Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night
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3.8 • 37 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“[An] exhilarating, intimate study of fate, chance and the wildly meaningful intersections of disparate lives.” —Robert Kolker, New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book for May 2023
The multigenerational tale of three families whose paths collide one summer night in 1960 with the murder of a police officer.
Independence Day weekend, 1960: a young cop is murdered, shocking his close-knit community in Stamford, Connecticut. The killer remains at large, his identity still unknown. But on a beach not far away, a young Army doctor, on vacation from his post at a research lab in a maximum-security prison, faces a chilling realization. He knows who the shooter is. In fact, the man—a prisoner out on parole—had called him only days before. By helping his former charge and trainee, the doctor, a believer in second chances, may have inadvertently helped set the murder into motion. And with that one phone call, may have sealed a policeman’s fate.
Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo were all born of the Great Depression, all with grandparents who’d left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop, and one a convict? In Genealogy of a Murder, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men—one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration, the struggles of the working class, prison reform, medical experiments, politics and war, the nature/nurture debate, epigenetics, the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also intimate: a look into the workings of the mind and heart.
Following these threads to their tragic outcome in July 1960, and beyond, Belkin examines the coincidences and choices that led to one fateful night. The result is a brilliantly researched, narratively ingenious story, which illuminates how we shape history even as we are shaped by it.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This riveting true-crime tale isn’t a whodunit—it’s all about the why. Decades ago, journalist Lisa Belkin was told a story by her stepfather, Dr. Alvin Tarlov: When he was a young researcher running a drug trial in an Illinois jail in the 1950s, he wrote a recommendation of parole for an industrious prisoner assisting his work. Not long after his release, that ex-con, Joseph DeSalvo, killed a policeman, David Troy, outside a Connecticut bar. Rather than reconstruct the murder and investigation, Belkin goes back several generations, starting with the stories of the three men’s immigrant grandparents. Her remarkable research reveals how dysfunctional families, psychological baggage, and sheer random chance led to Troy’s murder. The compassion Belkin has for everyone she writes about is evident on every page, which makes her exploration of different theories about crime, rehabilitation, and recidivism feel deeply personal. Anyone interested in family histories or looking for a gripping true-crime read should pick up Genealogy of a Murder.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Belkin (Life's Work) goes deep on a tragic 1960 shooting in this outstanding true crime saga. From primary sources including diaries, letters, autobiographies, and her own interviews, Belkin retraces the steps that led ex-convict Joseph DeSalvo to kill Stamford, Conn., beat cop David Troy during a bar holdup. At the time, DeSalvo was on parole from an armed robbery sentence, during which he became friendly with a doctor named Alvin Tarlov, who conducted experiments on inmates where DeSalvo was housed. Tarlov had faith that DeSalvo was rehabilitated and supported his release, paving the way for his deadly confrontation with Troy. After meticulously detailing the crime, Belkin flashes back to trace several generations of the Troy, Tarlov, and DeSalvo families, each of whom emigrated from Europe starting in 1906. She invites readers to wonder whether, had their ancestors taken different paths, the trio might have wound up in a less deadly place. Belkin's judicious research parlays into an engrossing, expansive narrative that reads like a real-life Greek tragedy. It will spur contemplation and debate in an audience far beyond just true crime diehards.
Customer Reviews
Fascinating
Incredibly deeply researched and well written tale