Greentown: Murder and Mystery in Greenwich, America's Wealthiest Community

by Timothy Dumas

The first edition of Greentown helped reopen one of America’s most shameful unsolved murder cases, the savage slaying of fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley in an exclusive enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut, the night before Halloween 1975. Soon after Martha’s body was discovered, attention focused on members of the Skakel family, who lived across the street from the Moxleys. Ethel Skakel and Robert Kennedy had married in Greenwich, and the two families were close. Thomas Skakel, Ethel’s nephew, was the last known person to see Martha alive. The murder weapon, a ladies’ golf club, came from the Skakel household. When the Greenwich police tried to pursue its investigation, however, the community closed in upon itself. Lawyers were summoned, walls went up, information was suppressed, and no one was charged. And yet, continuing to haunt Greenwich, the case refused to go away—until, twenty-three years later, following the publication of this book, a grand jury was convened, and two years after that a man—Thomas’s brother Michael—was finally indicted for the crime.This revised edition now brings the Martha Moxley murder case to a close. Updated to include the indictment, trial, and conviction of the murderer, Greentown offers the suspenseful and chilling account of a terrible crime. More than that, while relating a tale of seductive power, it uses the murder to tell the heartrending story of a family and a community responding to the unthinkable.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook, Mystery, History, Mystery Thriller

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 1998

Reviews

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay audiobook, with a bit too much unnecessary information. I didn't mind it at first, until we got to the murder. Then after the murder I was still feeling good about this, but eventually all the info dumps became too much and I was waiting for it to end.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Greentown by Timothy Dumas was just meh. It tells the story of the murder of 15 year old Martha Moxley & the years long hunt for her killer. It should have interesting but instead it was filled with gossip & rumor, the author's every word was dripping with snobbery against those he felt were beneath him. I also could have done without the boring history lesson on Greenwich. I don't recommend this book.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this well enough to pull it out to read a page or two at every opportunity, despite constant interruptions -- phone calls, the vet finally coming into the exam room, the waitress asking me if I want more icewater. Will you people just let me read, already! But I digress...For the most part this book was well-written and colorful, and of course it concerns rich people in Topsiders going to pieces and getting murdered, the kind of subject matter I always like to see. I was rather puzzled at the large detour into the history of Greenwich, going all the way back to Colonial times -- all the author seemed to be saying was that Greenwich, CT is a great place to get your head bashed in, and an even better place to go if you want to bash someone's head in and get away with it. The case was still unresolved at the end of the book, even in this updated edition. I learned a lot more about 2 "cursed" rich families -- the Skakels and the Kennedys -- and quite a bit more about this murder case. There's even some good shrink-bashing in here. The author can't quite decide whether he's sympathetic towards these people, disgusted with them or afraid of them. That seems pretty honest to me.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written, well-researched true crime book. It's not earth-shattering, but easy to follow, and I learned a lot about a case with which I was vaguely, but not completely, familiar. Definitely recommended.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better true-crime books I've read in recent years- didn't get bogged down in history or pedantics too much, which always makes me feel either like the author couldn't bear to not display his/her research, or was trying to chew up pages.

[John Gault · Rating 3 out of 5]

The non-fiction account of the characters and investigation behind the 1975 murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley in Greenwich, CT which went unsolved for 25 years. Finally, in 2002, Michael Skakel, a cousin of the Kennedy clan was convicted after having confessed to the crime. The Skakels were neighbors of the Moxleys in Greenwich at the time.

[Megan ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was an interesting book about a case i've never heard of. really eye opening. was also well written and engaging.

[Marilyn E. Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting & well written. It was a hard book to put down.

I remembered reading about the murder because of the Kennedy involvement, and I didn't think much of it. After all there are murders everyday! Reading it 46 years later in 2021 It's difficult not to notice how the media downplayed the murder in 1975 to protect the Kennedy family, just as they pick & choose what they want us to know now. It was a violent & brutal crime that I couldn't get out of my mind. It saddens me to know all the lives that were ruined. After these last few years I will never trust the media again, and will triple check everything they have to say. I recommend this book.

[Daniel Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read "Greentown: Murder and Mystery in Greenwich, America's Wealthiest Community" by Timothy Dumas, I found it to be an intriguing exploration of a real-life crime that gripped one of America's wealthiest communities. Dumas provides a detailed account of the events surrounding the murder, shedding light on the dynamics of a town that is often shielded by its affluence.

The book is well-researched, and Dumas effectively weaves together the various elements of the story, offering readers a comprehensive understanding of the crime and its aftermath. The narrative is engaging, and the author's descriptive style succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the town, its residents, and the complexities surrounding the case.

