Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case (Pinnacle True Crime) [Paperback]

Clifford Irving (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The Houston murder of James and Virginia Campbell by their daughter, Cindy, and her boyfriend, David West, was the subject of Jack Olsen's Cold Kill ( LJ 12/87). Irving's and Olsen's treatments differ in style and judgment. Irving focuses on the trialsWest pled guilty, and after one hung jury, Cindy was convictedalthough he doubts Cindy's guilt. Olsen ignores the trials and portrays Cindy as the instigator. Clearly, Cindy is unlikable and unbalanced; Irving's sympathy for her may be unpopular. He was a defense witness at one trial, and his thorough account is personal in tone, whereas Olsen's novelistic style is more readable and dramatic. Most public libraries will want at least one version. Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786010568
• ISBN-13: 978-0786010561
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,855,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clifford Irving is the author of twenty published books, half a dozen of them New York Times best-sellers, including "Fake!", "Trial", "Final Argument", and "Tom Mix and Pancho Villa", and several screenplays. His most famous book was the hoax "Autobiography of Howard Hughes" which brought the billionaire out of seclusion and landed the author in three U.S. prisons. He traveled three times around the world before most people living in it today were born, and was recently the subject of The Clifford Irving Show at the Cine 13 theater in Paris. Yet he may be one of the last professional people on this planet who has no cell phone.

The New York Times Book Review said: "Clifford Irving is a born storyteller." The L.A. Times called him "a master." In 1986 William Safire named "Trial" "the novel of the year." "Fake!" is the super-sophisticated tale of the most successful art forger of the 20th century, a gay Hungarian whose Picassos and Matisses hang in art collections worldwide. Many people believe the Hughes autobiography caused the Watergate break-in and the downfall of Richard Nixon.

In mid-December 2011, Clifford's oldest son, Josh, a computer geek, will create a unique publishing event. Twelve of Clifford's books, published and unpublished, will be made available simultaneously on Kindle. And soon you'll find the author on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. (Josh twisted his arm.)

He was born in Manhattan, went to the High School of Music & Art and Cornell University, lived for nearly two decades on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Ibiza, has been married more times than he cares to think about, has three grown sons, has lectured worldwide on subjects as diverse as the art market and the justice system, counts among his finest achievements earning a draw against the chess champion of Spain and 25 years ago driving in the winning run in the annual Artists v Writers Softball Game in East Hampton, NY.

He now lives with his Aussie wife in the Colorado Rockies, on the edge of a forest where he cuts firewood, paints, tends his flower garden, is regularly stumped by hard sudoku puzzles, and is writing a memoir called "Around the World in 80 Years."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Vision, November 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case (Pinnacle True Crime) (Paperback)

Judging from the online reviews of DADDY'S GIRL, you either love it or hate. Put me in the camp of those who love it. It's the best "true crime" book I've ever read, because you get so deep into the minds of not only the murderers but also the lawyers and the investigative journalist, author Clifford Irving.

It could be a Shakespearean tragedy, but it's not: it's a gritty prose rendition of love and revenge set in Houston, Texas in the 1980s. Irving is there as a spectator (and witness, which is a remarkable story in itself) at the trial, and you're there with him. The characters are bizarre yet real. Moral dilemmas abound. Irving, who is a fine novelist, writes the story like a personal novel, with a dark vision of human nature, but there is a clear ring of truth to the way he describes incidents, thoughts, and renders dialogue. I went from this book to Irving's novels and enjoyed all of them.

One fault: it's a bit long, but I can bear with that, because it's fascinating all the way. A five-star book, no doubt of it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Addicting, August 26, 2000

By 

"elenilee" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case (Pinnacle True Crime) (Paperback)

Is reading about murder addicting? No. Is reading about all of the people involved? Yes. Irving introduces all of the characters--victims, family, police officers, undercover detectives,lawyers, accused, almost everyone. It's more of a combination between character study and what really goes on behind the scenes of a murder case. The first 350 pages are entralling--I gasped and yes, I even laughed. The next 150 gets into courtroom drama. The last 100 I grazed through because I just wanted to find out what happened. I reccommed it--a thourough presentation of a terrible happening, and an author who reflects upon and "personalizes" this event into which he is drawn.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This story could have been told--, July 18, 2000

By 

Marilyn S. Shively - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case (Pinnacle True Crime) (Paperback)

with less verbiage. Very interesting story but frankly I could not finish the book. I cheated and went to the end of the story to see what happened. I always read all of true crime stories but this one was so needlessly and boringly long with so much useless trivial information. What a shame because the story itself is very interesting. I also agree with another person who reviewed the book; since David West is up for parole in the year 2000, I would like to know if in fact he will get paroled. Anyway, the bottom line is that the story somehow got lost in a ton of words that were unnessecary.