In the Best of Families: The Anatomy of a True Tragedy

by Dennis McDougal

Ronald Reagan's personal attorney Roy Miller was a California success story. The Miller family's friends could never have imagined the horror and darkness that were to follow as Michael, the Miller's youngest son killed and raped his own mother.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Mental Health

362 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Dennis McDougal was an American author and newspaper journalist, who has been called "L.A.'s No. 1 muckraker". His book Privileged Son was described as "illuminating reading for anyone interested in 20th-century Los Angeles or modern-day newspapering" by The New York Times. A native of Southern California, he lived near Memphis, Tennessee.

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Epiphany!: you know why these kids went bat shit crazy? CARBS they never ate carbs. I’m a total bitch if I go without carbs for a certain period of time. LET THEM EAT CARBS

Ok this book just called Manson a mass murderer. So not correct. He had all murders committed for him. As far as I’m concerned he still has the blood on his hands, but he actually I can’t think what it’s called right now but he’s guilty for like soliciting the murders and aiding and abetting and all of those sideways connected charges. But it’s hard not to think of him as the actual murderer.

So this dude who in the 70s pushed this diet routine that could basically cure anything from a cold to schizophrenia states that all this kid needs to take is : amino acids, megavitamin therapy (which sorry to tell ya dude but if you take mega doses you're just going to excrete them), a handful of fancy smancy named meds which are actually just the names of a couple of vitamin B types, vitamin E, and then somehow ingest hydrochloric acid. This sounds EXACTLY like how schizophrenia is cured. What is wrong with doctors these days?? Oh sorry I forgot to introduce myself. Hi I'm your friendly GR neighborhood pharmacy tech just doing what I do. This mom is an idiot. Her kid needs specialists and medication. Supplement with vitamins if you want , a little Dr Feelgood shot maybe? Yeah I'm smdh right now because she's destroyed the relationship she thinks she has with her sons. Saying megavitamin treatment reminds me of the admission we got one night that said resident was allergic to VITAMIN O. Ummm Oxygen? I wanted to travel to this community, find this resident and very clearly and concisely let him/her know "you realize you just said you are allergic to oxygen , right? Like it's a hoax ok? Does it come in a capsule because it's empty? I'm pretty sure there may be a little water in it. What do you think you are breathing right now that is coming out of that tank?
Gotta love this because who has the most faith in you and your quack schemes back in the 70s than your own sister "...he started coming in specifically for nutritional treatment . .he came with his mother. She believed in vitamin C and all of that." Did anyone else hear the word "CRAP" at the end of that sentence like I did? Because it's there, it's right there.

Soo do not like this mother AT ALL. I’m not saying she deserved what happened not by any means. This family’s story is horrid. But it does bring up the nature vs nurture argument absolutely.
I’m fine with the story until these mountebanks start spouting their whacko cures. Ingest wood pulp, let’s clean out your entire blood stream. They have done that with babies hard birth babies. You know what happens? You get a child like Nancy, Sid’s girlfriend. That is a horrific story.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read about a bad situation. Recommended for those interested in reading about rich people in pain, people on top of the world brought low by forces beyond their control, and anyone who likes a well-thought-out true-crime story. This should also serve to stimulate debate among the chemical-imbalance and schizophrenogenic-family factions.

[Swissmiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the story to be fascinating, but I didn't like the journalistic writing style. I also didn't feel like the author gave enough information about Schizophrenia in general, and that he went into way too much detail about everyone's ancestors, that really had nothing to do with the main story, or if it did, he didn't explain how.

[Irene Rendon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book. However, I was unable to put the book down. Dennis McDougal does his research and tells a compelling tale about mental illness, family secrets and politics. Books about murder and rape are very interesting to me. This book has a twist and it made it a hard read, especially since it is a true story.

[Ronda · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like true crime with very descriptive graphic writing then this is a book for you. Dennis McDougal goes into great detail about the crime of Michael Miller and the things that he did to his mother. This was a very emotionally unbalanced young man, What I didn't like about this book was the many narratives about this doctor or that doctor, There were too many times when the doctor strayed from the story and when the book was off topic (Michael, Marguerite, Roy and Jeff) I found myself bored, when it stayed on the crime it was very compelling.

[Laura Dalton Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting glimpse into an entire family, each person with a mental illness and / or issues. it must be mental illness to think you will cure your child's schizophrenia with a strict vegetarian diet. Tragic figures caught up with snake oil salesmen and weirdos. But I had difficulty with the back and forth chapters ~~ one dead son in one chaptercbut then we were back with him alive in the next chapter. A tad confusing.

