When Evil Came to Good Hart [Paperback]

Mardi Link (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2008

"The murder mystery that has confounded and fascinated people for over forty years has been given a whole new life. When Evil Came to Good Hart is a well-researched and well-written piece of nonfiction that holds the reader in its spell, just as it has the many writers, reporters, and law officers who have puzzled over it. My highest praise for Mardi Link's book is to say that it reads like a good novel, a real page-turner."
—Judith Guest, author of Ordinary People and The Tarnished Eye

In this page-turning true-life whodunit, author Mardi Link details all the evidence to date. She crafts her book around police and court documents and historical and present-day statements and interviews, in addition to exploring the impact of the case on the community of Good Hart and the stigma that surrounds the popular summer getaway. Adding to both the sense of tragic history and the suspense, Link laces her tale with fascinating bits of local and Indian lore, while dozens of colorful characters enter and leave the story, spicing the narrative.

During the years of investigation of the murders, officials considered hundreds of tips and leads as well as dozens of sources, among them former secretaries who worked for murder victim Dick Robison; Robison's business associates; John Norman Collins, perpetrator of the "Co-Ed Murders" that took place in Washtenaw County between 1967 and 1969; and an inmate in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, who said he knew who killed the Robison family.

Despite the exhaustive investigative efforts of numerous individuals, decades later the case lies tantalizingly out of reach. It is still an unsolved cold case, yielding, in Link's words, forty years worth of "dead-end leads, anonymous tips, a few hard facts, and countless cockamamie theories."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Despite tireless efforts by investigators, the solution to this case has remained just out of their reach. And Link does a meticulous job of detailing their efforts and their frustrations. Her exhaustive research shines as she spins a fresh look at a 40-year-old tale of murder, mayhem and mystery. As a former police reporter, I'm always interested in how writers weave usually dry police and court documents into a narrative that is not only readable, but compelling. Through use of dusty documents, current-day interviews and interesting bits of local history and lore, Link has found those nuggets and crafted a book that keeps one turning the pages. She combines the tenacity of a good reporter with the literary ability of a talented novelist to provide readers with a book that deserves attention in northern Michigan and beyond. -- Traverse City Record-Eagle

It's one of the best accounts of the homicide I've seen. Probably the most factual. -- Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin

Mardi Link's look at a 1968 case is a stellar example of how a mystery, when well presented, can be even more compelling than one that's been solved. In digging through evidence, reading numerous newspaper accounts from that time, and talking to a score of Good Hart residents, Link doesn't come up with any answers about whodunnit, but she does explore more than just the Robison case. In presenting the facts, she asks questions about the nature of evil, and comments on loss of innocence in many ways, her own, the town's, the era's. Her descriptions vary from melodic and wistful to hard-hitting, a combination that keeps the pages turning fast. For the Robisons, she writes, it was to be their first full summer in Good Hart, a result of business success: "It was a simple but enduring dream, shared by thousands of Michigan families, but one that for the Robisons this summer in 1968, lasted just eight days." -- ForeWord Magazine

Seven year old Mardi Link was in the back seat of the family Ford, on her way to a relative's cottage, when WJR interrupted a ballgame to break news of the grisly discovery. Link is the author of the first nonfiction account of the murders. 'I guess I was struck by the fact that Susie and I were the same age,' Link says. 'I was always intrigued by the case. Who would kill an entire family? And why?' Police asked those same questions. -- Hour Detroit magazine

There is an intemporal quality to Good Hart, the kind born of ancient rocks, mature mixed forests, enduring Ottawa legends, and the turquoise waters of Little Traverse Bay. Hovering over this paradise is the dark chapter in the village's past that locals still don't care to talk about: the massacre of six members of the vacationing Robison family in the summer of 1968. In the first nonfiction book about this baffling and still unsolved crime, Link offers up a balanced and absorbing account of this mystery, allowing readers to form their own opinions and leaving them wanting more from this very talented writer. -- author Richard Bak

From the Publisher

"Link paints Good Hart, then and now, as a land of fairy tales: "dark woods, warm cabins with smoke curling from their chimneys, worn footpaths down ancient routes, watery blue-grey horizons, a church, a graveyard, a a little store." Hidden among the fairy tale outline, Link details a suspicious cast of characters. The list of tips and suspects detectives followed included everything from, "Medicine doctors, strange Greek-god sounding names, a queen, and a pool-shooting bomb maker." -Northern Express

