by Steve Miller and Andrea Billups
From Goodreads:
My Thoughts: I used to read quite a bit of true crime back in the day. I know, you're shocked. Now I mostly just read true crime when Ann Rule releases a new book (I love her!). A Slaying in the Suburbs is very interesting book based on a horrible crime. I was a little taken aback at the authors' obvious dislike for Alicia, Tara Grant's sister, and the blame they place on the victim of the crime, Tara Grant. I realize that not every murder victim is a saint, but I felt that the book was slightly skewed in Stephen Grant's favor and suspect that the reason behind this is that Alicia Grant and the rest of Tara's family weren't as willing to talk to Miller and Billup.The truly bizarre behavior displayed by Steve Grant during the weeks after murdering his wife was by far the most interesting parts of the book. I don't know that the trial was covered as thoroughly as if could have been, and the writing was a little uneven in places. At times it also felt like Miller and Billups had an ax to grind with Alicia Grant, and were overly critical of her, which made the book uncomfortable to read at times. Of course, the gruesome treatment of Tara Grant's remains was more than uncomfortable to read about, but at least her killer was caught and her family was able to see the murderer brought to trial. A Slaying in the Suburbs was actually a past book club read for me, and it made for an okay discussion. But I won't be picking up any more books by Steve Miller or Andrea Billups.To their suburban Detroit neighbors, Stephen and Tara Grant were happy as could be. But their marriage, plagued by resentment and extramarital affairs, was held together only by their children. Until the night Stephen snapped, strangled and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her body piece by piece in the very park his children played in.
A Slaying in Suburbs gets a Midnight Book Rating of:
Mmm true crime. But yeah, it seems to frequently be subject to biases on the part of the author(s). Alas.
ReplyDeleteThat's excellent it's solved, though. The unsolved ones rankle. No closure and so forth.
This sounds awful... I tried to read a true crime book to research something for my current WIP, but I just couldn't handle how unobjective it felt. It kept presenting as fact things that were clearly not fact (how the killer felt, etc).
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any true crime books but I feel like I would really like them. My sister, Stephanie, has been reading Helter Skelter for forever! Maybe someday I'll read a true crime book and get back to you!
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by true crime also, but I usually watch the shows on tv. And yeah, sometimes the victims get a bad wrap. It doesn't matter if they had questionable behavior, they probably don't deserve to be killed! This one does sound interesting though.
ReplyDelete