would take to enhance the entertainment value. There are many examples of corruption and witness tampering along with the sensationalist headlines which makes this a fun read. We may never know who were the culprits but the author does a good job digging into continued investigations into this particular murder into more recent times. This book is recommended for true crime fans but also for fans of history and media.
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for my honest review..

Anyone who likes thre Jazz age and who wants the other side of the story F Scott Fitzgerald told should read this book for a better vuew of the time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-researched and well-written account of the scandalous 1922 murders of Reverend Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills, his mistress and a singer in the church choir. Mr. Pompeo has done an excellent job of giving the details of this Jazz Age case as well as analyzing how this media sensation contributed to an insatiable national thirst for true crime stories. Intriguing, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining, Blood & Ink is a must-read for true crime fans and those who are interested in the origins of murder stories as a national obsession.

“The dead man was a prominent local minister, married to a proud matron from an illustrious New Jersey family. Beside him lay a working-class housewife from the church choir.”

The story starts more than 100 years in the past: Saturday, September 16, 1922. A beautiful day was disrupted by a horrifying discovery that attracted morbid tourists like flies to the corpses. A married minister and a member of the church choir were found murdered under a tree in a too-familiar staging. Tourists came from miles around and took pieces of the crime scene home as loathsome souvenirs. Writers descended to make their names and fortunes. The widow, connected to the Johnson & Johnson company maintains a serene lifestyle. At times you feel the frustration of the detectives in the destroyed crime scene and invisible walls, and at other times wonder if one of the local police (or more) hadn’t been paid to look the other way.

As detectives investigate the double-homicide, tabloid newspapers keep up the continuous coverage (and pressure). Witnesses come forward for and against the wealthy widow of the Episcopalian minister, and the widow’s brother. As time and the investigation progressed, it became stunningly obvious that wealth or lack of it did indeed cause rich and poor suspects to be treated very differently. Allegations that put poor man Hayes in jail scarcely disrupted the life of rich widow Frances Hall.

Somerset County prosecutor Azariah Beekman conducted a Grand Jury in which he sought indictments for 3 unnamed parties. It became a question of whether brother Henry Stevens or cousin Henry Carpender accompanied Frances Hall on the night of the murder. Carpender had an alibi, Stevens did not. At the end of the ensuing trials all were found not guilty. The reader is left with the distinct feeling that justice was eluded in a flurry of money.

The only winners after the muder investigation and trials were the surviving tabloid newspapers.

After the Hall-Mills murder trial, the author continues on with coverage of newspaper editor Phil Payne, who worked directly for William Randolph Hearst. In the Jazz Age, which was also the age of aviation stunts, exploits, and broken barriers, Payne continued on with his biggest newspaper story yet: the flight of the Fokker airplane “Old Glory,” New York to Rome, which departed on September 6, 1927. Souls onboard included Payne as the radioman/navigator with two accomplished U.S. Airmail pilots. The aftremath of this flight into the unknown would create his greatest headlines yet for Hearst newspapers.

I found this addition to the murder examination to be both superflous but also interesting. It’s one aviation disaster with which I wasn’t familiar.

I definitely thought twice before requesting a history book involving tabloid newspapers. I never read them and when I see them on display, think they are laughable. All the same, a 1920’s unsolved murder beckoned….

This is a well-written book and much more interesting than you might think at a casual glance. I certainly could not put it down; I guess I was drawn to the doomed.

A big thank you to author Joe Pompeo, publisher William Morrow & Company, and NetGallery for allowing me to read a pre-publication egalley of this book. My opinions are my own and I received nothing for this review.

