Robert Graysmith, Zodiac

Robert Graysmith, Zodiac - "More than 30 years ago, the Zodiac killer haunted the San Francisco Bay Area with apparently random murders. Despite decades of investigation by four police forces - the California Department of Justice, the US Postal Service, and the FBI - authorities have never identified the person responsible for the killings. The Zodiac has been linked to seven known murders. Each of these were followed by personal letters sent from the Zodiac to local newspapers and police detailing the crimes and taunting the authorities. The letters were definitely sent from the killer as some of them included information only the killer would know. One letter going so far as to include a piece of a bloody T Shirt from murdered Cab Driver Paul Stine. The letters, 25 of which were received between 1966 and 1974, usually began with the greeting - "This is the Zodiac speaking" and were signed with what has become know as the Zodiac Killer's Logo, a cross inside a circle".

Robert Graysmith has produced a well-written and interesting book about the notorious Zodiac killer. He does an extremely good job of presenting the information and facts on the killings, including some never-before-printed information. Unfortunately, after he has given all of the factual details, he then goes off and tries to solve the case himself. Graysmith does have a couple of suspects who he reels off pages of circumstancial and exaggerated evidence on, one of which he names as Robert Hall (David Toschi's suspect Arthur Leigh Allen). The book ends kind of floating in an air of confusion, with Graysmith not really having any real conclusions with which to finish. Nonetheless, I truly did enjoy reading this book, but I would recommend that you don't take the so-called 'facts' too seriously. But in his defence, it is well written.

The book is 384 pages long, includes lots of black & white photos and was published by Berkley Publishing Group in 1996.