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Missing Beauty: A Story of Murder and Obsession
Recounts the investigation into the disappearance of Robin Benedict, a high-paid prostitute, and the activities of Boston anatomist William Douglas, who embezzled Tufts University funds to support his entanglement with Benedict
478 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
140 people want to read
About the author
Teresa Carpenter
7 books10 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Teresa Carpenter is the author of four books, including the bestselling Missing Beauty. She is a former senior editor of the Village Voice, where her articles on crime and the law won a Pulitzer Prize. She lives in Greenwich Village with husband Steven Levy, a senior writer at Wired magazine and author of Hackers, Crypto and Artificial Life. Teresa is currently at work on an anthology of New York diaries for the Modern Library.
Teresa Carpenter is the author of four books, including the bestselling Missing Beauty. She is a former senior editor of the Village Voice, where her articles on crime and the law won a Pulitzer Prize. She lives in Greenwich Village with husband Steven Levy, a senior writer at Wired magazine and author of Hackers, Crypto and Artificial Life. Teresa is currently at work on an anthology of New York diaries for the Modern Library.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 13, 2008
My mom asks me why I like true crime. To her I say, once and for all: because, like Stephanie from the Sleepover Friends series (anyone?), I like to have everything but everything coordinated in black, white, and red. Including my bookshelves and my beach reading. Also, there's still a good chance that the FBI will recruit me soon. Who doesn't need a proofreader with a gun.
September 28, 2008
Okay, seriously. It shouldn't have taken 550 pages to tell about one murder. The book was fine, but it wasn't great or anything. It's an older book, there were a lot of typos . . . I don't know. Whatever. Just another book on the shelf.
August 10, 2020
I was living outside Boston in 1983 and 1984 when the events in this book happened. I also saw the 1988 movie made on the Benedict murder case. I was, thus, very familiar with the main characters and the outcome of the story. Despite knowing the ending, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found out many things I did not realize at the time. For example, after Professor William Douglas had killed prostitute Robin Benedict he put their bloody clothes and the small sledge hammer he used in a plastic bag and threw it in a trash barrel at a highway rest stop. The bag was discovered only because two unemployed men found it while looking for refundable soda and beer cans. There are similar revelations on almost every page. The author leaves no stone unturned in telling this gripping tale of how a high school girl with everything going for her ends up in a life of prostitution and how a brilliant but insecure college professor becomes infatuated with her leading to the terrible demise of both. I gave it four stars instead of five only because some of the details of their relationship and her murder are so sordid they are difficult to read and digest. For example, she got him to help her move to a new apartment but made sure he was paying for her time (at $100 an hour) while carrying her furniture. He gladly went along with this, even if he had to defraud his university to come up with the funds to keep her happy. Most distasteful of all is the conclusion. Her body winds up in a landfill under tons of garbage and he winds up with a twenty year prison sentence, of which he served 8 and 1/2 years. Some parts of the book are not for the fainthearted but it is overall a thrilling and very readable story of just how wrong an infatuation can go.
May 6, 2023
Meh ... I guess my review doesn't matter as the book is 30+ years old but just a few thoughts ...
First, I am probably biased because the story takes place in Boston, where I grew up. I also vaguely remember this scandalous case.
Great detail, the kind of detail that got me hooked on true crime nearly forty years ago. The kind of detail that includes phone and financial records, the hunt for missing evidence like computers and train tickets and the retelling of serpentine travel routes. On the other hand, there was at times too much detail. Why did we have to learn about the Agatha Christie Crime Stoppers? The defendant eventually took a plea deal, so why did we have to read so much about the trial prep?
There are also several mistakes in the book. At one point, while discussing Massachusetts vs. Webster, the author calls Webster the plaintiff. She refers frequently to Norfolk County and people travelling to Norfolk County. No one in the Boston area talks this way. Finally, a small point: the South End was not convulsed by protests during the busing crisis; South Boston was.
First, I am probably biased because the story takes place in Boston, where I grew up. I also vaguely remember this scandalous case.
Great detail, the kind of detail that got me hooked on true crime nearly forty years ago. The kind of detail that includes phone and financial records, the hunt for missing evidence like computers and train tickets and the retelling of serpentine travel routes. On the other hand, there was at times too much detail. Why did we have to learn about the Agatha Christie Crime Stoppers? The defendant eventually took a plea deal, so why did we have to read so much about the trial prep?
