The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate

by Robert Graysmith

The author follows the life of serial killer David J. Carpenter, the Trailside Killer who terrorized northern California with a series of rape-murders beginning in 1979

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

496 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

ROBERT GRAYSMITH is the New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator of Zodiac , Auto Focus , and Black Fire . He was the political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle when the letters and cryptograms from the infamous Zodiac killer were opened in the morning editorial meetings. He lives in San Francisco where he continues to write and illustrate.



Graysmith's latest book Shooting Zodiac is now available in paperback!
As well as the beautiful new edition of The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate in paperback and Kindle!

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Kobo | Apple Books | Google Play Books

Two films have been based on his books: Auto Focus and Zodiac. Graysmith is portrayed in the film Zodiac by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Also narrated by the author are the audiobooks Black Fire and Zodiac Unmasked .

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I put off reading this book because one of the victims was murdered in Henry Cowell Redwoods, on one of my favorite trails (leading up to the observation deck from where you can see the whole Monterey Bay and on a clear day it is SPECTACULAR). Actually, that's only part of the reason: the young woman was someone I knew - Ellen Hansen's mother was a friend of mine at UC Davis, and her pain was just something I've never forgotten. What a woman, what strength, and what a change it made in my feelings about the death penalty. It should not MATTER that one of the trailside killer's victims was someone I knew - I had been opposed to the death penalty forever, and yet when this happened, and David Carpenter was caught and tried, my overall reaction was "I want this guy to FRY."

The story is well told, and it totally creeped me out, and now that I know the EXACT spot on the trail where it happened, I don't think I can ever hike there again.

I remember Marilyn telling me about Ellen's reaction when the guy said he was going to rape her: basically she said like HELL you are and resisted. And she died. Her boyfriend was with her, was also shot, and left for dead. Well, guess what? he lived and testified against the bastard who terrorized Northern CA for a time a few decades ago.

A bizarre, scary, frightening story. It still gives me nightmares. I lost touch with Marilyn, but wherever she is, I hope she has found peace. I cried for her and Ellen all over again when I read this, so clearly the author did his job...

[Noah Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book over the last few days and was pretty riveted by it all the way through. Graysmith's (author of "Zodiac") writing is not particularly great, and there are some awkward paragraphs I had to reread a couple of times before they made sense, but the research and pace at which the book moves is impressive. (I don't usually finish 400+ page books in a few days.)

I was a baby in Marin County when the Trailside Killer was raping and murdering women on Mt. Tamalpais (The Sleeping Lady), Pt. Reyes, and Santa Cruz. Growing up my Mom had mentioned to me what a terrifying time it was for everyone in Marin when David Carpenter was out stalking the trails. Both my parents had described a definite shift in tone of everyone in the town where we lived, Bolinas, a beach town situated below Mt. Tamalpais. Everyone felt helpless and at the mercy of an unknown person or persons. This book captures a lot of that paranoia experienced by a community that never really had to deal with the "big city" problems that San Francisco had to deal with. Graysmith explores the idea that the national parks themselves were being taken hostage by the Trailside Killer with the fear that kept hikers off Marin County trails for seasons at a time. After reading this book, I feel like a have a full picture of the crimes, the murderer, the era, and how he was able to elude police for so long as a parolee with a history of sex crimes.

DNA evidence, which wasn't available at the time the case against Carpenter was being built, has as recently as February 2010 linked him to another unsolved murder, the 1979 stabbing of a jogger in SF. He's now age 79 on death row at San Quentin.

This book is an incredibly interesting portrait of Marin County and San Francisco in the late 70s-early 80s.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a lot denser than I thought it was going to be but I appreciate Graysmith's ability to cover as many view points as possible from witnesses, friends, family, investigators, the press, etc.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just discovered I did write a sort of review. ahum. (I am a tad embarrassed but find them funny as well) I did not correct the spelling.
Copied from bookcrossing

on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

This book has not been rated.
Hi pam. How are you? Long time no traded books ;-)
Well I finally started this book.
You know what I did? I made a list of all my TBR books, I received by others, and when i received them, so I know which books have been waiting for the longest.
This one was received on the 11th of march,and next on my list.
I have started reading this morning. Woke up very how do you say that, with a very bad mood :-) , finished i know this much is true by wally lamb last night, so i had to pick a new book.
Well i like it so far.Like the writing style and as you know i like these kind of books.
I feel better now. Weird saying you feel better by reading a true crime book, but it is nice when a book grabs you from the first page, like this one does.
Well this is going to be a very long journal so I,d better shut up and read.
tell you more later. take care my friend.
------------------------------------------
on Monday, May 31, 2004

7 out of 10
Finished it today. I did like the start of the book, but it is not one of the best true crime books i have read. It was Ok but not more then that.
I do not really know why the story did not really intriqued me. I quess it was the way how it was written? You did not get to know the victims, and the killer.
It was more about facts.

I will set this one available now.

[Tom Mueller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually enjoy true crime, but this one was far too disjointed to follow with any logic.
As of late 2010, David Carpenter remains on Death Row in California.

[Colin Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly researched, Graysmith puts you in the story as only he can. One question that was left open: was there a connection between the Trailside Killer and the Zodiac?

[Chris Lira · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about the infamous Trailside Killer, who terrorized Pt. Reyes and Mt. Tamalpais(both in Marin County, north of San Francisco) and Santa Cruz in the late 70's amd early 80's. The same author wrote a book about the Zodiac Killer, another Bay Area serial killer. This book jumps right into it and moves quickly along. As another reviewer noted for himself, I finished this quickly, in about 3 days.

It's hard for me to rave and glow about a non-fiction book like this. The author has simply organized and relayed a bunch of material about the killings and killer. In fact, that goes to one of my main complaints - sometimes there is too much detail. When the author references some bank account, he footnotes the account number. He mentions some auto, and footnotes the VIN. Gack. I didn't seem to have as much troible with his writing as others have noted, but again, he's just reiterating, not really creating.

There is a glaring error early in the book when he mentions Charles Whitman, a mass murderer from the 60's. But he committed his crime in 1966(not 1960), and he did it from the clock tower and observation deck at the University of Texas, not a water cooler. Inexcusable.

[Thibodeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Graysmith takes great pains to detail the events in David Carpenter's life and role as a serial killer. Having had a career in law enforcement, I appreciate his thoroughness and attention to detail and that is what I was looking for-not entertainment. I have a personal connection to this particular case.

If you're looking for a novel and story similar to his work in Zodiac, you may be disappointed. Admittedly the story of the Zodiac holds more appeal as it is unsolved and received far more publicity. If you were living in the San Francisco Bay Area during the time of the murders and are looking for answers to your questions in the case of the Trailside Killer, you will not be disappointed.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very well written but intriguing. I read this because I grew up outside of San Francisco and have hiked Mt. Tam and some of the other places mentioned. Very creepy.