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Loading... Blood and Money (original 1976; edition 2001)by Thomas Thompson (Author)
Work InformationBlood and Money by Thomas Thompson (1976)
True Crime Books (10) Edgar Award (85) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This exhaustive (and exhausting) story of the death of Houston socialite, champion horsewoman, and heiress Joan Robinson Hill, and her husband's subsequent trail for murder and its aftermath (and the aftermath of the aftermath, and so on) is fascinating, but leaves one with a pretty dull empty feeling, like you have been wallowing in mud for several weeks. Thompson provides the life story of pretty much every character; these are well done, but boy does it go on and on. Your sympathies will shift as you read this, and you'll be a bit astounded by the police's lenient treatment of the man who pulled the trigger, but the courtroom scenes are highly memorable as is the character of Joan's loving father, Ash Robinson (incidentally played in the TV movie version by Andy Griffith!) This does serve well as a pretty good history of at least some aspects of Houston. But I'm not sure I'd want to read anything like it again. ( ) Such a well-written true crime novel (although a bit on the long side). Thompson really looked at what made all of the players in the drama tick. He actually makes one of the bad guys very, very sympathetic. Many flawed human beings, many warped priorities and motivations, and subsequently, the concept of justice becomes blurred on many different levels. Aside from the story itself, the author's look a the wild and wooly days of Houston's emergence as a city of oil and new money is alone worth the price of admission. Thompson delivers a true crime story that unfolded in Texas in the late 1960s early 1970s. His compelling writing makes the work read like a novel; all the while, the knowledge that these are real events add to the fascination. One of the few books I could hardly put down. I completed it in two sessions no reviews | add a review
AwardsDistinctions
Edgar Award Winner: The "gripping" true story of a beautiful Texas socialite, her ambitious husband, and a string of mysterious deaths (Los Angeles Times). Joan Robinson Hill was a world-class equestrian, a glamorous member of Houston high society, and the wife of Dr. John Hill, a handsome and successful plastic surgeon. Her father, Ash Robinson, was a charismatic oil tycoon obsessed with making his daughter's every dream come true. Rich, attractive, and reckless, Joan was one of the most celebrated women in a town infatuated with money, power, and fame. Then one morning in 1969, she fell mysteriously ill. The sordid events that followed comprise "what may be the most compelling and complex case in crime annals" (Ann Rule, bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me). From the elegant mansions of River Oaks, one of America's most exclusive neighborhoods, to a seedy underworld of prostitution and murder-for-hire, New York Times-bestselling author Thomas Thompson tracks down every bizarre motive and enigmatic clue to weave a fascinating tale of lust and vengeance. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)364.15230922Social sciences Social problems and services; associations Criminology Crimes and Offenses Offenses against persons Homicide Murder History, geographic treatment, biography BiographyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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