A Pair of Aces ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

G👀dreads About Summary

A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian.

Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. Other prosecutors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they’ve all focused on the crime syndicate’s traditional businesses—bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing—or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its hand in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can’t get Luciano alone.

Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all.

Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they’re trying to convict. It is this very alliance—of two women from vastly different worlds—that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

The How/Why: Marie Benedict is my favorite HF author so I was waiting for this one. Plus trailblazing women vs gangsta's!
I tagged this one in Libby as soon as it was published, 6-2-2026.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

🎉 Overall Storytelling? 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

🎣 Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

🗣️Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes ➕ Especially if you like HF

🕮 Would I want a sequel? No ➖ Not necessary

📚 Would I want to read more books by this author? Yes ➕ All of them except Daughter of Egypt. For some reason I'm not intrigued by that one, even though it has good reviews. 

💣💥 📢 Content Warnings? Google says: Sɇxuɐl Assɐult and Vi0lɇncɇ, Humån Tråⓕⓕickinᵷ, Domestic and Physical AbŲsɇ, Rɐci$m and SɇxiŞm, AntiŞeᵯitiŞm. 
So basically life in the fast lane in the 1930s. 

🌶 Spice? No

🌪 Plot Twist? No

👟 Pace? As typical of this dynamic duo, this one was off and running from the get go. 

💻 Tidbits ~ Rather than my usual MO (review and then add the real life tidbits), I'm going straight to the Historical vs Fiction since the story is already outlined and fact vs fiction is always on the line. 

We know from the About Summary that Eunice was a fierce attorney and was [one of] the Assistant DAs on this case. We know Polly was a high end madam overprotective of her girls. We know from history that Lucky was convicted for his crimes. 

Facts:

Eunice Carter was a trailblazer and the first black female prosecutor in Manhattan. She realized that while male investigators chased Lucky Luciano for tax evasion or bootlegging, the mob boss could be vulnerable to prostitution and racketeering charges.

Polly Adler was a highly notorious New York madam who immigrated from Russia as a teenager and ran upscale and exclusive Manhattan brothels that catered to high society, celebrities, and gangsters. 

Lucky Luciano was the ruthless head of organized crime families who attempted to consolidate and syndicate the city's independent brothels.
Found guilty on 62 counts of running a massive organized vice and brothel syndicate he was sentenced to 30-50 years in prison. He served 10 years before his sentence was commuted. He was deported to Italy where he spent the rest of his life in exile. There are multiple biographies telling his side of his story.

Some facts were obtained from their biographies:

Eunice Carter's biography written by her grandson "Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster, by Stephen L Carter".  

Polly Adler's biography "Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age by Debby Applegate" and Polly's memoir "A House is Not a Home".  

Fiction:

Their Partnership: In reality, Eunice Carter and Polly Adler never formed a secret, underground alliance or a "network of women" to build the case. While Carter used testimony from vice rings, and Adler frequently dealt with the law, they did not operate as a crime-fighting, partner duo behind the scenes. This  friendship is a narrative device created by the authors to explore the massive social, racial, and legal divides of 1930s New York.
In Marie Benedict's Author's Notes she said they didn't know if Eunice had a secret source but they thought "what if it was someone on the opposite side of the law" and that was when they came up with the DA and the Madam working together on opposite sides of the law for a common goal.

Because there is no record of the two women planning together, their private conversations, shared emotional struggles, and intimate confrontations are completely invented.

While Eunice Carter's experiences with systemic racism and sexism in the legal system are deeply historical, the specific domestic arguments and emotional friction depicted in her marriage are dramatized to flesh out her personal life.
TBH I was growing exhausted with Eunice and her husband though.

🎧 Narrator: Robin Miles (Eunice) and Barrie Kreinik (Polly)

🎧12.30 hours (Libby) 🕮 390 pages

Extra Tidbits

Eunice Carter died of cancer in 1970 at the age of 70.

In her signature mink stole

Polly Adler died of lung cancer in 1962 at the age of 62. 

Lucky Luciano died of heart attack in 1962 at the age of 64.