Internal Combustion: The True Story of a Marriage and a Murder in the Motor City

by Joyce Maynard

On Mother's Day night, 2004, award-winning fourth grade teacher Nancy Seaman left the Tudor home she shared with her husband of thirty two years in the gated community of Farmington Hills, near Detroit, Michigan, and drove in a driving rain storm to Home Depot, to purchase a hatchet. Three days later, police discovered the mutilated body of Bob Seaman - a successful auto industry engineer, softball coach and passionate collector of vintage Mustangs - in the back of the family's Ford Explorer. As the shackles were placed on her wrists, Nancy Seaman asserted that her husband had been beating her, and she'd killed him in self-defense. At her trial, two radically different stories emerged. One of the couple's sons, Greg, testified that his father had been abusing his mother for years. The other, Jeff, testified for the prosecution, charging his mother as a cold blooded killer. Joyce Maynard's chilling work delves beyond the events of the crime itself, to explore the lives of an American family who seemed to have everything. Her exploration of the story led to a year's research in suburban Detroit - but the story she found there will take the reader to the Depression-era farm country of Illinois, the working class neighborhoods of the auto industry in its heyday and even, surprisingly, to a Baptist church in burned-out downtown Detroit. Along the way we meet a Transylvanian forensic pathologist, a beautiful young prosecutor, an old-school police chief, a television news crew hungry for ratings, the softball scorekeeper mom accused of carrying on an affair with the murdered man, and her two shell shocked teenagers, still reeling from the death of their beloved coach, and a mother who has to tell her daughter why her favorite teacher won't be in school any more. As in Joyce Maynard's previous books - including To Die For , based on a true crime, and her best selling memoir, At Home in the World - Joyce Maynard's themes here involve family secrets, the deep fissures that lie below the surface of the glittering exteriors, and the deep, potentially fatal, fissures in the American Dream.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

490 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Joyce Maynard first came to national attention with the publication of her New York Times cover story “An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back on Life” in 1973, when she was a freshman at Yale. Since then, she has been a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, a syndicated newspaper columnist whose “Domestic Affairs” column appeared in more than fifty papers nationwide, a regular contributor to NPR. Her writing has also been published in national magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine; Newsweek; The New York Times Magazine; Forbes; Salon; San Francisco Magazine, USA Weekly; and many more. She has appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Charlie Rose, and on Fresh Air. Essays of hers appear in numerous collections. She has been a fellow at Yaddo, UCross, and The MacDowell Colony, where she wrote her most recently published novel, Labor Day.

The author of many books of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel To Die For (in which she also plays the role of Nicole Kidman’s attorney) and the bestselling memoir, At Home in the World, Maynard makes her home in Mill Valley, California. Her novel, The Usual Rules—a story about surviving loss—has been a favorite of book club audiences of all ages, and was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the ten best books for young readers for 2003.

Joyce Maynard also runs the Lake Atitlan Writing Workshop in Guatemala, founded in 2002.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been put as one of my favourites I absolutely loved this. I highly recommend. The way Joyce wrote I felt like I knew the people. Loved Loved Loved it.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough book to rate.......the first half was quite well done, the second half was "gee, when is this book going to be over". This true crime story (or at least the first half) concerns a well-thought-of elementary school teacher who hacks her husband to death in the garage of their upper class home with an axe (or hatchet since the author uses both terms and I have to believe that she means hatchet). A horrible crime to say the least and the family and community immediately take sides and lives are ruined. The wife claims to be a battered woman who has put up with her husband's violence for more than 30 years and finally just snapped. That question is certainly up for grabs but it is the argument the defense uses once the wife is put on trial. The author takes us through the trial and the interviews that she has with the various individuals who have some connections with the wife/husband. Interesting reading.

But once the trial is over, the second half of the book goes awry. The author turns the story to her own life, why she felt moved to write this book, and more musings which reveal nothing new and tend to just be a repeat of facts already stated. Nothing special.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author presented an excellent insight into a very successful auto industry engineer who worked in Detroit and was living the American dream. She explores the lives of this family and even takes you back to the depression days. But with time and dark family secrets their world as they know it changes and starts to unravel. A riveting read. I couldn't put it down.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first sentence in the book: "In early December of 2004, "Good Morning America" aired a four-minute segment on the case of a woman named Nancy Seaman, accused of murdering her husband with a hatchet, but claiming self-defense." All I have to say is the woman is lucky I wasn't on the jury.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

" 'Every family has a murder, you know,' she said to me. 'Not literally in most cases. But somebody in the family feels a need to kill somebody else. So where was the murder in your family?' "

I'm not sure if Joyce Maynard is most famous for being the author of To Die For (a terrific novel that was made into a movie starring Nicole Kidman), for becoming a New York Times essayist by age 18, or for shacking up with J.D. Salinger and then selling his love letters decades later.

