Gangs of Old Shanghai: The Spider Club Gang
By Paul French
Paul French, New York Times bestselling author of Midnight in Peking, is back in China in March presenting City of Devils in Shanghai, Suzhou and Beijing. The book sees him delve into the murky underworld of Old Shanghai. There were plenty of wrong'uns about, and a whole lot of bad blood between them. In this 'Gangs of Old Shanghai' series, French presents us with a who's who of old time organized crime, and quite the rogues gallery it is too.
The Spider Club Gang
Boss: Dr. Albert von Miorini
Base: West End Gardens, Yu Yuen Road (Yuyuan Lu)
Viennese physician Albert Miorini (he probably invented the ‘von’ like so many Germans and Austrians trying to jump the social ladder) presented himself as the most cultured of men, and was seen frequenting musical concerts, theater shows and cello soirees. But the Spider Club Gang were actually a nasty bunch – performing illegal abortions, peddling opium and running an illegal gambling den in a posh villa in West End Gardens.
The Spider Club provided women, dope and pornographic film shows to rich Shanghailanders. Miorini himself was suspected to have murdered a drug dealing associate with an injection – but the Shanghai Municipal Police couldn’t prove it. He lived with Ruby Edwards, an English procuress who provided young girls to Miorini’s moneyed society clients.
By 1943 Miorini had amassed a fortune in gold bars (the only way to protect your wealth during the war), but he died on the operating table during a routine operation performed by a surgeon (believed to be mistress Ruby Edwards’ lover). Afterwards, the gold bars, and Ruby Edwards, were never seen again in Shanghai.
Paul French will be one of the featured
authors at Shanghai Literary Festival 2018 at M Glam on March 15 at 6pm
and March 17 at 12pm.
He will be at the Bookworm in Suzhou on March 19.
He
will be at the Bookworm in Beijing on March 21 and March 22, and
hosting a pair of walking tours in Beijing on March 24 and March 31.
To read about more Gangs of Old Shanghai, click "Read more"（阅读原文）below.