THE TURNCOAT: The Strange Death of Abe Reles of Murder, Inc.— The First Mobster to Break the Underworld’s Code of Silence
By Edmund Elmaleh
Union Square Press (NYP)

Edmund Elmaleh’s THE TURNCOAT The Strange Death of Abe Reles of Murder, Inc. comes with impressive advance praise. Kevin Baker, author of Dreamland (1999), Paradise Alley (2002), and Strivers Row (2006), calls it “a riveting treatment of one of the most remarkable stories in the annals of American crime and politics. A great read!”  And Kenneth D. Ackerman, historian of New York City and author of Boss Tweed, says “Elmaleh has brought fresh energy, a fresh point of view, and a flair for original research to this story, tracing its conspiracies in the best tradition of life mimicking film noir. This blank spot in New York’s underworld history deserves to be filled, and Elmaleh fills it.”

Before Joe Valachi, Sammy Gravano, and the recent spate of Mob informers, there was Abe Reles.  In March 1940 Reles, boss of the Brooklyn hit squad dubbed “Murder, Inc.,” became the first gangster to break the underworld’s code of silence.  As a star witness at a series of  gangland murder trials, his testimony electrified the nation, helped close the books on 85 contract murders, detailed organized crime’s infestation of dozens of American cities, and sent several high-level mobsters to the chair.  William O’Dwyer, the Brooklyn DA who flipped Abe, called him “the most effective informer in the annals of criminal justice.”  But O’Dwyer was after bigger game, including Albert Anastasia, the fearsome crime czar of the Brooklyn waterfront. Word went out to the syndicate’s top hit men: “Get Reles.”

Between courtroom stints, Abe was stashed at the Half Moon Hotel on Coney Island, guarded round the clock in a 6th-floor suite.  On the morning of November 12, 1941, Reles’s body was discovered on a 2nd floor extension roof of the hotel – 52 feet below his window.  After a hurried investigation, the NYPD declared Abe had plunged to his death while attempting to escape.  Most New Yorkers scoffed.  Why would a man who lived in terror of the Mob try to flee his only sanctuary?  What really happened that night at the Half Moon Hotel?  How could Reles have perished under the watchful eyes of five guards?

THE TURNCOAT is the first full account of the Reles case, which one reporter at the time called “the most fantastic mystery in the history of crime in New York City.”  This briskly paced 55,000-word narrative is based on a wealth of primary sources, including O’Dwyer’s papers, reports of NYPD detectives, and previously classified FBI documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.  There are no competitive titles; a handful touch on the subject in passing. THE TURNCOAT will appeal to all aficionados of true crime and Mob lore, but it will also entice readers of American and New York City history.  It also capitalizes on the popularity of TV shows such as “48 Hours Mystery,” “Cold Case,” “American Justice,” “Cold Case Files,” and “Unsolved Mysteries.”

Elmaleh has a B.A. in American History from New College and is a member of the Organization of American Historians.  He discovered the Reles case while researching his own family's history. His grandfather and uncle, both Brooklyn furriers, turned out to have had been involved in some nefarious activities—including burning down a business they owned for the insurance in 1929. Though his relatives refused to discuss this skeleton in the family closet, he eventually found out that the arsonist who torched the business worked for the infamous Lepke Buchalter. In turn, Lepke led Elmaleh to Murder, Inc. and, ultimately, to Reles’s mysterious death.