Murder In Hollywood: The Secret Life and Mysterious Death of Bonny Lee Bakley

by Gary C. King

Her husband was Robert Blake, the award-winning star of In Cold Blood . But she found her own fame at point-blank range...

Obsessed with glamour and wealth, she followed her dream to Hollywood, and finally found fame-- in death.

Bonny Lee Bakley's dream was to marry a movie star. Using sex and guts, the ruthless small-town blonde finally struck it rich by wedding Robert Blake, the Emmy Award-winning actor who scored in the hit show "Baretta." When Blake found his bride of six months with a bullet in her head outside a Los Angeles restaurant, he was thrust back into the spotlight, and Bonny Lee was exposed for the manipulative woman she was-- a grifter with a sordid criminal history of sex swindles, credit-card fraud, and Social Security scams. But her specialty was fleecing wealthy men for quick cash-- a lucrative sting that finally brought Bonny Lee Bakley to Hollywood to live-- and die-- among the rich and famous...

But who really murdered Bonny Lee in cold blood? How did it play into Robert and Bonny's turbulent marriage? Was she a victim of her own con-- or something more sinister? What was the truth behind her fears of being stalked? And what secrets were hidden in Bonny's past that she found impossible to outrun?

Now, in this riveting, fascinating account, Gary C. King brings you the inside details of the most talked-about Tinseltown murder in years.

With 8 pages of unforgettable photos!

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Gary C. King is a freelance author and lecturer who has published more than 500 articles in true crime magazines in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is also the author of several true crime books including: Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer, Driven to Kill, Web of Deceit, Blind Rage, Savage Vengeance, An Early Grave, The Texas 7, Murder in Hollywood, Angels of Death, Stolen in the Night, Love, Lies, and Murder, An Almost Perfect Murder, Butcher, Rage, The Murder of Meredith Kercher, Crime Scene: True Stories of Crime and Detection, and Murder Most Foul: True Crime Stories of Murder and Mayhem.

Driven to Kill, the story of serial child killer Westley Allan Dodd's killing spree, was nominated for an Anthony Award in the Best True Crime Book category at Bouchercon 25.

Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer, details the bizarre case of Dayton Leroy Rogers, Oregon's worst serial killer. A German language edition of Blood Lust was published in 1995. Both Blood Lust and Driven to Kill were chosen as featured selections of Doubleday's True Crime Book Club.

King’s television appearances have included Entertainment Tonight, Larry King Live, Inside Edition, Court TV, MSNBC’s Headliners and Legends, E!, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Extra TV, and several other programs. He also frequently provides radio interviews and has given talks at libraries as well as organizations devoted to readers and writers interested in the genre of true crime.

After years of traditional publishing, King recently joined the growing ranks of indie authors.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written only 6 weeks after the crime so is incomplete. I understand the rush to publish - but this was nuts. What the author did do, was report on what was happening at the time. What was known, what was speculation, what the media was saying. What the police was sayign. What the family was saying. And the reporting by the author was unbiased - he didnt make assumptions. But it is ultimately unsatisfying becayse so much more was there after that time frame to report. Like the trial. The evidence admitted. The acquital... The aftermath.

[Denver Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author began his book by saying he was doing an unbiased review. In my opinion, that was accurate to some degree this author is truly an equal opportunity hater! This author threw shit at everybody involved with the case, and even some not involved with the case! The only one he moderately smeared, was the victim, herself! The one person I feel most sorry for is that child. The hell that child is going to live through is just oh so agonizing!

[Johnny Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth reading in 2020. Honestly it’s intriguing but was only written weeks after the murder. You can get pretty much the entire story reading the Wikipedia article or an article and save yourself a few hours.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had some great discussions about this book in an online group.

[Jane Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the guy had waited another month or two before writing this. It's just extremely premature. This rush to get into print just makes him look like a rank amateur.