Review: ‘Trial by Ambush’

I’ve just read the best “comp” for Madeline Gets Life.

It’s a true crime book by Marcial Clark: Trial by Ambush: Murder, Injustice, and the Truth About the Case of Barbara Graham.

Barbara Graham at her 1953 murder trial.

“Comps” are shorthand for competitive and comparable titles. They help agents and publishers envision how your project might stack up against similar books out there.

Clark prosecuted O.J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife three decades ago. I was at CNN back then, and it was my first experience with “wall-to-wall” coverage of a news event. Simpson was acquitted. He died last year.

A murder case from 1953 is at the center of Clark’s book. She argues persuasively that Barbara Graham got a raw deal when she was convicted of helping to kill wealthy Mabel Monahan during a robbery in her Burbank, California, home.

Madeline Webb at her sentencing in 1942.

Similarities with the Madeline Webb case abound. The victim in both cases was bound, beaten, and died of asphyxiation. Two men were convicted along with Madeline, including Eddie Shonbrun, her lover. Graham was linked romantically with Emmett Perkins, one of two men convicted with her.

In both cases, a fourth conspirator agreed to testify against the other three in exchange for leniency.

And both cases were marred by sensationalized press coverage – and prosecutorial over-ambition.

In Graham’s case, the prosecutor hid evidence that may have persuaded the jury to acquit her. In Madeline’s, evidence was overlooked that suggested Madeline did not make a telephone call luring the victim to a hotel where she was killed.

The big difference between Madeline Gets Life and Trial by Ambush is that Madeline was sentenced to life in prison (she was released after 25 years), and Barbara Graham was executed in California’s gas chamber.

Susan Hayward starred in the 1958 movie about the Graham case, I Want to Live!

No film has been made about Madeline – but I can recommend a great book on which to base one.