There are also several mistakes in the book. At one point, while discussing Massachusetts vs. Webster, the author calls Webster the plaintiff. She refers frequently to Norfolk County and people travelling to Norfolk County. No one in the Boston area talks this way. Finally, a small point: the South End was not convulsed by protests during the busing crisis; South Boston was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2021
well written, crazy professor, interesting to hear more about the town of Sharon MA, also had no idea about the combat zone in Boston had no idea that existed before reading this book. Would recommend if you like crime books
September 5, 2017
Extremely detailed and researched. Interesting true story.
August 26, 2021
This was a good story and a well written book.
November 25, 2021
This work was phenomenal. I was totally engrossed by the relationship between Professor Douglas and Robin Benedict.
January 31, 2015
Unlike most of Ann Rule's books, this one doesn't try to put victim and perpetrator in narrow little slots, victim = saintly and perpetrator = monster. Carpenter even pokes a little fun at the kind of journalists who do this by way of her title; she comments on certain newspapers whose over the top writing style implied that "any woman who could write her own name was a co-ed; any woman with two eyes and a nose in the correct places was a beauty."
The book tells the story of William Douglas, a professor and scientist who became obsessed with Robin Benedict, a graphic illustrator turned prostitute, and how he embezzled from his university to pay for her services, with her assistance, and later murdered her. Her body was never found.
Douglas is definitely the bad guy, but it's shown that up till the embezzlement and murder he had led a bland, uninteresting life, found boring even by his colleagues. Robin, the victim, was bright and pretty and came from a loving home, but she was nobody's poster child. She became a prostitute not out of desperation, coercion (she did have a pimp, but they behaved more like boyfriend and girlfriend than the stereotypical pimp and hooker) or out of a demanding drug habit, or because of a traumatic childhood. She simply liked the easy money and the colorful, sleazy underbelly of Boston.
She appears to have been very important to the milque-toast William Douglas, and what he was too besotted to realize or accept was that to her, he was only a john; a very generous john, but a john all the same.
Carpenter really brings the players in the story to life, without any sentimentality or whitewashing and without overstating their failings or excusing them.
The book tells the story of William Douglas, a professor and scientist who became obsessed with Robin Benedict, a graphic illustrator turned prostitute, and how he embezzled from his university to pay for her services, with her assistance, and later murdered her. Her body was never found.
Douglas is definitely the bad guy, but it's shown that up till the embezzlement and murder he had led a bland, uninteresting life, found boring even by his colleagues. Robin, the victim, was bright and pretty and came from a loving home, but she was nobody's poster child. She became a prostitute not out of desperation, coercion (she did have a pimp, but they behaved more like boyfriend and girlfriend than the stereotypical pimp and hooker) or out of a demanding drug habit, or because of a traumatic childhood. She simply liked the easy money and the colorful, sleazy underbelly of Boston.
She appears to have been very important to the milque-toast William Douglas, and what he was too besotted to realize or accept was that to her, he was only a john; a very generous john, but a john all the same.
Carpenter really brings the players in the story to life, without any sentimentality or whitewashing and without overstating their failings or excusing them.
May 5, 2014
Shocked to read true account of a murder committed by a highly acclaimed scientist of a famous University and how all the high officials including a judge tries to sweep the truth under the carpet for fear of a 'scandal' or for in the name of 'bad publicity'. They should all be charged for obstruction of justice! In future I shall never be impressed by 'big names' nor by 'famous institutions'. Also surprising was the cool calculated twisted behavior of the 'beauty' whose evil deeds caught with her terminating her life in a horrible way, no one deserves to die violently. Robin was lucky to have loving trusting parents who mover stopped believing in her goodness even when the truth of her sordid lifestyle was exposed. One more proof that drugs alter one's mind, reading, behaviour and life overall - period! A good, well researched book.
February 13, 2009
Wow! Yes, this book was extremely long...but so fascinating. I could not put this book down once I started. I found myself sympathetic to Robin...although she was clearly not a saint. No one deserves what happened to her. This is EVERYTHING a good true crime book should be. I highly recommend it!
March 26, 2014
This true story account of a young woman's murder by an obsessed and pathetic individual (a Dr. William Douglas who appears to think he was above the law) really is cause for heartbreak. I am certain that her family shall mourn her loss for the rest of their lives.
February 9, 2024
This was interesting since it takes place in towns I am familiar with, growing up in Dedham, MA. Otherwise it might not have held as much appeal for me.
March 13, 2016
A tale of obsession, dark secrets of two families and the enigma of appearance and reality. Massive media attention in Boston, both newspapers and television.
February 17, 2020
Started didnt like so quit
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews