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Rating: Summary: BORING!!! Review: An excellent book...right up there with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and The Marriage Trifecta...Very few writers have the unique ability to tell a story not only in words, but from experience of living the story...his descriptive writing is awesome, and you are there with him, seeing the leaves, the homes, everything...I am glad I didn't find this book until now..had I read it earlier, I may not have understood his feelings he was expressing...I hope he is not like John Berendt, in that he give us one excellent book, and then leaves us waiting for more...there are very few good writers that can express their feelings the way he does....waiting for more....
Rating: Summary: Not as good as Murder In Greenwich Review: I first read Mark Furhman's book Murder in Greenwich and then read this one. It would not have mattered which I read first but I liked Furhman's better. Dumas lived amoung them and it seems his book holds back a lot of information like he is afraid to tell the whole story unlike Furham who wanted this to be solved and have Justice Done. Dumas cast almost a sympthy for the accused wealthy Family and I find it annoying. I also think he did not need to Dis Mark Furhman in his book it makes him look bad. Furham may have had a bad reputation but nobody ever questioned his ability as a cop. I know nothing about Dumas for all I know he was as [messed] up as everyone else into drugs, etc... That does not make him an expert. He shows a lot of arrgogance I lived here so I know more. Well that case needed a new set of eyes an unintimided outsider. I bet if the two of them worked together you would have had a great book. Both books make me think that both Tommy and Michael did this or are covering for each other. If you read between the lines it you see two MO's and two murder scences I think one of them went into a rage with a golf and the other stabbed her just my opinion. Also the family seems to cover for them at the beginning and then hides both of them (Tommy and Michael)away but not the rest of the kids. I must say that I am glad they both potray how much Dorthy Moxely was involved as any Mother she would want to know the truth about what happened to her daughter. She is a pillar of strength and made sure her love for her daughter carried on. I believe that police, and the community was too scared of the Skakels to fess up. However, I would of talked because it was so violent why would you want to protect someone capable of doing what was done? Then again if I did it would be blacked out in police reports or I'd be dead. I do not care about wealth or stature the whole community should have been hell bent on finding this murdere not covering it up. Neither book really gives you a great insight because all the people are so vague or gaurded it is pathetic. Overall Dumas gets pieces the Furham book did not and vice versa. Dumas's book raises more questions than answers and Furhman's solved the case. That may tell you something. All in all we will never really know what happened but at least it was not ignored. This is one of the saddest murders I ever read or heard about.
Rating: Summary: Book Hits at Skakel Review: Just read copy of Sunday Mirror (Copyright 2004 MGN Ltd), dated November 7, 2004, Sunday.
Section: Eire Edition News Pg 23
Length: 146 words
Haedline: BOOK HITS AT SKAKEL
BODY:
KENNEDY cousin Michael Skakel confessed to being covered in blood on the night his pretty 15-year old neighbour was nurdered, a bombshell new book claims.
Skakel who is currently appealing against his life sentence for the brutal slaying of Martha Moxely, is said to have made the comment to a counselor at a reform school in Poland, Maine.
In the book "Conviction: Solving the Martha Moxely Murder" by Leonard Levitt, Skakel's priest, Rev Mark Connolly, says "The counsellor said Michael told him there was blood all over the place."
Levitt's book could not come at a worse time for the 43-year old Skakel, whose appeal is due to be heard in Connecticut in the next few months.
Skakel,the nephew of assassinated US Senator Robert F Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 of beating Martha to death with a golf club in Greenwich.
Load-Date: Novemeber 7, 2004
Rating: Summary: Excellent account of the Moxley murder Review: Rarely do I read a book that continually keeps my attention throughout the entire story. This is especially true when reading true crime stories. A Wealth of Evil by Timothy Dumas was more than I could have imagined. Not only is this Dumas's first and only true crime book, but he also put in so much more in a true crime book than most accomplished true crime authors have ever thought of doing. The story is about the famous Martha Moxley murder in 1975. Immediately the suspects were none other than the Skakel brothers, who coincidentally were distant Kennedy relatives (their aunt being Ethel Skakel Kennedy). As many can imagine, you get a crime involving high people in high places and you have a recipe for getting away with murder! Dumas not only gives the sordid facts of the murder, but he also gives the reader a detailed view of the town Martha lived in, Greenwich, CT. Dumas, who has lived in Greenwich all his life, could not have described this upscale town any better. The history not only adds to the story, but also gives readers a better idea of how this crime was and is so shocking. Dumas clearly did his homework when writing this book and brought readers a wonderful depiction of a young girl who lost her life much too early in life. A Wealth of Evil will leave you disturbed by the facts surrounding the case and will keep you wanting justice to be served to the individual who did this crime. A well-written book that will keep you turning pages and not wanting to put the book down until it is finished. Dumas has proven himself to be a very capable writer of true crime and I can only hope that he will consider writing another true crime book, as he has the gift for telling a good story.
