Murder in Connecticut: The Shocking Crime That Destroyed A Family And United A Community

by Michael Benson

An incisive, unflinching account of the shocking, summer 2007 Connecticut crime that is still making national headlines, Murder in Connecticut examines what happened to Dr. William Petit, his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in the early morning hours of July 23 in the quiet town of Cheshire--and how their community rallied bravely around the sole survivor of this vicious home invasion.

Who was the Petit family? How were they marked for murder by their killers, Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes? How could these men have dreamed up such a crime? And will these horrifying murders--with startling similarities to the case in Truman Capote's classic In Cold Blood--really be the impetus behind sweeping parole reform laws that will not only affect Connecticut, but all of America?

 

Genres: True Crime

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2008

Reviews

[Hugh Sturrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Focuses more on the healing process after a heinous crime and less on the specifics of that crime, the investigation and trial.

[Robinne · Rating 1 out of 5]

The crime is harrowing to read about. The book itself is no more than mediocre.

[Cheryl Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too detailed

Very few books have I not finished. This was one. I don’t mind detail but details need to be important.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

You won’t learn anything from this book that you wouldn’t learn by reading the Wikipedia article.
As someone who lived 4 miles away from the Petits when this happened, I think I had a different relationship to the community aspect of the book. Even still, the book is essentially a love letter to the Petit family/Cheshire.

I found it similar to the Columbine book in that it put focus on the victims. Except Columbine also gave you all the insider details you wanted, so it created a brilliant balance between intrigue and empathy. This book was almost entirely focused on gushing over the Petits, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but not what most people are looking for.

To be fair, this book was published in 2008, a year after the murders occurred. Hayes went to trial in late 2010 and Komisarjevsky went to trial in 2011. It was way too early for a book to have been written on the tragedy.

Stylistically, very quote heavy and some chapters are literally a page and a half long? Whoever edited the book needs to find a new profession.

[Diane Wilkerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

impact of crimes on a community

This is a good description of a horrific crime and the impact on the community. There are a lot of details. It does seem to jump around a bit. Chapters start on one story line, but then pick up something different at the end. I expected the last chapter to be a summary conclusion, but that wasn’t the case.

[Michelle Toney · Rating 5 out of 5]

True crime

This was such a horrible crime committed on such a beautifully innocent family. Michael Benson portrays the life of the family and their legacy as well as their horrific last hours of life. I learned much more of this innocent family reading this book than I knew from the news when this murder occurred.

[Kathryn Papadakis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's just say this was no In Cold Blood. I know no more after reading this book than I did from the news stories after the event. True crime aficionados really want an in depth anNysis of the perps..it was a heinous murder, but this book added nothing.

[Nancy K Stell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fair

[Sydney Fulbright · Rating 4 out of 5]

shocking event

The book was written very well. I became bored with all the legal/political information. Truly a devastating event and a critique of our justice system.

[Grace]

dnf

[Elise Fleischman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book reads like an extensively drawn out news report, and does not do this horrendous story any justice. Save yourself the wasted time and go listen to a podcast about the case.

[Xenia0201 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this story from when it aired on the news last summer but did not know the details surrounding what happened. This is the true story of a doctor and his family in suburban CT who were the victims of a robbery that resulted in the wife and two daughters' murders. I found the doctor to be a man of unbelievable courage and strength to be able to go on after his family and home was destroyed.

[Joanna Teodosio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was informative for both Connecticut and non-Connecticut readers. As a lifelong CT resident, I did learn a few things about the case that I didn't know as it was being splashed across the front pages of media.

I liked how the numerous charities for the family are listed back in the book, and there are many different quotes and statements from various people as well. The 911 call is also transcribed in the back.

A sad but readable book. Not a Pulitzer, but generally informative.

[Kelly Osmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very choppy and difficult to read, though it didn't take long to read. So many pages of quotes. I think I found it worse because I had read one last year that I enjoyed much more. A few parts were informative that almost gave it a three rating but not quite.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not a fan of the layout of this book. Right away it went into the crime instead of building up to it with a background of everyone. It was just not how I like to read about these stories. It was hard to get through after I knew what happened in the first chapter or so.

[Jody · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book adds absolutely nothing to society except money in the pockets of this author for capitalizing on a tragedy.

[Candy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just reads like clippings from newspapers articles. I was expecting more of an Ann Rule account. Not worth the read at all.

[Kim Caraway · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more and was disappointed.

[Jenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible. I like true crime books but I am embarrassed I read this one. You guys should revoke my Goodreads privileges.

[Allyson Gray · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually didn't even finish reading the whole thing. I read about 85% and realized the ENTIRE book was basically police reports and court reports basically.

[Michelle See · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uncertain of the ending, unlike authors previous books