When Reverend Edward Hall and choir singer Eleanor Mills were found murdered it was a strange place for them to be with the love letters strewn around the dead bodies would soon become clear with these two people who were married to others we’re doing in a place for romantic couples wanting secret time alone. With dual counties investigating the families of the victims fighting in the papers and reporters clamoring for new tidbits it was bound to be a cluster crunch it was the early 1920s in people still surrounded murder victims collecting souvenirs and an autopsy’s were not required automatically for victims so to say the investigation got off to a wonky start is an understatement. In the end they would have a trial though but the people they put on trial was more shocking than the victims themselves. Joe Pompeo has done a fabulous job covering this tragic event. I read this story before but never with this much detail and as far as the True Crime story goes this is definitely a five star read. It was so good and although I did roll my eyes it was mostly at the antics of the victims families. This is such a great book and I highly recommend it if you like reading True Crime you should definitely get this want to try it was so so good! I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Blood & Ink
The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder That Hooked America on True Crime
by Joe Pompeo
Pub Date 13 Sep 2022 | Archive Date 08 Nov 2022
William Morrow
History | Nonfiction (Adult) | True Crime


I am reviewing copy of Blood & Ink through William Morrow and Netgalley:



On a warm but partly cloudy mid morning day on September.16.1922, Pearl Bahmer and Ray Scneider found the bodies of Reverend Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills beneath a crabapple tree on an abandoned farm outside of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The killer had arranged the bodies in a pose conveying intimacy.


The murder of the Reverend Edward Hall who was a prominent clergyman whose wife Frances Hall, was a proud heiress with illustrious ancestors and ties to the Johnson & Johnson dynasty, would have made headlines on its own. But when authorities identified Eleanor Mills as a choir singer from his church married to the church sexton, the story shocked locals and sent the scandal ricocheting around the country, fueling the nascent tabloid industry. This provincial double murder on a lonely lover’s lane would soon become one of the most famous killings in American history—a veritable crime of the century.


The local authorities failed to secure any indictments, it took a crusade by the editor of a circulation-hungry Hearst tabloid to revive the case and bring it to trial at last.


Blood & Ink freshly chronicles what remains one of the most electrifying but forgotten murder mysteries in U.S. history. It also traces the birth of American tabloid journalism, pandering to the masses with sordid tales of love, sex, money, and murder. 


I give Blood and Ink five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

This was a unique book on a number of levels! I like true crime, but this story wasn't constructed like the typical ones I've read, where the focus is on the crime, the perpetrators and the law. Instead, as the title promises, a lot of the focus is on the press, just beginning to feel their oats where covering sensational events are concerned. The search for the killers of the pastor and his choir sweetheart runs in parallel narrative to the crusading reporters and ambitious media bosses learning as they go what works and what doesn't in crafting coverage that grabs the public's eyes and pocketbooks.

Another element I really liked was the latter part of the book, where the lives of the main players were followed out in a little more detail than I usually see in this type of story, and how the writer steps in when the timeline comes up to the present day to talk about his own search for the last living participants and getting their take on the events. Overall it was a fascinating read that I would definitely recommend!

This was a well-written and well-researched novel about an infamous 1922 double murder. Reverend Edward Hall and Eleanor Mills, a member of his church, were shot and posed together under a crabapple tree. They were both married to other people, and were having an affair. The reverend's wife was an heiress and she and her brothers came under suspicious, as did the cuckolded husband. Although a trial ultimately took place, the crime was never solved. Ordinarily this would drive me nuts, as I don't enjoy reading about an unresolved true crime case. But there was so much more going on in this novel. The blending of true crime and historical non-fiction about the rise of tabloid journalism was fascinating. The lengths that were gone to to sensationalize the case and sell newspapers was eye-popping and through-provoking.

review from Booklist: In 1922, a grisly New Jersey murder propelled a circulation war among New York newspapers. Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall, the charismatic rector of St John the Evangelist in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Eleanor Mills, a pretty young member of the St Johns choir, were found murdered in the local lover’s lane. Both were married to others and their relationship had been the subject of gossip. The Daily News, then only a few years old, was struggling to gain circulation. Phil Payne, the young managing editor, thought that the story was perfect for the Daily News’ unique tabloid size and sensational style. He assigned his most dogged reporters, several of whom were women, to the story. Highlighting scandal, sex, class, and money, the murder reporting spurred the fledgling tabloid’s circulation, delighting Payne and the publisher, Joseph Medill Patterson. Because of an inept investigation and very possibly a cash coverup, the murders were never solved. In his book length debut, journalist Pompeo brings this story and its fascinating characters to life in a way that will captivate true crime lovers. His insights into tabloid journalism show that it has not strayed far from its roots in sensationalism and melodrama.