"When Evil Came to Good Hart author Mardi Link carefully pieces together the fragments and presents a sensible account of Michigan's most infamous cold case. Good reading." -Petoskey News-Review

"Speaking of scary, the Robison family was killed in cold blood over forty years ago in Michigan at their cabin and it remains a mystery to this day as to why they were murdered. Mardi Link's when Evil Came to Good Hart is the first detailed non-fiction exploration of these unsolved murders . . . this book should be a true crime staple for years to come." -Partners Book Distribution

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press/Regional (June 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472033158
• ISBN-13: 978-0472033157
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mardi Link was born in Detroit and grew up in the state's southeastern suburbs, spending summers up north on Lake Michigan. The only daughter of educators, she attended Michigan State University's school of journalism, and has worked as a police and general assignment reporter, magazine editor, and freelance writer. Her first book, When Evil Came to Good Hart, was published in 2008 by the University of Michigan Press and spent four months on the Heartland Bestseller List.

Her second book, Isadore's Secret, was published in 2009 also by the University of Michigan Press, and chronicles the mysterious disappearance of a Felician nun from her convent in 1907. It was named a Michigan Notable Book, a Great Lakes Great Read, and also spent several months on the Heartland Bestseller List.

Mardi's latest work is a forthcoming memoir from Knopf. She lives with her husband and three sons on a hobby farm near Traverse City, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHENEVIL CAME TO GOOD HART is right on the mark!, July 30, 2008

By 

Richard A. Wiles "Robison Case Researcher" (Northern Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Evil Came to Good Hart (Paperback)

Northern Michigan author Mardi Link's latest book, WHEN EVIL CAME TO GOOD HART is right on the mark when it comes to explaining the 40 year old murders of a Michigan family. The Robison's of suburban Detroit were brutally killed in their northern Michigan summer cottage in June of 1968.
No one was ever arrested for the crime.

Many theories and many suspects were examined by the Michigan State Police investigators throughout their 16 month long search for the killer.
At first the crime scene suggested murder-suicide, when that was ruled out by forensics the idea of a deranged local killer emerged. This theory was followed by a drug crazed beach roaming intruder, the local cottage caretaker, a downstate serial killer, and finally someone personally known to the family who needed to keep a dark secret just that, secret!

Ms. Link's able story telling helps unravel what appears on the surface to have been a complex and mysterious murder case. Her story examines the evidence and details that eventually leads all law enforcement officials
connected to the case to narrow the killer down to one person.

So, the question is, why was that person never arrested??? That very well may be explained in Mardi Link's sequel!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Murder Mystery!, February 16, 2009

By 

M. K. Hoelscher (Wapakoneta, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Evil Came to Good Hart (Paperback)

I spotted this gem of a true-life crime novel one day while surfing on Amazon. For anyone who is a fan of true crime novels or cold case books this is a great choice.

This is an accounting of an unsolved murder that took place 40 years ago in Good Hart, Michigan. It's about the murders of a wealthy Detroit family vactioning in Good Hart in 1968. It was the American dream at the time, to escape the city and be able to spend the summer on the shore, and instead turned into a mystery. Dick and Shirley Robison and their 3 teen age boys and young daughter were found in July of 1968 murdered in their cabin. The story we're told is based on newspaper accounts, court documents and interviews with the people involved. What at first looks like your typical American family is quickly discovered to be full of even more mystery that confused authorites and made the crime impossible to solve. This writing in this book is wonderful and keeps you riveted. It's hard hitting and factual, and yet involves the reader in the last days of this families lives in a way that is anything but dry. This is a book I'd recommend to all fans of mystery and whodunits.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Account of the Good Hart Murders, September 9, 2008

By 

Lois Lane "Reader Pro" (the South) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Evil Came to Good Hart (Paperback)

After more than 40 years we finally have a comprehensive non-fiction account of all the known facts regarding this most shocking crime. In Good Hart, MI, 1968, a whole family was gunned down and left undiscovered for a month in their secluded upscale north woods cottage. The murderer or murderers were never brought to trial. This is a crime close to the hearts and minds of many of the people of Michigan, even those not born when it happened. Finally Mardi Link has brought the facts together and out into the open for all to ponder. What was the father, Richard Robison doing that could have prompted this horrid overkill? Was his partner a con artist who ran out of slick talk? Read this book to learn of a most captivating unsolved mystery.