Recommended reading - Candyleg, by Ovid Demaris (1961):

Candyleg

By Ovid Demaris.

Filmed as Machine Gun McCain (1969), directed by Giuliano Montaldo.

Published by Gold Medal Books.

First published 1961.

ASIN: B002M39644

Mass Market Paperback.

Description:

Irene was damaged goods, passed along by the gang and used according to its whims. No one took her seriously, and her life story read like one long dirty joke. She was blonde dynamite, so they gave her the job of warming up Hank McCain, the master thief who'd just spent 20 years cooling his heels in Alcatraz.