Murder at Teal's Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks

Written by David Bushman, Mark T. Givens and Mark Frost

Narrated by Robert Fass

A brilliantly researched reinvestigation into the nearly forgotten century-old murder that inspired one of the most seductive mysteries in the history of television and film.

In 1908, Hazel Drew was found floating in a pond in Sand Lake, New York, beaten to death. The unsolved murder inspired rumors, speculation, ghost stories, and, almost a century later, the phenomenon of Twin Peaks. Who killed Hazel Drew? Like Laura Palmer, she was a paradox of personalities—a young, beautiful puzzle with secrets. Perhaps the even trickier question is, Who was Hazel Drew?

Seeking escape from her poor country roots, Hazel found work as a domestic servant in the notoriously corrupt metropolis of Troy, New York. Fate derailed her plans for reinvention. But the investigation that followed her brutal murder was fraught with red herrings, wild-goose chases, and unreliable witnesses. Did officials really follow the leads? Or did they bury them to protect the guilty?

The likely answer is revealed in an absorbing true mystery that’s ingeniously reconstructed and every bit as haunting as the cultural obsession it inspired.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781713620655

David Bushman

David Bushman, a longtime TV curator at the Paley Center for Media, is the author of Conversations with Mark Frost: “Twin Peaks,” “Hill Street Blues,” and the Education of a Writer and coauthor of Twin Peaks FAQ and Buffy the Vampire Slayer FAQ. He is an adjunct professor of communication arts at Ramapo College of New Jersey, as well as a former TV editor at Variety and program director at TV Land. David lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

Reviews for Murder at Teal's Pond

[ericcostello-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The authors here investigate a murder that occurred near Troy, New York in 1908 that caused a brief, nation-wide sensation, as it involved a beautiful young girl with a very mysterious lifestyle. Where did a housemaid get the wherewithal to have nice clothes and travel? And who were the men that sent her such mash notes? And why were certain members of her family acting in such a strange fashion? The authors do a good job at reconstructing the investigation that was undertaken by the District Attorney, albeit I believe they used the old dodge of made-up dialogue in certain sections. The authors come up with a solution that, while it is certainly plausible, is based on a great many assumptions and circumstantial evidence, and isn't completely convincing. Still, the authors do a good job of setting time and place. The foreword to the book (and for that matter, the title) links the crime to probably its greatest influence -- it was a direct inspiration for the famous "Twin Peaks" television show, since one of the creators spent time as a child in the area of the murder, and had been told stories about it.

[mstrust · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the cold case that inspired Twin Peaks, as one of the creators was often in the area as a child and grew up hearing hazy accounts of the mysterious murder of a beautiful young woman at the nearby pond.In 1908, twenty year-old Hazel Drew was found floating in a small pond near Troy, New York. She was a local girl who had grown up in the smaller towns outside Troy and worked as a domestic servant to several well-connected families. Her body had been in the water for several days before being found, making the determination of cause of death difficult. Strangely, her family hadn't reported her missing even though she hadn't been seen in many days. She had quit a good job and had been spotted taking various trains and walking about the pond alone on what must have been her last day alive, which set detectives and the press trying to puzzle out how this local girl from a poor family could have so many social connections that her family and even her best friend were unaware of, and how she could afford expensive clothes and vacations on a servant's salary. The authors follow-up the facts of the case and inquest with their own theories of what happened to Hazel Drew.Because Drew's death was a major story at the time, there is quite a bit of information from newspapers of her day, along with city records. And because of the connections of many of the men involved in investigating her death, and Drew's attractiveness, her story received a lot of attention. Personally, I don't like when authors make up conversations and actions in order to make history seem alive, and that's what happens here at times, with the tone switching between the style of reporting facts and then becoming obvious fiction, such as conversations between detectives that no one would be privy to, but maybe that's just my quibble.Interesting case.