I received an advance reading copy (arc) of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. Back in September 1922, two bodies were discovered beneath a crabapple tree in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The man and woman had been shot and the woman's throat slashed. They were then placed neatly beside each other with his arm cushioning her head and her left hand on his right thigh. And so began a homicide hunt for their killer or killers. The man was identified as a well-respected and married reverend, Edward W. Hall and the woman, Eleanor Mills, (also married) was an active member of his congregation. As it turned out, they were having a heated affair and the resulting scandal followed. The whole sordid matter was covered in the newspapers and fed to a tabloid obsessed country. Of course, the fans were flamed by Author Joe Pompeo described the entire matter with all of its twists and turns as the investigation unfolded. Of course, in 1922, there were little scientific methods and no one thought about keeping the crime scene intact as reporters and curious onlookers combed the place. It literally took years before murder charges were made followed by a rip-roaring trial that included a witness who was literally transported in an ambulance from a hospital and placed in a hospital bed in the middle of the courtroom with her doctor in attendance. Did she tell the truth? According to her own mother, she was nothing but a liar. Hall left behind a wealthy widow who had the means to buy her way out of trouble, while Mills left behind a disgruntled husband who never really missed his wife. As the title of the book tells us--this century-old crime remains 'unsolved', but the story behind it makes for an interesting read.

I am a sucker for true crime books and for books set in the interwar era. Blood & Ink fills the bill in both instances. Joe Pompeo lays out the story of the murder of the Rev. Edward Hall and his mistress Eleanor Mills. The two were found under a crabapple tree on an abandoned New Jersey farm near New Brunswick NJ in September 1922. The police did not solve it then and a hundred years later the murder remains very much a mystery. Much, however, can be said about how events played out.

Hall's wife, Frances, is a frumpy heiress decended from wealth and of blue blood. The two live with her brother, Willie, portrayed in the book as a sort of eccentric bachelor who loved to hang around the local fire house and the local Hungarian community. Another brother, Henry, lives at the shore. Frances and the rest of the family claim not to have known about the affair. So too, Jim Mills, Eleanor's husband. Perhaps the main charachter in this book is the nascent tabloid press. The Daily News' wunderkind editor Phil Payne has pioneered this format. He sees skyrocketing circulation numbers resulting from this story and immediately sends a young female reporter to cover it. The rest of the press of course follows suit. Payne stops at nothing to pursue this this tale. including staging a fake seance to trick Jim Mills into confessing. Prosecutors too sense the opportunity to boost their career and soon a grand jury is empaneled. The air goes out of the story though when the case goes cold and the grand jury returns a no bill.

Four years later, now at a new newspaper, the Globe, Phil Payne once again needs to boost circulation and his private investigators help him gin up new evidence to have another run at a murder trial Frances and her brothers are this time indicted and two of the three are put on trial. Central to the trial is the testimony of " the pig farmer"Jane Gibson who, in varying accounts over the years, says that she witnessed the murders while chasing corn thieves aboard her mule Jenny.

This is as colorful set of charachters as you might find in a Damon Runyon story and Runyon does in fact report on the trial. The account has the flavor of Ben Hecht's Front Page and, alhough we never get a definitive answer to who killed the pair, that is almost beside the point. This is an entertaining story.

There is though a larger point to be made. While it is true that this murder took place when America was a very different place, this story holds up a mirror to our own time. The seeds of shows like 48 Hours, Dateline, 20/20, and the rest were planted here. So too was the art of politicians playing to the news cycle and the media focus on the sensational rather than the important. Pompeo deserves praise for making this a parallel story to that of the murder mystery.

I would like to thank HarperCollins and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in turn for an honest review