Well this was really not quite what I was expecting. Based on the cover and flap, I assumed that Marli Renfro, the body double for Janet Leigh in Psycho, had been murdered by a murderer similar to the Norman Bates character. This book tells the story of Renfro who it turns out was not murdered at all. It goes into many pages and chapters describing the infamous shower scene and how Renfro was naked on the set the whole time. The book goes on to describe Renfro's life before and after Psycho including living the life of a nudist, appearing in many Men's magazines including the cover of Playboy, working as a Playboy bunny, appearing in "nudie cutie" movies...one of which was made by Francis Ford Coppola years before The Godfather, and then Renfro seemed to have disappeared from public life. Then in 1988, a stand-in for Janet Leigh was murdered named Myra Davis who was reported as the body double in the shower scene which led some to the conclusion that Renfro had been murdered. But Graysmith's obsession with her led him to believe otherwise.
Also included in the book was a separate storyline on a serial killer named Sonny Busch who lived in LA at about the same time as when Psycho was filmed who strangled older women. The movie supposedly triggered something in Busch to kill and he was named the Psycho killer. However, his story was really unrelated to Renfro and only had a very tangential relation to Psycho.
Although the information on Psycho was interesting, I thought Graysmith struggled to find something to lengthen and pad the story of Renfro. He was often repetitious and the Busch story was really unrelated. He also spent an inordinate amount of time describing Renfro's naked body along with other nude models which had little bearing on the story. Definitely not the best true crime story out there.
Also included in the book was a separate storyline on a serial killer named Sonny Busch who lived in LA at about the same time as when Psycho was filmed who strangled older women. The movie supposedly triggered something in Busch to kill and he was named the Psycho killer. However, his story was really unrelated to Renfro and only had a very tangential relation to Psycho.
Although the information on Psycho was interesting, I thought Graysmith struggled to find something to lengthen and pad the story of Renfro. He was often repetitious and the Busch story was really unrelated. He also spent an inordinate amount of time describing Renfro's naked body along with other nude models which had little bearing on the story. Definitely not the best true crime story out there.
