Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith is known for writing in the Non-Fiction genre.

Robert Graysmith is a former cartoonist and writer who is best known for his Zodiac Killer books.
During the 1960s, he was a San Francisco Chronicle political cartoonist who became interested in the “Zodiac Killer.” It was a time when there was a lot of fear all over Northern California due to the Zodiac murders. It was his interest in the murders that turned him into an author.

In 1969, the killer began sending coded threats and letters to newspapers, including Robert Graysmith’s own office. He followed the mystery outside his job, studying police reports, ciphers, and letters, as he built a massive archive of evidence and notes.

While he was not a police officer or detective, his attention to detail made him one of the most respected researchers on the case. Graysmith would ultimately leave cartooning as he started writing books about the “Zodiac Killer.” He would also write books about other historical mysteries and crimes over the years.

In 2007, Robert Graysmith’s debut book on the “Zodiac Killer,” titled Zodiac, was made into a film of the same name starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the lead.

In his personal life, he was married and divorced twice and attributes the collapse of his second marriage to Melanie Krakower to his intense interest in the “Zodiac Killer.”

In 1986, Robert Graysmith published the work Zodiac to explore the mystery of the “Zodiac Killer.” The killer caused much fear in Northern California during the 1960s and 1970s.

The author explains the strange messages and coded letters the killer sent to the police and newspapers. He also shares details from his research, investigations, and witness accounts. Graysmith follows the mystery, showing how the case confused the public and detectives for years.

The book would become one of the most popular works about the “Zodiac Killer.”

In 2010, Robert Graysmith published The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower to tell the story of showgirl and model Marli Renfro.

She was the body double in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, who was wrongly linked to another murder victim, resulting in a decades-long Hollywood mystery. The author looks into the many rumors from that period as he tries to separate fiction from fact.

While Marli acted as a body double in just one shower scene, it resulted in years of confusion.

In 1999, Robert Graysmith changed gears to publish a historical fiction work titled Ghostfleet.
Set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, he paints a picture of a city full of fortune seekers, gamblers, and sailors trying to eke out a living.

To bring the setting to life, he throws in real-life figures from the era, such as Mark Twain, to paint a picture of San Francisco during a fast-changing, chaotic period.

Related Authors

Fans of Robert Graysmith also enjoy these authors:

1. Ann Rule, author of: The Stranger Beside Me.
2. Michelle McNamara, author of: I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer.
3. Paul Holes, author of: Unmasked.
4. John E. Douglas, author of the Mindhunter Series.
5. Vincent Bugliosi, author of: Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders.
6. Robert Kolker, author of: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.
7. Harold Schechter, author of: Hell's Princess.
8. Helen Garner, author of: Joe Cinque's Consolation.
9. Maureen Callahan, author of: American Predator.
10. Caroline Fraser, author of: Prairie Fires.

Robert Graysmith: F.A.Q