"A Pair of Aces" | Reviewed by Diane Lick

Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray have teamed up once again to bring to life the story of two forgotten women from history. “A Pair of Aces” refers to “the prosecutor and the madam, the unlikely pair behind the downfall of America’s most notorious mobster,” Lucky Luciano, in 1936.

The first woman, Eunice Hunton Carter, is Assistant District Attorney in New York City.  As the authors state, “Not only is she a woman in a man’s world, she is a colored woman, in a white man’s world.” Then there is Polly Adler, a Russian Jewish immigrant, who is the madam of “the most prestigious house of prostitution in New York City.” Why would these women from such different worlds cooperate with one another?

The story is told from each woman’s point of view. This gives the reader insight into their backstory as well as their current personal lives, careers, and how they end up working together.

Thomas Dewey is investigating organized crime in New York City and Carter, as part of his team, is assigned a minor role following up on citizen complaints. She decides to make the most of this, and since the majority of the complaints involve prostitution, she begins to graph her findings.

Polly Adler and a few of her girls get arrested. Adler becomes aware that a lot of prostitutes are not serving jail time because of something called “The Combination.” Carter also is seeing this pattern with lawyers and bail bondsmen representing prostitutes who don’t serve sentences.

When Adler is approached by “The Combination” she suspects it is part of the crime syndicate headed by Luciano and wants no part of it. She wants to maintain control over her own house. As Dewey’s case against the mob breaks down, Carter tells him that the prostitution “racket” might be the key to putting the mobsters in jail. At first Dewey doesn’t agree because he doesn’t see this as a crime worth prosecuting. As it turns out this is the best case to bring down the mob. 

Dewey can never learn that Carter and Adler share information. Adler reminds Carter, “men engage in vice in secret but deride it in public.” The case is not winnable if they don’t find witnesses that are not prostitutes. The “pair of aces “work together as allies in this battle against the mob but they can never be friends no matter what they share.”

With “A Pair of Aces,” Benedict and Murray have written another fine story about women in history, a wonderful book for book club discussions. There are many threads to explore: family dynamics, racism, sexism, women’s roles regarding family and careers, victims, crime, legal questions—the list is extensive. But perhaps most important of all, this book makes us wonder if anything has changed in the last 90 years?

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