Mystery of Mary Rogers

On 28 July, 1841 a woman's body is found floating in the Hudson, off the shore of Hoboken, New Jersey. She's been beaten and strangled and been dead for a few days. She is identified as Mary Rogers, the missing girl who worked in a popular cigar shop on Broadway. And so the strange story begins. We meet the odd people in her life. The fiance who makes up an alibi different from his real story despite neither being incriminating; the mother who along with the fiance doesn't react to the news that her daughter is dead; the former lodger of her mother's house who had meetings with Mary in the days leading up to her death and then tried to have the investigation stopped for no reason. Geary throws all theories into the book. A jealous ex lover returns from a sea voyage who becomes angry once his advances are repelled; an abortion gone wrong leads the abortionist to fake the girl's death; the fiance, once the abortion is complete, finds out that Mary wants to leave him and turns his anger onto her. In fact this last theory (and I've only mentioned three though there are more) is the most compelling, not least because the fiance drinks himself unconcious every day until he takes himself to the spot where she was supposedly murdered and takes a lethal dose of laudanum. Even Edgar Allan Poe is a suspect (though unlikely) as his sequel to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" was based on the mysterious death of Mary Rogers - "The Mystery of Marie Roget". The story bears many resemblances to the real life case but of course Poe is never really seen as a suspect having barely known the girl years earlier when he lived in New York (he was in Philadelphia at the time of the murder). It is a mystery though why this book is out of print. It might be because of the final page which shows the spirit of Mary Rogers floating above Manhattan, notably the World Trade Center (this book was published in 2001) so perhaps the publishers are waiting for Geary to redo the last page before reissuing it. Hopefully though the book will be back in print alongside the others in the fantastic "Treasury of Victorian Murder" series. It's a testament to Geary's ability that he can make a long forgotten case of a dead young girl appearing on the Hudson River and turn it into a fascinating and vivid book. It's a very satisfying and interesting book told with detail, skill, and a swift pace that reads like a thriller.

It is very unusual for antebellum New York to get any sort of treatment in popular culture, which is a shame, because the whole space between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War features dramatic changes in the city's popular landscape. Institutions for maintaining public order and safety that we take for granted today were less organized and often appropriated by the underworld for its own purposes.Scorsese's upcoming movie, GANGS OF NEW YORK, looks like it will offer an interesting look into this time. Readers looking for a little less bombast can take in Rick Geary's tight little graphic exploration of THE MYSTERY OF MARY ROGERS. Geary tells the true tale of a corpse that captured the public imagination in a manner similar to any of today's celebrity victims. He renders useful maps and recreates the known facts of the case with haunting sillhouettes and faces that are remarkably expressive in their cartoonishness. Geary also tosses in a tidy little chunk of social history -- so that we understand the context -- and chronicles the sensationalism that followed this case. As a final service, he puts forth the prominent theories about the case, noting its inspiration of Poe's mystery.Graphic (as in illustrated) non-fiction is somewhat of an oddity, often represented by simpering auto-bio. True crime stories tend to show up in the BIG BOOK OF ... series. This, however, is a neat and stylistic volume that would put Anne Rule to shame.

With The Mystery of Mary Rogers, Writer/Illustrator Rick Geary continues his "Treasury of Victorian Murder" Graphic Novel series, this time exploring the facts in the death of Mary Rogers, a well-known "Segar (Cigar) Girl" (She worked in a large Manhattan Tobacco Shop). Geary's books are laid out incredibly well; most "Mainstream" non-fiction writers could learn a thing or two from him. He presents THE FACTS in the case, and since the murder was nevr really solved (At least officially...), he avoids any supposition; At the end of the book, he gives the reader a few scenarios that MAY have happened, never presenting any one of them as the actual solution. Geary's writing style is very informative, and his illustrations have a depth and resonance that belie their "Cartoony" look. Overall, this book is a pleasure to read! The hardcover is a very attractive package at a low price, the text is informative and illuminating, and the artwork is superb. In a perfect world, Geary would be a fixture on the best-seller lists.

In 1841, Mary Rogers, a well-known resident of the city of New York, was found floating in the Hudson River, dead. The investigation was hampered by jurisdictional disputes and the primitive forensic science of the time, and is officially still unsolved. It was a great stir in its day, and everybody had opinions about it; Edgar Allen Poe based his "Mystery of Marie Roget" on it. Geary gives us the known facts, and proposes a solution in line with the modern thinking on the subject. His evocative artwork makes this book a visual treat. I'd love to see him tackle the alleged murder of Sarah M. Cornell by the Reverend Ephraim K. Avery; it occured at nearly the same time this case did, and is still officially unsolved.

Mary Rogers was a lovely cigar store clerk who was found dead and floating on the Hudson River. It was the month of July, 1841, a time before New York City had an official police department, only "freelance" officers living off fines and defending the populace from a proliferation of street gangs. All this is the highly recommended substance of The Mystery Of Mary Rogers, a superbly created graphic novel with absolutely accurate background detail that accurately showcases the an emerging city and the plight of a citizenry in the face of criminal activities. Rick Geary is a master storyteller and a gifted artist.