The Coed Call Girl Murder

by Fannie Weinstein, Melinda Wilson

Bright and magnetic, Tina Biggar was an all-American girl from a picture-perfect family. She studied hard and played hard, and when a subject interested her, she couldn't let it go. At college, Tina worked on a research project, interviewing prostitutes about AIDS awareness. Later, she explored on her own the seedy world of the high-class call girl, and walked into a nightmare she's never return from.

Living off-campus with her boyfriend, Todd, Tina's interest has taken a dangerous turn. One of her family and friends suspected that the twenty-three-year-old blonde was secretly working as a call girl for three shadowy escort services, providing sexual favors to strangers for one hundred dollars an hour.

Then one day Tina was gone. Four weeks later, police found her decomposed body behind a vacant house--hidden there by a forty-one-year-old treacherous ex-con and regular client who would be charged with her violent death. Only with her tragic murder did the twisted story of Tina's shocking double life emerge before the horrified eyes of those who knew and loved her.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 15, 1997

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm about 80 pages short of finishing this, but I'm going to go ahead and write my review - I'll add to it if my opinion changes by the end of the book.

I must say that I haven't been able to muster even the smallest amount of sympathy for the victim, which I know sounds pretty harsh. But she knowingly put herself in harm's way by working as a call girl. Her reasons for doing so had nothing to do with any of the most common reasons that seem to draw girls into the world of prostitution - she wasn't a runaway teenager (she was, in fact, 23 years old), she wasn't escaping some horrible home life, she wasn't a druggie, she wasn't coerced into it by some predatory guy, and it wasn't that she didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. She was going to college, she lived with her nice enough, normal enough boyfriend, and her dad was always there for her no matter what. Soo, how did she end up becoming a prostitute, you may wonder? She herself said that it was to "get back" at her boyfriend for cheating on her.

The case is irritating in other ways, as well. The cops didn't search her car well enough in the beginning, and only weeks later did they bother to look in the trunk, where they found a huge puddle of dried up blood. I mean, come on.

As for the book itself, it's not bad, but it's not really that intriguing, either. You know from the beginning (if you read the back cover, glance at the pictures inside, and read the prologue) where she was found, who killed her, and how she ended up in harm's way. Just didn't grab my interest or my emotions.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!

And to think this book was on my wish list for many many years. I finally decided to buy it and now I have read it..what a bore!

First of all I also did not feel much sympathy for the victim. Not because she worked as a call girl but how she constantly wanted revenge on her boyfriend Todd, who had once cheated on her. She then decided to sleep with as many men as possible.

I have never liked people who when something not so nice happens to them they have to get revenge. No matter who they hurt.I know such people in my own life and try to stay away from them.


Anyway. Me not liking the victim that much is not the reason for not liking this book.
The reason was that I felt I was reading about the keystone cops but that the author kept excusing them.

It got so weird that not the cops but the family were trying to catch the killer and even 2 women who own the escort business were stalking the supposed killer.

That might sound exciting but I can assure you it was not. To be honest I was just bored out of my mind. This was not really a case for a whole book. I also could not stand the killer and that he was given so much slack by everybody to keep telling his lies'.

One last remark. I thought the writing was quite good though so I would read another book by this author.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a true crime novel this one was not at all gory. A young college student, Tina Biggar, becomes involved in an AIDS awareness project. From there she decides to launch her own project into the life of the call girl industry. She unfortunately mets up with an undesirable man and that relationship, ultimately led to her death. The devotion of her father who continually sought out and searched clues on his own, had difficulty confiding his innermost fears for his daughter.

FROM BACK COVER: "Bright and magnetic, Tina Biggar was an all-American girl from a picture-perfect family. She studied hard and played hard, and when a subject interested her, she couldn't let it go. At college, Tina worked on a research project, interviewing prostitutes about AIDS awareness. Later, she explored on her own the seedy world of the high-class call girl, and walked into a nightmare she'd never return from.

Living off campus with her boyfriend, Todd, Tina's interest had taken a dangerous turn. None of her family and friends suspected that the twenty-three year old blonde was secretly working as a call girl for three shadowy escort services, providing sexual favours to strangers for one hundred dollars an hour.

