Murder sells: Books about case top lists
Books about Modesto's most notorious murder case made an impression on national best-seller lists in 2005 and early this year.
Of the six hardcovers published since jurors recommended in December 2004 that Scott Peterson be executed, four made their way to the pinnacle of The New York Times' list. Three topped Publishers Weekly's best-selling list as well.
"(The Peterson case) has generated a tremendous amount of interest," said New York Times spokesman Toby Usnik.
Peterson books appeared on The Times' weekly list, based on sales across the United States, 31 times in 2005 and early 2006. The top four reigned supreme for seven weeks. The most successful on both lists were written by Amber Frey, Peterson's romantic partner when his pregnant wife disappeared, and by Sharon Rocha, mother of murder victim Laci Peterson.
Those two were among the nation's top 15 best-sellers for 18 weeks, according to a Bee review of The Times' archive.
Frey, a Fresno massage therapist who didn't know Peterson was married when they dated, published her book less than three weeks after jurors recommended the death sentence. It was the first of six books since the blockbuster trial, which lasted much of 2004.
The last was Rocha's "For Laci," which appeared in late 2005. It remained on The Times' top 35 until March 18.
A book authored by Scott Peterson's half-sister, Anne Bird, also performed well. She became convinced of his guilt while sheltering him from the media at her Berkeley home in the weeks before his arrest. "Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty" rested at the summit of both national lists twice each. That bested Frey's book, though Bird's didn't remain in the top 15as long as Frey's.
Two paperbacks appeared in print in 2003, only months after Laci Peterson, 27, vanished on Christmas Eve 2002. Those short novels were not eligible for either hardcover nonfiction list.
A ninth book, written by attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Frey, focused on the Peterson case in the opening chapter. That book has not made either list.
The case has spawned two e-books and two made-for-TV movies. And, a Peterson juror on Friday said seven of the 12 who handed down the death sentence continue to collaborate with Allred on a book.
A few panel members said in December that they had split into two factions, each repre-sented by a different lawyer working with separate ghostwriters. Juror Mike Belmessieri last week said that two left a group, joined five other jury members, and are moving ahead and hope to publish in a few months. Counting Allred's, that would make 10 books emerging from a community that only recently cracked the United States' 100largest cities.
"That strikes me as a lot," said Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist who has written 27books, most of them about high-profile crimes, none on the Peterson case.
"An attractive wife, an attractive man and an attractive mistress," Ramsland mused. "And, he's got mystique. He might be evil, but there's something intriguing about him. Reading gets them closer to him — but keeps them at a safe distance."
The Peterson books succeeded because they attracted plenty of regular people in addition to hard-core fans of the true-crime genre, Ramsland said.
"People next door who seem ordinary, when we find out they are hiding rage or have some sexual deviancy, it interests us," Ramsland said. "It's not because (readers) are morbid people. It's human behavior, that real, actual (events) are more interesting than what fiction writers can come up with."
Bee staff writer Garth Stapleycan be reached at 578-2390 or gstapley@modbee.com.
This story was originally published April 4, 2006 at 7:40 AM with the headline "Murder sells: Books about case top lists."