The Crime Lady: The Death and Life of Patricia McGlone
Dear TCL Readers:
Later on in this newsletter I’ll speak more about the forthcoming book and some other things I’ve been working on. But first, I’m very pleased to have a feature story in the December 2024 issue of Rolling Stone, which was posted online on Sunday. It investigates how a sixteen-year-old girl who was last heard from in the summer of 1969 ended up murdered in the basement of a Hell’s Kitchen building, discovered in 2003 but not formally identified until April of this year. Who was Patricia McGlone, and how did she end up interred in what was, at the time, the happening rock music club The Scene?
The answers are still forthcoming, as befitting a cold case investigation. There’s no known photograph of Patricia, which is why a composite created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children appears in the story. Her family history was, to understate, rather tortured — born of a bigamous marriage, with a half-brother who had an extensive criminal history of his own. She married a man twice her age and had a baby. But she was never reported missing, and that was likely deliberate.
The Scene was just about closed when Patricia died. Its owner, Steve Paul, was a fascinating figure in his own right, who always had the knack of knowing which bands and musicians were about to become big stars — why Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, and Three Dog Night played at the Scene, and why in an earlier incarnation, Andy Warhol and the Factory hung out there. And the club’s closure was catalyzed by another figure who would later become famous: Tony Sirico, then a mid-level mobster, eventually Paulie Walnuts on the Sopranos.
As summer projects go, this was a rewarding and revealing one to work on, though the story isn’t over yet. All my thanks to the people I spoke with, particularly Linda Doyle, the NYPD’s full-time investigative genetic genealogist, and Ryan Glas, the cold case detective working to solve Patricia’s murder. And to everyone at Rolling Stone, especially ace editor Liz Garber-Paul and brilliant research director Brenna Ehrlich, for getting this story completely and making the editing and fact-checking experiences among the most pleasurable I’ve had in my career.
I really hope you’ll give this story a read. And if you have any information about Patricia, and about who may have killed her, leave your tip with the NYC Crime Stoppers line at 800-577-TIPS.
**
My next book, WITHOUT CONSENT, won’t be published for another year or so. I got my editor’s revision notes — probably the best editorial letter I’ve ever received, by the way — a few weeks ago and am diligently working through them as we speak. But when Lyz Lenz asked me to talk about the subject of the book — the first major American spousal rape trial, and the ensuing aftermath — for her This American Ex-Wife podcast, of course I said yes without hesitation. It’s never too early to start talking about the subject that has most occupied your brainspace for the past few years, and will continue to do so.
We recorded the episode, released on Thanksgiving morning, before the election, but knowing this not-exactly-ancient history is particularly important for the future we’re going to face as a country for the next few years, and beyond. North Carolina was the last state to criminalize rape by a spouse in 1993. States are only getting rid of exceptions to their marital rape laws in 2024 and some still have yet to do so. This was a fifteen-year-struggle with some success, but as we know all too well, nothing is ever permanent, and the danger of a legal snapback is all too real.
**
Some other quick links to stuff I wrote this fall:
The Atlantic asked me to compile a list of true crime books (mostly recent) that stand out against the pack.
My best-of Crime & Mystery list will be published mid-month, and I’m also particularly proud of this all-reissues piece from the middle of November. It proved to be very popular with readers so expect this to become an annual thing.
Profiled Gary Phillips for Alta as his debut novel, Violent Spring, was the magazine’s California Book Club pick in November.
Reviewed Marcia Clark’s Trial by Ambush, her first nonfiction book in a long while, for AirMail and was quite pleasantly surprised to like it.
And a decade after Serial debuted, what is the state of crime reporting? I had some thoughts to express for Nieman Lab’s series that ran a few weeks ago — mainly that “topics we wouldn’t have thought of as crimes” just a few years ago, thanks to Dobbs, now are.
**
Lastly, one of the great joys of my life is singing with a choir, something I have done regularly since I was fifteen years old. Ever since I joined The Cecelia Chorus of New York in early 2023 my mood and outlook have improved significantly because that’s what making music does. Our winter concert, on Saturday, December 7 at 8 PM, features Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and selections from Mass, as well as Bach’s Cantata No. 63. And we’ll be singing at Carnegie Hall. I’d love to see you there! (And if you do buy tickets, please use the discount code CNY51106.)
I’ll be back in mid-December. Until then, I remain,
The Crime Lady