The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum

Does a decent job of stating the facts about Fredericka Mandelbaum's control over an extensive, lucrative network of pickpockets, shoplifters, and bank robbers in the mid to late 19th century, which netted her the modern equivalent of millions of dollars in stolen goods. But I wanted more than a Wikipedia entry. The epilogue devotes only a few pages to exploring how a woman, especially a Jewish one, came to occupy such a unique position at that precise time. And there is no attempt at all to elucidate Mandelbaum's inner life or personality, which I guess is what happens when your sources are limited to newspapers, police reports, and legal proceedings. For obvious reasons, Mandelbaum never kept a diary or journal, but without her perspective she remains an unknowable historical anomaly.