Amy Srebnick tells the story of the death of Mary Rogers, antebellum New York City's "Beautiful Cigar Girl". First believed murdered by rapists, later thought the victim of a failed abortion, Mary Rogers became a cause célèbre. Drawing upon the events that surrounded Rogers's death, the author weaves a sensational narrative of sex, violence, and the city, and treats such subjects as the changing roles of women, the Penny Press, and abortion.