When Evil Came to Good Hart, 10th Anniversary Edition

by Mardi Jo Link

Book Overview

In this page-turning true-life whodunit, author Mardi Link looks into the cold-case files of the murders of a wealthy Detroit-area family in their northern Michigan cabin in 1968, detailing and reviewing all the evidence to date. She crafts her book around police and court documents and historical and present-day statements and interviews, in addition to exploring the impact of the case on the community of Good Hart and the stigma that surrounds...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472037226
• ISBN13: 9780472037223
• Release Date: April 2018
• Publisher: University of Michigan Regional
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Northern Michigander

When Evil Came to Good Hart When you live in Northern Michigan it is as if you live in a world onto yourself. Crime rarely happens here, and when that rare event does occur, the culprit is caught...usually within a week's timeframe. That was not the case for the Robinson family. This unsolved murder still haunts the small village of Good Hart. I began reading this story on a dark stormy night while I was home alone. Not a good idea. This story, especially the beginning, is vivid and transported this Northern Michigan reader to that scary cabin in Good Hart. Interesting, moving, chilling, and technical is how I would describe When Evil Came to Good Hart. A must read for any Northern Michigan resident. A should read for anyone interested in a no nonsense crime story.

When evil came to Good Hart

Very well written, clears up many unanswered questions about the crime. A "must read" for anyone interested in this unsolved murder mystery.When Evil Came to Good Hart

Comprehensive Account of the Good Hart Murders

After more than 40 years we finally have a comprehensive non-fiction account of all the known facts regarding this most shocking crime. In Good Hart, MI, 1968, a whole family was gunned down and left undiscovered for a month in their secluded upscale north woods cottage. The murderer or murderers were never brought to trial. This is a crime close to the hearts and minds of many of the people of Michigan, even those not born when it happened. Finally Mardi Link has brought the facts together and out into the open for all to ponder. What was the father, Richard Robison doing that could have prompted this horrid overkill? Was his partner a con artist who ran out of slick talk? Read this book to learn of a most captivating unsolved mystery.

A book about an unsolved case... i hope there's a sequel.

Mardi Link does an impeccable job of presenting all the fruits of her own investigation of this unsolved case. I don't normally read books of this genre, but I must say, I couldn't put the book down. I was 10 years old in 1968 and I felt my own Michigan cottage experiences come flooding back to me, minus the murder scenes of course. My only complaint with this book is it leaves you hanging... which I guess typifies this genre of books. So many of the theories Mardi puts forth sound plausible and I found myself thinking "oh yes, he did without a doubt." And then the next theory is put forward and I'm of a new opinion. For me the most fascinating aspect of this book was the real life character of Dick Robison, the father and primary victim. Mardi Jo's research paints a vivid image of an advertising man whose dreams and aspirations surpassed reality and entered into a scary and volatile state of mind and more than likely became the source of his own demise.

WHENEVIL CAME TO GOOD HART is right on the mark!

Northern Michigan author Mardi Link's latest book, WHEN EVIL CAME TO GOOD HART is right on the mark when it comes to explaining the 40 year old murders of a Michigan family. The Robison's of suburban Detroit were brutally killed in their northern Michigan summer cottage in June of 1968. No one was ever arrested for the crime. Many theories and many suspects were examined by the Michigan State Police investigators throughout their 16 month long search for the killer. At first the crime scene suggested murder-suicide, when that was ruled out by forensics the idea of a deranged local killer emerged. This theory was followed by a drug crazed beach roaming intruder, the local cottage caretaker, a downstate serial killer, and finally someone personally known to the family who needed to keep a dark secret just that, secret! Ms. Link's able story telling helps unravel what appears on the surface to have been a complex and mysterious murder case. Her story examines the evidence and details that eventually leads all law enforcement officials connected to the case to narrow the killer down to one person. So, the question is, why was that person never arrested??? That very well may be explained in Mardi Link's sequel!