Author: Robert Graysmith
Date Published: 1993
Publisher: Crown
Plot: In June 1978, Bob Crane, the star of the sixties sitcom Hogan's Heroes but now reduced to playing on the dinner-theater circuit, was found bludgeoned to death in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was appearing in a comedy titled Beginner's Luck. There was what appeared to be a telephone cord knotted around his neck; his nondescript apartment, rented for him by the theater, was filled with pornographic pictures and videotapes of himself and numerous women - some from Scottsdale, others from cities where the play had previously toured. The killer could have been the husband or boyfriend of any of them, but it could also have been Bob's estranged wife, Patti, or his best friend, John Carpenter, who appeared with Bob in several of the tapes. Bob was cooling toward Carpenter, friends had noticed, though they had palled around in Scottsdale. Scottsdale police (the hero of the book is the chief investigating officer, Ron Dean) were not used to crimes of this magnitude. They made several mistakes in the first hours of investigation. And that investigation took fourteen years - until at last one person was indicted for the murder. Police still don't have a motive; only recent advances in blood identification through DNA testing have enabled them to amass enough evidence to charge the suspect with the crime. Because of his close relationship to Dean, and because of his expertise in investigative reporting, Robert Graysmith is the only journalist equipped to tell the full story of this, one of the most sensational murder cases in Hollywood history. He has had access to every relevant document and piece of evidence, and his meticulous reconstruction of the events before, during, and after the murder are as engrossing as any thriller. This is an explosive book but a careful one. It will, we believe, leave you convinced that the police found the right person when they arrested the killer.
Condition: Good