While "Greentown" is informative, it occasionally feels as though the author gets caught up in unnecessary details, which might be overwhelming for readers seeking a more streamlined narrative. The pacing, at times, seems to fluctuate, with certain sections providing more depth than others, potentially impacting the overall flow of the book.

The exploration of the social dynamics within Greenwich adds depth to the narrative, showcasing how the town's privileged status intersects with the darker aspects of human behavior. Dumas navigates the complexities of the case with sensitivity, offering a balanced perspective that neither sensationalizes nor downplays the events.

In summary, "Greentown" is a solid true crime read that caters to those interested in unraveling the mysteries that can lurk even in the most affluent communities. While the book may have benefited from a more focused narrative, Dumas succeeds in presenting a well-researched and engaging account of a notable crime in Greenwich's history.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will disagree with the lukewarm to negative reviews and simply confess this book is riveting, suspenseful and engaging. 5 stars for its captivating prose and storytelling that really disrupted and distracted me for 2 days as I read it straight through. It read like real life Grisham.
The rich are different than you and I goes the old saying. This true life drama plays out in the ultra rich suburb of Greenwich, CT with a revolving door of snobs, snoops, spoiled kids and serious screw ups. And a lot of folks from the Kennedy Clan on Ethel’s side (RFK widow) who are not portrayed in a favourable light. Lots of recognisable celebs and familiar faces. The author digs up a lot of interesting historical artifacts on Greenwich and weaves these into the story.
Not so much a recitation of the Kennedy curse as probably the most egregious example of how the Kennedys use their wealth and clout to circumvent justice. No spoilers. The depiction of the murder victim Martha Moxley and the suffering of her family and friends hits you hard.
Understand a movie is in the works.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 2.5 stars. The author seemed to really want to write a Gatsby-esque story of intrigue and murder about one of America's real-life royal families, and instead ended up with a book riddled with side vignettes because the main story isn't adequate to fill a book. There's a whole chapter about strange behavior in Greenwich's history, dating back to its founding. That chapter was really where I was like, OK, there's just not enough to the main story and he's grasping.

Spoiler alert: you learn a lot about a bunch of creepy characters, but there's not consensus as to who the actual killer is.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

On a night in October 1975, fifteen year old Martha Moxley was brutally murdered in the front yard of her home in a wealthy suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut. Timothy Dumas, a former editor at the Greenwich News takes the reader back to that time, and presents a riveting story of murder and the frustrating search for justice in a community where money, power, and political connections all combined to prevent authorities from investigating their prime suspect, Thomas Skakel, the nephew of Ethel Skakel Kennedy.

This is a well written, spellbinding, and disturbing true crime story!

[GT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragic, terrible, frustrating, outrageous, maddening, incredible... these are a few descriptors for this horrific murder which is recounted in Dumas' book. I found it a fascinating read even though I'm somewhat familiar with the case from other books and documentaries. If you are interested in this perplexing case, I recommend this book.

4 stars

mfgavin's rating criteria:

★ = Horrid waste of time
★★ = May be enjoyable to some, but not me
★★★ = I am glad I read it
★★★★ = Very enjoyable and something I'd recommend
★★★★★ = A rare find, simply incredible

[Iz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dumas’ telling of the events, characters, and culture surrounding Martha’s death is fantastic. I couldn’t get enough of reading about Greenwich and the Moxleys’ neighbors. Even as someone familiar with the story, I found it all gripping - at first. Once he leaves the murder itself, the back half of the book becomes meandering and oddly organized. Some chapters dragged to the point that I nearly didn’t finish. The suspense with which Dumas wrote the first parts feels like pure documentary by the end.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts of this book are the descriptions of what those suspected went through. The mystery itself is a bit muddled and I’m not sure the evidence is clear. There’s a lot of conjecture and assumptions in the book and gossip as well. IMO that takes away from the narrative and also make this less true crime and more speculation.

The author also should be wary of sexism, ablism, and other bias creeping into his work.

[Donna Mehta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is terrible, and yet I can’t stop listening to it. Do you want to learn about the murder of Martha Moxley? Well too bad, you’re going to have to first learn about every murder that’s been recorded in Greenwich history. Then you have to hear the author credulously describe psychics and every rumor he’s ever heard, relevant to the case or not. And yet I’m still reading it.

[Brandon Reich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

Bit hinkey in parts. Strange writing style in beginning. Strange focus on the use of the word evil. Ending very lame. Overall well told though.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, too long, 2 1/2 stars.