This is a true-crime book about a hatchet murder among middle-class suburbanites. The great thing about reading a true-crime book by Joyce Maynard is that it is at a much higher level than most true-crime books, both in terms of the vocabulary used and the depth of contemplation Maynard gives the main characters. The bad thing about it is that she is continually baffled that everyone in the story is not exactly like her. She seems confused that anyone would want to live in the Midwest, eat at chain restaurants, watch baseball, or work on classic cars.

The book is certainly entertaining, but it's basically a long-format magazine article padded to become a 477-page book.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out strong. It is about the murder of Bob Seaman by his wife Nancy Seaman. She murdered him with a hatchet in 2004. The thing that stricks me about this true crime is that they were married for 34 years. It seems like such a long time, to end like that. So far it is a good read.........

I am at about 100 pages right now and it seems like the story could end here. I find myself wondering how much more is the writer going to have to write about in the few hundred pages that are left? I don't like books like this. Hopefully, it will get better...........

Well I am currently almost done with this book and it seems to have gotten way better towards the end of the book.....

Overall this book was ok. Towards the end, the author started going through the process of how she went about trying to get in contact with people involved in the crime in order to write her book. I found that aspect pretty interesting but in my opinion I don't think the author was knowledgable enough about the victim's and the killer's life to write a full book about it.

[Amanda Ishtayeh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept waiting and waiting for this book to tell me something new or mysterious or even come out and take a stand that the husband was abused by his wife! I blame my self for finishing this book that took 400 pages to tell me what it could have told me in about 150. She also repeated herself with stories and findings she had already told us about. She did not get the interviews she needed to make this book interesting but since she is a good writer I kept hanging on with the promise of "enlightenment". Just one strange note, my copy of this book was printed on a glossy paper that was heavier than normal book paper. It made the book very heavy to read in bed! LOL!

[D'Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I read 300 pages of this -- in which the woman was arrested, tried, and found guilty of hacking her husband to death with a hatchet in their Farmington Hills garage -- but then I had to give up. I was interested in the book because it's a local story, but past page 300 it was basically Joyce Maynard writing about how no one would talk to her for the book and how she's afraid to drive in the snow. The book is also not especially well-written, not unusual for true-crime novels, but that helped make this one particularly insufferable. My wife also read about 300 pages and also gave up.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy Seaman is accused of murdering her husband, Bob, of 32 years. His mutilated body was found in the back of family's Ford Explorer. Bob was much loved softball coach and a collector of vintage Mustangs.
Good but not great True Crime book. Lots of details about things that have nothing to do with the crime. Joyce Maynard puts in a lot of her own views and life in the book, found this to be annoying. It did not feel well rounded on reporting the dynamics of the family or the crime. I am giving it three stars because it is an interesting story.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

FINALLY! I can move this to my read book shelf and move on ! ( I admitt I " scanned " the last third of the book ) Sorry Diane - this one just did not work for me . I normally enjoy reading true-crime , but I enjoyed very little about this book . I found the telling to be lacking in depth about the characters and what actually took place and more about the author's reasoning behind her desire to write the book and her strike outs when attempting to get the facts .

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

The time the author spent writing about the actual case was well-written and very interesting. I was disappointed though, that the author spent the second half of the book dwelling on her bitterness over her divorce from at least fifteen years prior. I also found it strange that when the author actually wrote about something besides herself, she wrote about how no one invloved with the case would talk with her, but that lack of information was not going to stop her from writing.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific - the first half is the murder and the trial and the second half is the aftermath and how it affects everyone involved including Joyce Maynard. I have been reading her books for years, ever since I discovered she was the teenage protege/paramour of JD Salinger. I wonder if he would be proud or jealous, probably totally indifferent!! She has led one hell of a life and boy can she write. Have her newest book on order from the library.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting to me as I had seen the 48 Hours episode on this case and wanted to learn more, which I certainly did. I found the characters unique and interesting, but the author integrated her own personal experiences into this book, and I felt that took away from the book. A good true crime overall.