[Ana Morales · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the best of families by Dennis McDougal is a very good yet boring book. At times I couldn't stop reading it but at times I found it very boring. I also felt that times the author didn't give enough information about certain things example certain characters. Although it does describe murder and crimes very nicely. I recommend this book to anyone interested in murder books.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows the interconnectedness of mental illness, family dynamics, politics, con artistry, and class by focusing on the tragedy of an American family. From what I understand, this was not an easy book to write, because there were so many barriers placed by the family. This book is as if not more relevant today than when it was written in the 1990's. I had a hard time putting it down.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were some good parts in the book but I couldn't finish it because the author's writing was all over the place.

[Mellanie C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style was disjointed and repetitive, making it hard to follow the story.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis McDougal’s In the Best of Families is the kind of true crime book that most appeals to me - a well-written,* detailed account of a relatively unfamiliar murder (although McDougal asserts that the killing got worldwide attention {mainly because of the Reagan connection}, I lived just a few miles away at the time and I can testify that L. A. Times readers learned much more about a matricide which occurred almost simultaneously at the other end of the county). Although McDougal was obviously influenced by the outdated belief in the “schizophrenogenic mother” his account is fair, accurate, and readable … and especially interesting to someone who has driven on the streets, shopped at the malls, and eaten in the restaurants named in the book.
I definitely recommend In the Best of Families not only to true crime fans (even those not living in the South Bay!) but to any reader who is willing to think about the situation faced by countless families: dealing with a beloved adult schizophrenic child who has the right (as we all do) to choose whether or not he will see a doctor or take medicine or live in a protective environment. The words “true tragedy” in the book’s subtitle apply even in the absence of murder.

*assuming you’re not unreasonably picky about the meaning of ‘notoriety’

[Koren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a certain 'ick' factor to it. The son kills his mother and then rapes her. I'm glad the author didn't go into very much detail about that! It was interesting to read about how the mother thought a vegetarian diet and vitamins could cure whatever ails you. Her son was schizophrenic and she thought she could cure him with holistic medicine. Interesting story, but after a while it just seemed the son's escapades went on and on but kind of sounded the same. The story about the brother was very tragic.

[Tammy C W · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the case itself was tragic yet intriguing, I couldn’t figure out why some of the background was so detailed and it seemed there was a lot of repetition in the writing. It turned out that this was mostly a report and the writer never had any real contact with the family which also bothered me. They did do their research though, and the photos helped to bring more meaning to the story. I guess I just didn’t click with the writing style or something.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the author is a talented writer, and the book moves along, but this book was based on little to no information from the main players. So how much is fiction? This book went off on tangents here and there and here again, and made me feel this was filler just to make this book-length. I think it would have been better as a magazine essay. Too long.

[Pat Welte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very detailed, well-written book about a family that didn't quite live up to their potential, mental illness, murder, suicide and ties to Ronald Reagan. They started out with good family connections and ended with nothing left except loneliness.

[Ash Kim Arthur · Rating 1 out of 5]

At one point the author spent so much time telling you about the entire life of this Harold Bruner, I was confused, who do hell this Bruner guy is why did he get an entire chapter. Fact is, he's not even related to the case other that being the parent of the victim. He's not even there ffs.

[Angellyn Holliday · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great. The draw was the Reagan catch,but there wasn't one. Typical rich family trying everything to make their 2 kids perfect and they weren't.

[Carlton Duff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed Operation White Rabbit by McDougal much more than this earlier effort of his.
2 1/2 stars is probably a more exact rating.
IMO the author gets unnecessarily graphic about details of the crime.

[Melanie Falconer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading true crime and this book was about an interesting case from back in 2019. The Miller family was well-respected in the Palos Verdes community. Roy Miller was also well-known as an attorney for the Reagans. It’s a tragic story of one son deceased, a wife and mother murdered and a son charged with her murder. My only complaint about the book was that I thought the author included too much information about the various doctors who the Millers took their sons to for treatment. Other than that it was a solid true crime book about a tragic case.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sad story. A well to do family with 2 sons affected by mental illness. One commits suicide, the other rapes and kills his mother. The father was once Ronald Reagan's personal attorney. As the title says, it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, mental illness can affect anybody. Very sad.