Tiger Girl And The Candy Kid: America's Original Gangster Couple

Before Bonnie and Clyde there were Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid. In the wake of world war, a pandemic, and an economic depression, Margaret and Richard Whittemore, two love-struck working-class kids from Baltimore, reached for the dream of a better life. The couple headed up a gang that in less than a year stole over one million dollars’ worth of diamonds and precious gems—over ten million dollars today.

Margaret was a chic flapper, the archetypal gun moll, partner to her husband’s crimes. Richard was the quintessential bad boy, whose cunning and violent ambition allowed the Whittemores to live the kind of lives they'd only seen in the movies. Along the way he killed at least three men, until prosecutors managed a conviction. As tabloids across the country exclaimed the details of the couple’s star-crossed romance, they became heroes to a new generation of young Americans who sought their own version of freedom.

Set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties’ excesses, acclaimed author Glenn Stout takes us from the jailhouse to the speakeasy, from the cabarets where the couple celebrated good times to the gallows where their story finally came to an end—leaving Tiger Girl pining for a final kiss. Tiger Girl and the Candy Kid is a thrilling tale of rags to riches, tragedy and infamy.

What turned two love-struck kids from Baltimore into the most celebrated and feared criminal couple of the Jazz Age?

• Meticulously Researched History: Go behind the tabloid headlines to discover the true story of Richard and Margaret Whittemore, pieced together from forgotten records and firsthand accounts of the era.
• The Criminal Underworld: Step into the smoky speakeasies, dazzling cabarets, and shadowy back alleys of the 1920s, a world fueled by Prohibition and rife with opportunity for ambitious criminals.
• High-Stakes Jewel Heists: Follow the Whittemore gang as they plot and execute a string of daring diamond robberies, stealing the equivalent of over ten million dollars today in less than a year.
• Rise of the Femme Fatale: Witness the transformation of Margaret Whittemore from a working-class girl into "Tiger Girl," the archetypal flapper and gun moll who became a celebrity in her own right.