[Kate Schmitz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save yourself the trouble: NO ONE involved with this murder would speak to her and yet she still wrote the book...about how no one would speak to her.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only in Detroit could a marital dispute over a restored classic Mustang lead to an axe murder. Here is that story and all the crazy drama that came with it.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and insightful look at family dynamics

[Anne Caverhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder with a hatchet of the man who was supposed to be the love of your life. Till death do you part. On the bloodied floor of an upscale house in Detroit, Michigan. Joyce Maynard attacks the question, What happened to this family of an outstanding, by all means highly successful couple with two smart and talented sons—that could create a murder scene where the Talbots suited teacher mom, bludgeons her husband to death. And then stabs him repeatedly. After he has already dead. It wasn’t self defence despite her stance of being a battered woman. It was cold blooded rage and fury that propelled this violence. And as the author relates and describes, rage fuelled by a lifetime of disappointment, insecurity, and resentment. This isn’t a feel good story but I enjoyed the context, the story behind the headlines, and the writing about a marriage where the vows had deteriorated into post it notes of venom.

[Sarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the novel that covered the background of the family, friends, and acquaintances, was interesting and informative. The second half was mostly filler and there were no further revelations revealed. It could have been simply stated there was bias and exploitation from the media to get ratings. The change to the sentence was the only new information. The follow up and perspective of people involved in the case was interesting at times but superficial.
There was a lot of unnecessary repetition of facts, like Bob’s father losing fingers and Bob and his son Jeff also used tools the same way. Does the reader need that information to be repeated several times? Does it have anything to do with the crime? No. We get it, they had a passion for working on cars and imitated their teacher, who they respected. These three characters had shared interests.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, in some ways, two books. The first is the story of the murderer, the victim, their family and friends, and the trial and its outcome. The second is about how Joyce researched for this book, the people she talked to (or didn't) in Michigan, events she attended, and how she related to a family in crisis. I found both parts very interesting. As a Michigander, however, I did note a few errors, such as the statement that Eastern Michigan University is in Ann Arbor. It is located in Ypsilanti, and Ypsi is very glad to have it. Ann Arbor, of course, is glad to be the home of the University of Michigan and, I'm quite sure, would not like their U to be confused with EMU. :)

[Kelly Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Nancy Seaman doesn’t already have her own Snapped episode, she needs one, pronto.
This true account of how she bludgeoned her husband with a hatchet and then finished him off with a kitchen knife was captivating in the same way as a three car pileup - you know you should mind your own business, but you just gotta look.
Depending on who you believe, she was either a traumatized, battered housewife or…a fucking lunatic who was pissed that her husband was leaving her.
Whichever way you look at it, this was not your average marriage in suburbia.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the author started this book with no opinion on whether or not Nancy Seaman was guilty or not, I felt she made up her mind within the first third of the book. Not that I blame her. She showed what Lisa, the prosecutor, had against Nancy in terms of evidence very well. There was never any doubt she did it; the question was whether she was abused or not.

[Iris Rosen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so happy to be done with this book!! It went on & on! Very well written. I live near the scene of the crime & loved reading about familiar places nearby. I love Joyce Maynard & learned a lot about her.

[Deborah Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, a page-turner. Joyce Maynard does a great job of uncovering the truth behind the murder of Bob Seaman by his wife, Nancy. And she does get to the truth.

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

first 200 pages or so about the murder and trial were interesting. Last 200 pages dealing with the author's attempts at research and reflection on her own life and problems ,not so much.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joyce Maynard is one of my favorite authors, but this book was not good. Somehow a story about a woman hacking her husband to death was boring.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joyce Maynard is the author of TO DIE FOR, a book of fiction based on the Pamela Smart case in New Hampshire in which Smart has her teenaged lover murder her husband. In INTERNAL COMBUSTION, Maynard again is interested in a case of a marriage gone so bad that a woman wants her husband dead. Only this time she sticks with the facts, nonfiction, as she saw them over her summer’s-long investigation plus a few shorter trips before and after. And this time the unhappy wife does it herself.

This is partly the story of Nancy Seaman’s murder of her husband, Bob, in 2004; of Seaman’s murder trial; and of the effects of the Seaman marriage and murder on their two sons, Jeff and Greg. They lived in an upper-middle-class Detroit suburb, Farmington Hills, Michigan, and weren’t wanting for material things but were a tragic family nevertheless. Nancy Seaman forced her sons to take sides.

