THE DISAPPEARANCE of a twenty-one-year-old woman from a Massachusetts suburb became
one of the most discussed crimes of the twentieth century. The discussion grew more heated when the public learned that she worked as a prostitute in Boston's notorious red-light district, the "Combat Zone," and was
linked by a trail of blood to a famous professor from Tufts University. Boston
Tabloid is a reconstruction of a grisly murder, and an exploration
of one man's bizarre obsession.

When Robin Benedict
vanished the investigation and media circus that gripped the city of Boston
hadn't seen since the days of the Boston Strangler case. On a Sunday morning in
March 1983, a small-time pimp walked into a police station and claimed his
girlfriend was missing. He claimed she had been on her way to visit a client
named William Douglas, a man known in academic circles as a groundbreaking
scientist, who also indulged a taste for prostitutes in Boston's most X-rated
neighborhood.

In
the year that followed, the case drew in detectives, state troopers, scores of
journalists, and even psychics. But Robin was never found. In fact, all that
was found was a sledgehammer, some clothing, and her Toyota Starlet, all
stained with blood. Douglas's eventual arrest and sketchy confession provided
news readers with months of daily intrigue--for a new era of
sensationalistic reporting was about to erupt. It was also a time
when Boston-area prostitutes were being murdered on a regular basis. The case
of Robin Benedict was just another reminder that the city's dark side was
seeping into the suburbs and universities.

In revisiting this legendary crime, award-winning author Don Stradley consulted
journalists who were involved in the media frenzy, prison authorities,
arresting officers, and psychiatrists, all in an effort to unravel a most
tangled story. Why was the city, and the nation, swept up in this sordid
tale? It remains a grim and fascinating moment in Boston's history.
About the Author: Don Stradley is the author of The War: Hagler-Hearns and Three Rounds for the Ages (one of The Progressive magazine's "Favorite of Books 2021"); Berserk: The Shocking Life and Death of Edwin Valero; Slaughter in the Streets: When Boston Became Boxing's Murder Capital; and A Fistful of Murder: The Fights and Crimes of Carlos Monzon, all from Hamilcar Publications. Slaughter in the Streets was named by CrimeReads in 2020 as one of "The Classics of Boxing Literature." Stradley's work has also appeared in The Ring, Cinema Retro, and on ESPN.com. He lives on Boston's North Shore.