[Lindsay Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Free Library find. I've read a few Kennedy adjacent books recently. I thought I was done but then saw this and thought I'd at least flip through it. It turned out to be better than I thought it would be.
Fifteen-year-old Martha Moxley was murdered in Greenwich, CT on mischief night - Halloween Eve - in 1975. Greenwich was - and is - an extremely wealthy community. There was a lot of drinking, drug use, and dysfunctional rich families. Murder was very rare but wealthy people engaged in other bad behavior with few consequences. Martha didn't come home after an evening hanging out at the Skakel house nearby. The Skakel dad, Rushton, was the brother of Ethel Kennedy. His wife had died of cancer a couple of years earlier. He developed a drinking problem, as did his poorly supervised kids. Also present at the house was their newly hired live-in tutor, Ken Littleton.
When Martha's body was discovered by her friend Sheila the next day, everyone was in shock. The local police didn't handle things very well. They investigated an oddball neighbor, who was later proven innocent. Then they moved on to the tutor, then to Michael and/or Tommy Skakel, among others. Perhaps due to their inexperience with this type of case, they were unable to charge anyone or even to get a good idea of who did it.
The author grew up in Greenwich and was roughly the same age as Martha. He even recalls attending the funeral of the Skakel kids' uncle George Skakel Jr as a young boy in 1966 and being impressed by the various Kennedys in attendance. In addition to writing about the crime and the efforts to solve it, he delves into the history of the town and of the Skakel and Moxley families. Although he knew many of the people involved, he manages to write fairly dispassionately.
The edition of the book I read was published in 1998. In writing about the town and the Skakel family, Dumas mentions their sort of tortured history. The book has its own tortured history as events have twice overtaken it. In the late 1980s, there was renewed interest in the unsolved case. Another Kennedy cousin, William Kennedy Smith, had been accused of rape. False rumors that he had been present in Greenwich at the time of Martha's murder led to books by Mark Fuhrman (of OJ Simpson fame) and Dominick Dunne as well as this one.
After this edition was published, Michael Skakel was charged with the murder. He was convicted in 2002. In 2013, the author published a revised edition of the book, including Michael Skakel's trial and conviction and updating the entire book with information that had been discovered since 1998. I found that edition in the Audible Plus catalogue and listened to it as well.
Meanwhile, Skakel cousin Robert Kennedy Jr wrote an article and later a book pleading Michael's case and pointing the finger at both Littleton and at a couple of kids from elsewhere who might have been in the area to sell or buy drugs and party on mischief night. After many appeals, Michael was granted a new trial in 2013. In 2016, his conviction was reinstated before being vacated in 2018. In 2020, the state announced they would not retry him.
Personally, I don't think we'll ever know for sure who did it - because many of the players were using alcohol and drugs and probably don't really remember what happened that night and because of mistakes in the investigation. Nonetheless, I enjoyed both editions of the book. Some would disagree, but I found the extra background about the town and the characters to be interesting, especially the extended Skakel family.

[Katherine Basto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book well enough because it's clear the writer did his research. As a journalist, born and bred in Greenwich, he's more than capable of telling or retelling the tragic story of Martha Moxley.
Because Timothy Dumas is from Greenwich, I, as the reader felt like I was there right in the midst of the tragedy. The sights, sounds and smells as he writes about that fateful night, "Mischief Night" Halloween Eve 1975 come to life on the pages. The strange aspect of the beginning is I'm not sure if it was tense changes or experimental styles of writing, but the writing style changed back and forth. Was Dumas struggling with a voice for his work?
As a historical author, I enjoyed reading some of the history of Greenwich, back to the colonial days. It helped to round out the story and provided historical context .One of the issues I had with "Greentown" is that sometimes the author did veer a bit too far from the story line. Reading pages regarding the life of Dr. Henry Lee or Mickey Sherman provided unnecessary distractions.
This is a tragedy about a poor, rich family that attempted to cover for their own. Although Michael Skakel was ultimately convicted,(on rather flimsy evidence) the question of who killed Martha Moxley still exists in my own mind. Was it Tommy, the brother? Littleton, the tutor? Michael? Perhaps we will never know.
The shame is that Michael Skakel, convicted on weak evidence was possibly scapegoated. After years and years had passed, the authorities had to pin the murder on someone in order to appease the Moxleys and put the case to rest. Unfortunately, I have no more answers than I did before I started reading the book. Perhaps other books like Mark Furman's and Dominick Dunne's present the evidence in a more compelling manner. Still, "Greentown" is a worthwhile read.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although riveting and chilling as is true crime's wont, ultimately, this book was something of an unsatisfying read because the story is sad and this telling has not aged well, through no fault of its author. He was merely reporting on what was told to him at the time. This book was clearly completed before Michael Skakel (who was eventually charged, convicted, sentenced, re-tried, re-sentenced, but ultimately released) was even considered the main suspect. Dominick Dunne, who features in this book, fleshed out the theory of Michael's guilt and made a very good case for it over the years (at least one of his reports got the full Vanity Fair treatment in October 2000: Trail of guilt) so it seemed incongruous to me that this idea was only suggested occasionally in this book.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timothy Dumas is quite a good writer. He kept my interest in this book. He gets really graphic when he was telling what happened to 15-year-old Martha Moxley. I don't know how he can tell exactly how she was murdered, maybe from the autopsy? To this date, they never have found the murderer. He also gets into the history of that area like when the Indians lived there. Also very brutally written. This book is not for the faint of heart. The elites in that area have major problems. A lot of alcoholism and drug addicts in both families. Ethel Skakel married Bobby Kennedy Jr. That's how the two rich families merged. I guess the Kennedy curse got on the Skakels too. A lot of tragedy in both families. Maybe that's why they abuse substances so much. If you're into murder stories, this one's for you.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a true crime addict! My podcast queue is full of true crime podcasts. Through this consumption I had heard about the Martha Moxley case. I stumbled on this book in the audible catalog and decided to give it a whirl.

