“A fascinating look at the crime and what came after. Hortis covers the material with workmanlike efficiency and a keen eye for courtroom theatrics. As quaint as some of the story’s details may seem, its themes feel remarkably contemporary: We still rush to judgment, resort to stereotyping and fall for all kinds of propaganda. It’s impossible to argue with the book’s thesis: ‘Tabloid justice would, one way or another, alter American law.’”

– Kate Tuttle, The New York Times Book Review

“A compulsively readable book. Emphasizes the deep misogynist roots of witch trials, real and metaphorical, and belong firmly within the contemporary examination of the United States’ ongoing and multifaceted satanic panic.”

– Ilana Masad, The Washington Post

“The Witch of New York reconstructs the events and subsequent trials [of Polly Bodine] in great detail. It is an engaging story, skillfully told. To read The Witch of New York is to understand the ancestry of the current true-crime craze.”

– Rachel Lloyd, The Economist

"Through meticulous reconstruction and vivid storytelling, Hortis delves into the depths of the Polly Bodine case, illuminating the shadows of suspicion and scandal that surrounded it."

– Staten Island Live

“A lively history of early New York through one woman’s horrendous ordeal. Hortis has combed the archives for material related to Bodine’s three explosive trials, and he makes palpable the shameful character assassination that Bodine endured.”

– Kirkus Reviews

“In this excellent work of true crime, Hortis examines the case of Polly Bodine, who became infamous after she was accused of murdering her sister-in-law and infant niece. Hortis’s historical detail makes the episode come to life, and he successfully evokes contemporary tabloid scandals like the Amanda Knox trial. Fans of Daniel Stashower will love this.”

– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A riveting true crime story from history, Alex Hortis’s The Witch of New York chronicles the misogynist frenzy surrounding a notorious murder trial.”

– Foreword Reviews

“In The Witch of New York, Alex Hortis invites us along on a bumpy yet entertaining ride that features the dueling attorneys and unscrupulous shysters who transformed the terrible murder of a mother and child into this country's seminal tabloid trial. Meticulous research and concise writing adroitly capture the zeitgeist of 1840s New York City, in the end effectively demonstrating how "tabloid justice would, one way or another, alter American law."

– David Dominé, author of A Dark Room in Glitter Ball City

“Against a backdrop of scandal sheets and tabloid justice in 1840s New York, Alex Hortis deftly chronicles the sensational murder trials of Polly Bodine, the most infamous woman in America, and their lasting effects on the public’s imagination.”

– Susan Wels, Author of Assassin in Utopia

Praise for The Mob and the City:

“Hortis retells the story of the famous Apalachin incident, in 1957, when several dozen mobsters from around the country gathered at the upstate New York property of Joseph Barbara, Sr., for a weekend retreat.”

– Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker

“But what is less amusing is the way that this ‘man of honor’ denies any involvement in narcotics trafficking, a claim that is convincingly debunked by mob historian C. Alexander Hortis in his deeply researched book The Mob and the City.”

– Ronald Fried, The Daily Beast

“If there’s a better book on the early history of Cosa Nostra in America, I haven’t seen it.”

– Jerry Capeci, Gangland News