Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night

On a beach in 1960, an Army doctor realizes he knows the killer of a young police officer, who had called him days before. This incident connects three men from different backgrounds: Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo, born during the Great Depression. Journalist Lisa Belkin explores their paths, including immigration, working-class struggles, prison reform, medical experiments, politics, war, and the nature/nurture debate, in her book "Genealogy of a Murder." The story examines coincidences and choices that led to a tragic outcome in July 1960, highlighting how history shapes us.

Format: Hardback
Length: 432 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2023
Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Independence Day weekend, 1960, a young police officer is murdered, shocking his close-knit community in Stamford, Connecticut. The killer remains at large, his identity still unknown. But on a beach not far away, a young Army doctor, on leave from his post at a research lab in a maximum-security prison, faces a chilling realization. He knows who the shooter is. In fact, the man—a prisoner out on parole—had called him only days before. By helping his former charge and trainee, the doctor, a believer in second chances, may have inadvertently helped set the murder into motion. And with that one phone call, may have sealed a policeman's fate.

Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo were all born of the Great Depression, all with grandparents who'd left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a police officer, and one a convict? In Genealogy of a Murder, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men—one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration, the struggles of the working class, prison reform, medical experiments, politics and war, the nature/nurture debate, epigenetics, the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also intimate: a look into the workings of the mind and heart.

Following these threads to their tragic outcome in July 1960, and beyond, Belkin examines the coincidences and choices that led to one fateful night. The result is a brilliantly researched, narratively ingenious story, which illuminates how we shape history even as we are shaped by it.

Weight: 658g
Dimension: 163 x 238 x 39 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780393285253