As previously stated, though, that story is only part of the book. More than that is the story of Maynard’s investigation into the lives of Nancy and Bob Seaman, including their childhoods. Along the way, she interviews and gets to know many different people and not only those in Michigan. But she never meets with Nancy, Greg, or Nancy's coworkers. Still, it is through this process that she comes to a decision not about Nancy Seaman’s guilt, which is certain, but whether she was justified, as a 48 Hours episode had claimed.

Maynard should have stuck with the story of the Seamans, relating fewer incidents that exemplified their horrible marriage. It got tedious. But even all those examples aren’t as bad as going completely off the subject, which Maynard does several times.

At various points, Maynard sticks in her little jabs at Oakland County (where Farmington Hills is) and Farmington Hills for their racism and tells little stories of her trips to the city of Detroit, none of which have anything to do with “THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE AND A MURDER IN THE MOTOR CITY” (the book’s subtitle, which is inaccurate because Farmington Hills is not the motor city.)

I grew up and still live (minus a 20-year-long stay in California in between ) right in the area Maynard speaks of. I think I even grew up in the same city where her ex-husband did. That’s why I picked up this book. I lived in California at the time this took place, moving back to Michigan around the time the trial ended. So I was unfamiliar with the story other than what I had seen on TV in California.

Although Maynard's impressions of Detroit and area suburbs are interesting, they have nothing to do with the reason I wanted to read the book. So I found it maddening that they were stuck throughout the book, kind of like padding.

Maybe if Maynard had been able to speak with Nancy, her son Greg, and the teachers Nancy worked with, she could have stuck with “THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE AND A MURDER IN” Farmington Hills.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting true story about an extremely dysfunctional family which took place in the early 21st century. The woman at the center of the story is a year older than I am and was raised by her parents to be a wife to a "Ford" man, aka a man who worked for the Ford Company in Detroit, MI. The idea of her doing anything else with her life except be a wife and mother was simply out of the question during those years and in this segment of the population at large, although she was highly intelligent. The woman had two boys; and they were divided in her loyalty to her. She was accused of killing her husband and wanted nothing to do with her older son. My opinion is that from her reclusive behavior and how she looked down upon women like herself, caused a deep, dark and pessimistic personality within her. I believe her husband was only a symbol for what was destroying her, although she claimed that he beat her, etc. even though there was no evidence of this. During the latter part of her marriage, she did go back for more education and became an elementary school teacher, and a very good one at that. At the same time, her husband lost his job due to the outsourcing of all the car factories, etc. and this caused a lot of stress within the family. I could not help but wonder what she would have been like if she had been allowed to study for a career by her parents, instead of the standard "get married and have kids" which most women were expected to follow. It was certainly a bleak part of history for American women, in general, and caused a lot of harm to them, their children, and even their husbands. That is why I believe it is always important to follow your heart in determining how you want to spend your life. Perhaps tragedies like this could be prevented.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept telling Terry about this as I read it ("she killed him with an AXE") and it was quite unsettling. Partly because I swear I have read another book about this same crime...and partly because JM really really was obsessed with this, and despite being unable to interview several key people in the story, she slogs on (and on) and digs quite deeply into it. I was a bit turned off by how she kept telling us that she drove old cars, borrowed a coat, etc. while still reminding us she is from Marin...which might seem irrelevant to the story she was telling, but then she did some nice self-revelatory stuff about her reasons why she became so engrossed in this dysfunction, and her epiphany about her sons...which I found oddly refreshing.

In any case, an ugly story...and I am not really sure whether the woman was abused or abuser. Maybe it doesn't matter, it was an interesting tale either way

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a strong hook...An award winning school teacher (Nancy Seaman) murders her husband (Bob Seaman) with a hatchet in their home home located in an upscale neighborhood of Detroit. (Get it? motor city...internal combustion?) I don't read alot of non-fiction, but this held my interest and it was strange- as a woman- to find yourself siding with the deceased despite Nancy's claims of being abused. This was obviously written with a slant against the wife, but the author gave her and her family every chance to contribute and they chose not to. If you have kids, the ante is upped as each of the 2 sons have chosen to firmly side with the opposite parent. If you like non-fiction, or want to try it, I would recommend this one.