I liked the way it was written for the most part. It felt like you were breathing the rarified air of some of the WASP families involved. It was also sad to see the dark side of the elite families.

However I was soon bored of the history lesson on Greenwich. I understand the parallels being drawn, but town history was a bore. If the author wanted to take a historical angle he should have stuck with talking about the Kennedy connection and called it good.

[brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is good overview of the Martha Moxley case and provides plenty of information about the small, gated community of Belle Haven, CT, where the murder took place. The book is dated now and does not go into the trial and conviction of Michael Skakel which has happened since publication. I think that there maybe an updated version of this book under a different title now, but I can only review "Greentown." Mr. Dumas devotes an entire chapter to the founding of Greenwich, CT going all the way back to the vikings. I totally skipped this chapter. I wanted to give the book three stars, but could not do it since this chapter ground everything about the Moxley case to a halt.

[Karlie Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

At first I was like: eh....
Then I was like: hmmm...
By the end I was like: whaaaaaaa??!!

Though totally not my typical genre (and I was very vocal about not wanting to read this book when it was picked in our book club), I did end up getting really into it. I listened to the audiobook which dragged a little, but Dumas is definitely a talented writer, and he weaves this story together in a way that creates the eerie atmosphere of a ghost story. I did see the pretentiousness at times, but overall, a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched and written account of the Martha Moxley murder. The complette abscence of quality police work at the time was heartbreaking. It was a case that would have been solved within days if it happened now. It is a tragedy that so little was written about Martha because she was so young when she was murdered. There is plenty about a notorious family that was very closely involved. I found it dragged a bit about 3/4 of the way. Just a few too many facts about secondary people. All in all it was a satisfying account.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing people can't say about this book is that it isn't detailed. I appreciate the level of detail the author went to with this because he goes far beyond the murder, he ventures into the history of the town, backstories of certain people etc. It felt like it detracted from the story at times.

Was the convicted killer in the end really guilty, I can't say for sure but he seems the most likely suspect. It certainly smacks of cover up but certain folk in that area. Money talks until it didn't in the end for Michael.

[Michelle Tackabery · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit clunky towards the end, as if the author could not believe the case went on as long as it did, and was exhausted. There was so little evidence that Michael Skakel killed Martha Moxley that Dumas could only report witness testimony, which amounted to hearsay, gossip, and murky memories of childhood. I concur with him about the identity of the real murderer, but like him, cannot understand the family that would trade one child for another. In the end, Dumas can only conclude that the ways of the ridiculously wealthy are not like ours, which was cliched, and disheartening, and tiresome.

[Jamie Mustard · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars because there was so much unneeded information in this book. Had nothing to with the case. When doing True Crime you should just stick to the case at hand. Not what happened 300 years before or what wealth of people live in the town before and after the crime. Just stick to the crime.
The story itself, when talked about was well talked about. I am not going to say good because there is nothing good about what happened to this girl.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember the news breaking that the cold case of the murder of Martha Moxley being broken with a case against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. This updated edition reveals a surprising amount of dysfunction and aberrant, criminal behavior among the wealthy elite that made up tragic Martha's neighborhood.