In July 1908, the body of Hazel Drew was found in a pond in the small area of Sand Lake, upstate New York, having been bludgeoned to death. Police did a thorough investigation, but the case was never solved.
In Murder at Teal’s Pond, David Bushman and Mark T. Givens have gathered all the evidence and information that they could find still in existence to tell the story and share who they think was the culprit.
The case was sensational at the time because the victim was a beautiful young woman who clearly had kept secrets. News of the murder and updates on the case went national.
Having grown up poor, Hazel started work at just age 14 as a domestic servant in the city of Troy. She worked for three employers by the time she was killed at age 20. Her parents knew little about her, as was evident in their answers to questioning, and few other people seemed to truly know what she did with her time outside of work.
A number of odd or unsavory characters were suspects simply because of their attitudes or proximity to the murder, but each was ruled out. Eventually, attention died down and news outlets moved on.
The authors lay out the information they gathered in neat order and give background about the people and places involved in the story. At the end, they provide a likely resolution to the case, with their reasoning for it.
It’s a tightly reported book and everything is laid out very methodically. I just found it to be a little too detailed. Dates and times are provided about all known parts of the timeline. All people who were involved in any way get their say and the authors’ take on what they related. The detail ends up making the narrative bulky. It would be much more engaging had it been stripped down a bit.
The story is supposed to be particularly interesting to those who are fans of the Twin Peaks series. One of its creators writes in the foreword that his grandmother, who was from the area, shared stories of the history there, including that of Hazel Drew. It stuck with him and informed his creation of fated character Laura Palmer. This book may appeal a bit more to them, but for me, it wasn’t particularly gripping.
Rated: Mild. There are about five instances of moderate profanity and around 10 uses of mild language. Violence includes description of murdered bodies. There’s little sexual content; there are allusions to one case in which a young murdered woman was pregnant and then questions about possible sexual assault in this case and others.