Rating: Summary: More than a crime book! Review: This book had me up through the night reading! I literally could not put it down. But, even though the pace was like a fighter jet, it was the insights into the town and its people -- the wealth, greed, and circling-the-wagons mentality -- that made it special. The author gave us so much more than the case itself. By the time I was done I felt as though I had known the girl, as though I had visited many of the same places, had been snubbed by some of the very same people. The author made me see and feel everything! By contrast, afterwards I picked up Mark Fuhrman's book, and was astounded at the emptiness of the text -- that book was so embarrassingly bad and self-serving I could not finish. I would recommend A Wealth of Evil to anyone interested in a great read and a stirring social commentary.
Rating: Summary: More than a crime book! Review: This book had me up through the night reading! I literally could not put it down. But, even though the pace was like a fighter jet, it was the insights into the town and its people -- the wealth, greed, and circling-the-wagons mentality -- that made it special. The author gave us so much more than the case itself. By the time I was done I felt as though I had known the girl, as though I had visited many of the same places, had been snubbed by some of the very same people. The author made me see and feel everything! By contrast, afterwards I picked up Mark Fuhrman's book, and was astounded at the emptiness of the text -- that book was so embarrassingly bad and self-serving I could not finish. I would recommend A Wealth of Evil to anyone interested in a great read and a stirring social commentary.
Rating: Summary: Concise and absorbing... Review: This is a well-written and thoroughly concise account of Martha Moxley's murder and the subsequent investigation. Once absorbed into the tale, "Greentown" is almost impossible to put down. Not only is the murder itself compelling, but the fact that it remains unsolved presents a mystery of the most interesting sort. The thing that Dumas has done is to deconstruct Greenwich, expose the problems at its heart, and explain how those problems essentially killed Martha. He attempts to solve this crime though its local residents, examining their lives explicitly. Behind the opulent facades lie disturbing tales of abuse and neglect brought on by excessive wealth. Dumas' frustration at the Belle Harbor stonewalling is almost tangible. It seems pretty plain that Tommy and/or Michael Skakel are the killers, and that they may never be apprehended because they are wealthy. It also seems clear that Belle Harbor doesn't mind this injustice, as long as the cameras and report! ers will go away and leave them alone. Still, there is just enough doubt to make everyone wonder. Dumas presents every clue, leading one suspicion after another. The book is as compelling as any fictional murder mystery, but is also an incredibly sobering commentary on injustice in America.
Rating: Summary: 1st hand account of the evils of Greenwich Review: Tim Dumas is from Greenwich, so all throughout the novel he knows what he's talking about. This book tells about the 1975 murder of 15 yr old Martha Moxley. I 1st heard about this case on Unsolved Mysteries many years ago & it has haunted me ever since. Martha was beaten to death w/a golf club and the people last seen w/her were 2 brothers that were cousins of the Kennedys (& that's probably why the case is famous, but anyway...). The book tells all about Martha, the Skakels, & the wealthy citizens of this small, elite town. When I started this book I could not put it down & I found it to be chilling, eerie & haunting. Although Mark Furhman's book was probably more factual, Tim Dumas' book was definitely more entertaining & also, Furhman is not from Greenwich, so it's more difficult for him to understand the culture & background of the suspect that led him (or @ least i think so) to commit such a brutal killing. I am in prep school in CT & I know what Greenwich is like. I have spoken w/Dorthy Moxley before & my father is friends w/Tom Keegan. So all in all I was able to relate to much of the novel. After reading this I do believe Michael did it & hopefully he will be jail after this trial is over.
Rating: Summary: An Author who was able to stretch his materials. Review: Timothy Dumas' account of the Martha Moxley murder must be read in light of the fact that it was published in 1998 which means that the research was done at least a couple of years prior to that time. Now that there has been an indictment of Michael Skakel and the trial has commenced the information in the book seems a bit dated. However, it is a good source of background information. I found that often the author stretched his limited materials in order to make a book length work. He includes pages of information that are not relavent to the Moxley case but do give background information about the community of Greenwich. Dumas spends much of his time focusing on Tommy Skakel and Ken Littleton as key suspects. He tells of the many tragic things that happened to many of the characters but just doesn't seem to tie the story together. The reader gets a good incite into the Greenwish and how the "other half" lives. But all and all I found this book very shallow.
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