The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate [Hardcover]

Robert Graysmith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 1990

Personal inscription by author

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A California serial killer now awaiting his third trial, David Carpenter endured a miserable childhood with a mother who beat him and a remote father. He stuttered badly and that, along with his status as a teacher's pet, made him the victim of neighborhood bullies. Carpenter found no outlet for his anger as a child but in adulthood learned to exercise his fury sexually. He spent most of the '60s and '70s in prison for attacks on two women and, released on probation, began a spree in 1979 during which he killed at least half a dozen people--some of the women were raped first in lonely wooded areas around San Francisco. The details of the crimes--and the bumbling police work that apparently allowed more to occur--are carefully presented by Graysmith ( Zodiac ) in a thorough and engrossing account of a violent sociopath. Illustrations.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 431 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (May 25, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525247793
• ISBN-13: 978-0525247791
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,233,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, June 16, 1999

By 

LochNess2 (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate (Onyx) (Paperback)

The other "review" listed here is completely worthless.

The book is interesting, if not particularly well-written; contains lots of information about the "trailside killer" in the SF Bay Area. Contains lots of information about the background of the killer, and about the killings.

I'm not sure I'd recommend buying it, being out of print, but it's certainly worth checking out of the library.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great true crime story, October 26, 2009

By 

J. Allen Prescott "Randoplh reviews" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate (Onyx) (Paperback)

Robert Graysmith gives a detailed account of the trailside murders in San Francisco, great read if you enjoy the background stories involved with the detectives and victims.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SFBA's other serial killer., May 11, 2000

By 

Chadwick H. Saxelid "Bookworm" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sleeping Lady: The Trailside Murders Above the Golden Gate (Onyx) (Paperback)

No surpise that Graysmith's sophomore true crime book (his first being Zodiac) would be about the Trailside Killer. I remember his rampage well, having spent my entire life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although not quite as well written, it still is a fascinating look at San Francisco's "other" serial killer.