A Slaying in the Suburbs: The Tara Grant Murder (Berkley True Crime)

by Andrea Billups and Steve Miller

Book Overview

The true story of the Tara Grant murder. To their suburban Detroit neighbors, Stephen and Tara Grant were happy as could be. But their marriage, plagued by resentment and extramarital affairs, was... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425225488
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

I am not a novel reader.But this book kept my interest.Because it happend in my home state it was even more interesting.It is an unfortunate case and sick, I might add. I just can't understand what goes through someones mind in the series of killing someone,so the interesting part was trying to figure out what that was.I could not put the book down, I read it in 4 days.

A Slaying in the Suburbs

I live in Michigan right where this murder occurred so it was of great interest to me. It is written exactly as it happened. It was a very gruesome murder, and if anyone wants to read about it, this is the book to purchase. I would recommend it highly.

Good book

I couldn't put this book down. Maybe because I'm from the area where this murder took place so it was all familiar to me...but it was very interesting to read the story from Stephen Grant's point of view. It puts you in the mind of a pyschopath for a few days. My only complaint is the obvious bashing of Sheriff Mark Hackel and the Macomb County Sheriff's Department. Anyone local knows that they handled this case the way they should have...and they caught him, so I think that is all that matters.

A Page Turner!

Written by two accomplished journalists, Andrea Billups and Steve Miller, A Slaying in the Suburbs-The Tara Grant Murder reads like a novel. The authors take you behind closed doors inside the home of Tara and Steven Grant. Billups and Miller give a fantastic account of the events leading up to and beyond Tara's murder and dismemberment. By all accounts this is your typical neighborhood family with two kids. But in this book you will learn fascinating details about how this seemingly supportive husband and dedicated father, transforms from Mr. Mom to murderer and the cowardly lengths he will go to avoid responsibility and prosecution. While there have been some who say this book is sympathetic to Steven Grant, who granted the authors jailhouse interviews, I did not feel any sympathy toward him. It's unfortunate that Tara's family would not make themselves available for interviews, but the detailed background reporting gives the reader a good picture of a smart, ambitious, dedicated working mother who was doing her best to find the delicate balance of work and family. This is a heartbreaking, real-life account of a tragedy that leaves two young kids without their mother, and a father behind bars who saddled them with a burden that will change the course of their lives.

A fascinating, horrifying read

I am not your typical fan of true crime, this may be the first time I've ever delved into the genre. This crime occurred 20 miles from my home and as such, I was horrified and fascinated by the details. The authors researched the couple's history and paint a picture of a man who lied and prevaricated to make up for his own perceived shortcomings and a woman whose success was measured by a standard set forth by a paycheck that exceeded her husband's. Tara was living a woman's American dream, "having it all," yet she too was plagued by the fact that she was not always physically there for her children. This peek behind the curtain is a compelling tale of how things can go terribly wrong. The story is told journalistically as the authors are both reporters, though there is some excellent recreated dialogue that makes it feel like a novel. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of murder mysteries, true crime and even romance, as I really believe this is a tale of love gone bad.