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The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood

By: Michael Connelly
Narrated by: Michael Connelly
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  • Summary

  • In this documentary podcast, best-selling crime novelist Michael Connelly returns to his roots in journalism and examines the Wonderland Murders, an iconic and brutal mass murder in a city known for its murders. Named for the street in Laurel Canyon where the murders took place inside the house of a small-time drug gang, it’s a gruesome crime that reflected its time, disrupted a mythology and tells a broader story of Los Angeles, the American dream machine, and when justice does - and doesn’t - work. And for the first time, the podcast accesses never revealed records and exclusive interviews with investigators, prosecutors and a notorious, “missing” witness who puts all the pieces together.
    ©2021 Miziker Content (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC
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Episodes
  • Trailer

    Trailer
    Jun 17 2021

    In this documentary podcast, best-selling crime novelist Michael Connelly returns to his roots in journalism and examines the Wonderland Murders, an iconic and brutal mass murder in a city known for its murders. Named for the street in Laurel Canyon where the murders took place inside the house of a small-time drug gang, it’s a gruesome crime that reflected its time, disrupted a mythology and tells a broader story of Los Angeles, the American dream machine, and when justice does - and doesn’t - work. And for the first time, the podcast accesses never revealed records and exclusive interviews with investigators, prosecutors and a notorious, “missing” witness who puts all the pieces together.

    The first two episodes of this podcast will release on July 1st, followed by a new episode added each week.
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    2 mins
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  • Episode 1 - The Unreliable Narrator

    Episode 1 - The Unreliable Narrator
    Jul 1 2021
    Forty years ago, four people were murdered in a house in Laurel Canyon, the place where a generation of music and inspiration had come from. The one person who was there at the planning of the Wonderland massacre and is still alive to tell the story agrees to reveal all - but can we believe him?
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    37 mins
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  • Episode 2 - It Was a Bloodbath

    Episode 2 - It Was a Bloodbath
    Jul 1 2021
    Scott Thorson is already back in Nevada by the time the police discover the bodies in the house on Wonderland Avenue. LAPD Detective Tom Lange and Bob Souza get the case and it takes them down into the miasma of the Hollywood underworld.
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    45 mins
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What listeners say about The Wonderland Murders & the Secret History of Hollywood

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Profile Image for David Craggs

Phenomenal Journalistic Investigation

A first class piece of work from Connelly and his team. Not to be missed.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Wonderland murders

A great Podcast expertly told by Michael Connelly, I had only vaguely heard of the case but it was a fascinating tale. Highly recommended.

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Profile Image for THE LAST FURIAN

FANTASTIC

If your a fan of Bosch or any of Michaels other characters this is for you. It's a brilliant podcast well worth the listen

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4 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Karen@fawn

Gripping story

I’m a big fan of Michael Connelly and his character Bosch. However this account of a gruesome true crime and the characters involved is more fascinating than any fiction. His first true crime podcast The tell tale bullet was excellent. His second was too disjointed. But this his third is back up there. He pulls the different strands together in a coherent and fascinating way that will have you binge listening to this! A story I knew nothing about but will take you on a journey through the excesses of 80s LA with Names like Liberace until the present day. The interviews with the main players and the police detectives and DAs involved are captivating. If your a fan of good detective fiction and true crime this is for you

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Profile Image for NJH

Great podcast

This is a great podcast. As always with Michael Connelly, it is exceptionally well researched, organised and told.
I am an enormous fan of the fiction produced by Michael Connelly and have been since the '90s.
I'm also very interested in true crime and so I was really interested in listening to this podcast as the Wonderland murders were something I had come across before but which I didn't know an awful lot about.
The amount of detail is fantastic as is the inclusion of Michael Connelly's regular collaborators in his fiction; some, such as Rick Jackson, having had real-life roles in the case being discussed. This gives an extra layer of authenticity and interest.
The only fly in the ointment is the music. It is dreadful and feels very amateur, somewhat detracting from the feel of the piece.
As it is composed and played by Eamon Welliver, it does feel extremely indulgent and ill-considered.
A relatively minor point though in what is a first class and extremely well-made and interesting production

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Profile Image for markfromlodz

A chore to get through

Let's get the big problem out of the way first -- Scott Thorson is clearly not very bright, has a very high opinion of himself, is a fantasist, and yet somehow, people fall under his spell. Including the writer of this, Michael Connelly.

Having finished the series, I'm still baffled as to what the "secret history" of Hollywood is. That there's a lot of murder and drugs in LA? That bad people do bad things? That many people in Hollywood have no morals? Is any of that new?

Michael Connelly is a very poor storyteller, both as a writer and a narrator. His delivery is awful. Was he drunk? Was he stoned? Was he putting this on for effect? Whatever the reason, his delivery does not make you think, "Oh, I can't wait to listen to the next episode." Quite the opposite.

Another problem is that he relies too much and too unquestioningly on what people tell him. There are long speeches from inarticulate people telling us absolutely nothing of value. They can't get to the point, they can't say what they mean. It's painful.

A better writer would have been able to weave the story together better. He would have taken fragments of what people had said, rather than the whole thing, or he would have been able to paraphrase it and save you minute after minute that you'll never get back. A better narrator would have imbued the action with some excitement, drama or tension. This feels like he rolled out of bed and thought, "Well, I guess I better get down to it today."

Would I listen to anything narrated by him again? No.

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8 people found this helpful