Murder in Grosse Pointe Park: Privilege, Adultery, and the Killing of Jane Bashara

by Steve Miller

Investigative reporter, and author of Nobody's Women, Steve Miller makes a thoroughly researched inquiry into a murder that rocked the privileged world of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Bob Bashara: husband, father, Rotary Club president and community leader.
Bob Bashara: slumlord, philanderer and BDSM enthusiast.
Did he also hire a hit on his wife?

Jane Bashara lived in Grosse Pointe Park, one of Metro Detroit’s wealthiest communities, when she was strangled to death in her own garage by local handyman Joe Gentz. When Joe turned himself in, he told the cops everything— including how he was hired for a hit by Jane’s husband. His payment: $2,000 and a used Cadillac.

Born into one of Michigan’s elite families, Bob was sweeping out the back alley of a property he owned when his wife was being killed. He made sure the bartenders at the Hard Luck Lounge saw him there at the time of her murder. He’d often brought girlfriends by the same bar, and for the last year had been seen with one Rachel Gillett—riding around town in her convertible, even showing up at BDSM events in the suburbs of Detroit. .

When Joe Gentz confessed, his 67 IQ and barfly reputation made him less than credible. Bob successfully denied any part in his wife’s murder. But he couldn’t deny his attempt to have Joe killed in prison.

INCLUDES PHOTOS
 

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

329 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Steve Miller is an investigative reporter with 19 years of experience in daily newspaper and magazine reporting. Miller has covered countless trials and murder cases, including serving time as a court and cops beat reporter at the Dallas Morning News and writing about numerous national crimes as a national reporter for the Washington Times, People magazine and U.S. News and World Report. Miller, the former vocalist in the Midwest punk rock outfit the Fix, is also a music journalist and has been a contributing editor at Your Flesh Magazine since 1991. Books: A Slaying in the Suburbs; The Tara Grant Murder (Penguin/Berkley, 2009) Touch and Go: The complete Hardcore Punk Zine '79-'83 (Bazillion Points, 2010) by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson, edited by Steve Miller Girl, Wanted: The Search for Sarah Pender (Penguin/Berkley, 2011) Johnny Ramone Memoirs (Abrams, 2012) (co-editor) Nobody's Women: The Crimes and Victims of Anthony Sowell, the Cleveland Serial Killer (Penguin/Berkley, 2012)
Detroit Rock City: The Uncensored History of Five Decades of Rock 'n Roll in America's Loudest City (Da Capo, 2013

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Steve Miller's treatment of the killing of Jane Bashara. While it was very interesting and full of information new to me -- like the impressive level of police bungling -- there were also some frustrating gaps. For possibly the first time in my true-crime reading, I found far too much summary of what was going on in the trial and not nearly enough detail on what the jury was hearing. Miller mentioned that the medical examiner's testimony was "gruesome" but said nothing more, keeping the reader from knowing whether the victim's injuries matched up to any of the conflicting versions of what happened to her. There were also some very large gaps in my understanding of why taking out a contract on Jane Bashara ever seemed like a good idea to her husband in the first place. I was also irritated by the need for a good text editor -- the story was full of awkward constructions, mangled metaphors and subject-verb disagreement.

[Dominique King · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up around the winter holidays when I was looking for a specific calendar and something to read that wasn't political as I was tired of reading political books in 2020.
pickings at the book store that December were pretty thin...so I ended up with a couple of hockey and music books, a couple of other true crime books...and this.
I'd heard of this case in the local media when it happened in 2012-2015, so I had an inkling about the story when I first started reading...but the case itself was particularly unpleasant...not light reading for sure!
The person convicted of the major portion of the crimes was particularly unlikable IMHO, but there were plenty of disagreeable and damaged characters to go around in this story.
The one seemingly most well-adjusted was the person who ended up dead :(
As a true crime book went, it was all right as far as the writing went...but reading about the entire crew really made me want to throw the entire book into the shower and wash it off before I pass it along!
I'd also read another book by this author about another local case...so I guess I shouldn't be surpised

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better true crime books I have read. The author really gives a lot of details about the players in the crime and develops their characters which makes it a more interesting read.
This book is about the murder of Jane Bashara in Grosse Pointe park, Mi. The author details what happened and the strange behaviors of her husband prior to the murder. It was an interesting read.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really weird to read a book about something that happened in your small town, but I still really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well researched and presented the different sides of the story.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. I would highly recommend this book.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty typical suburban murder story. Lots of juicy and sordid details though.

[Brandon Cotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book!

[sharron fromius · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to read it but I couldn't get passed the first few chapters. Perhaps it got better but it was just to painful to endure the author talking about things of little relevance to the case.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about a creepy wife-killer from the Detroit area. To give you an idea of how weird this guy was, he was overweight and impotent, but nonetheless aspired to be a 'Master' in the BDSM lifestyle. The self-serving correspondence from the killer to the author was included, but it was the least interesting material in the book.

[Lee Husemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was living in Flint, MI when this crime happened and I followed it very closely. Author Steve Miller did an excellent job writing about this crime with all of its twists and turns. "Master Bob" had two very different personalities. I was surprised at how terrible his spelling and grammar were in the e-mails that he sent to the author. I highly recommend this very interesting book.

[Shawna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this. I don't know if it's the writing or "Bob" but reading it bugs the hell out of me. I think I made it to page 87 when I decided there are so many more books that I could be reading.

[Lisa Mcbroom · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's hard to make True Crime boring but Steve Miller manages to do so.......

[Anne S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was a true crime story that took place in Flint, Michigan. It was an all right book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, about average as true crime books go.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me the book was just ok. The first half held my interest but the second half seemed to drag.

[Tara Hun-Dorris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was in the mood for some true crime (happens every so often), this was very so-so. Writing was fine but story was boring for all it's sensationalism.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so poorly written. I was really interested in the case but this was repetitive & just bad.

[Stu Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too long