Payoffs in the Cloakroom: The Greening of the Michigan Legislature, 1938-1946

Payoffs in the Cloakroom is a spellbinding follow-up to Rubenstein and Ziewacz’s critically acclaimed Three Bullets Sealed His Lips. Three Bullets brought to life new evidence on the 1945 murder of Michigan Senator Warren Hooper. This book takes up where Three Bullets left off, unravelling a complex web of political corruption and dirty state politics. In the process, the authors demonstrate that Senator Hooper was murdered to prevent his grand jury testimony against republican boss Frank McKay, who was facing bribery charges.

Making use of actual court proceeding, personal interviews, and newspaper accounts, and even a re-evaluation of police evidence, Rubenstein and Ziewacz tell a story that contains all the ingredients of first-class detective fiction - only in this instance, the story is based on fact. With chapter titles such as Charlie and His Little Black Book,
I Never Dreamed Murder , and Them Bones, Them Bones , the authors have, once again, provided a stimulating and absorbing account of one of the darker chapters of Michigan’s political history.