Then one day Tina was gone. Four weeks later, police found her decomposed body behind a vacant house-hidden there by a forty-one year old treacherous ex-con and regular client who would be charged with her violent death. Only with her tragic murder did the twisted story of Tina's shocking double life emerge before the horrified eyes of those who knew and loved her".

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not the best or worst paperback true crime novel I had ever read. The reason why I read this book was because some distant family members wanted me to be aware of the dangers of living in a big city. I was just entering high school when I was gifted this book so my mom took it away and said I could read it when I was older. We both forgot about it until another move occurred. While I didn't plan on entering the call girl life style, I did learn how easy it can be for people to get sucked into a dangerous situation from bad decisions. The authors sound distant from the victim which I both like and dislike because there is no desire to make the readers feel one way or another about her lifestyle. Some information did seem hidden by the people interviewed but this makes sense since people who cares about the victim need to remember the best of them. Still I feel more background information would have been useful in understanding why the victim could be mean to her boyfriend and crave money and distance that her double life provided.

[J.H. Moncrieff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This true crime was better written than most, and the pace was great. No long, drawn-out trial sequence, probably because there wasn't a trial.

But for some reason, the story didn't really move me. I'm not sure why. The writers seemed a little distant from their subject matter, is the best explanation I can come up with. Also, since they spend so much time talking about how much it hurt the victim's father when the media dragged his daughter's name through the mud, writing a book about the case and calling it "The Coed Call Girl Murder" wasn't the most sensitive choice. (Those closest to the victim didn't realize she was working for an escort service until after she was murdered. Some still find it hard to believe.)

So it was a good book, but not an amazing one. Worth a read for fans of the genre.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read that much true crime, probably because it tends to be poorly written. Seriously, if authors don't know the difference between "compose" and "comprise", editors should. Anyway, I was interested enough to finish it, and it was easy/quick/trashy enough to read when I had a headache and couldn't process heavier stuff. A side note: even in '97 when this was published, no one used the words "coed" or "call girl" anymore, which suggests the target audience for the book was elderly. Interestingly, neither word features in the text much, if at all.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book twenty years ago, but all I could remember about it was that in those pre-ereader days, the lurid title and garish cover made me a little self-conscious about cracking it open in public. At any rate, it is a good book and the bulk of it tells the story of a missing persons case. It's interesting how the victim's father and friends (and finally the police) go about trying to track her down after she disappears.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really care for this book. When I bought it I was looking forward to reading it because it sounded really good but, once I started reading this book it just seemed like it dragged on for ever. I wasn’t impressed with this book.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very thorough. This book went into great detail into Tina's life and made her a person and not just a victim. The murderers back story gave a good why, although the circle of lies he kept telling became a little too much. Good read if you are a true crime junkie.

[Raindear25 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four b/c it took place in my county. It was weird reading about a place that I'm familiar with.

[Marca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid true-crime narrative. A pretty college coed Tina Biggar goes missing in 1995 from Farmington Hills, Michigan. When the police begin dissecting her latest activities, they discover she was engaging in a lot of high-risk activity. What began as a college project studying call-girls and Aids, soon found Tina also working as a call girl named Crystal. There she came into contact with a loser-at-life who could not hold a job and lied with every breath. His name was Ken Tranchida and he became fixated on Tina. At first he was her client through her agency, then they went off the agency books and she continued to “see” him. Why a smart girl like Tina would hang out with the likes of Tranchida remains a mystery. He lied a lot and he kept telling her he would buy her a car (her car was in bad shape), but it’s hard to say why she gave him a second glance. Ken murdered Tina in what he claimed was an accident in which she hit her head against the corner of a safe. He concealed her body in a wooded area near his aunt’s home where she was later found, but too late to do true forensics on her remains. A true tragedy of a promising young life gone dark. Tina left behind many friends and family who truly loved her. Her father and boyfriend were admirable in that while they were pained by Tina’s life as a call-girl, they remained steadfast in their love and loyalty. (Other friends and family did the same, but were not featured in the book.) If nothing else, this should serve as a cautionary tale to other young people who think they can dance on the edge without consequences. Tina was smart, but also young and inexperienced when dealing with a sociopath like Ken.

[Chamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellant read

[Megan Cordingley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Tom Nolan]

paperback