THE BABYSITTER

 

SYNOPSIS

Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1960s, Liza Rodman was a lonely little girl. During the summers, while her mother worked days in a local motel and danced most nights in the Provincetown bars, her babysitter—the kind, handsome handyman at the motel where her mother worked—took her and her sister on adventures in his truck. He bought them popsicles and together, they visited his “secret garden” in the Truro woods. To Liza, he was one of the few kind and understanding adults in her life. Everyone thought he was just a “great guy.”

But there was one thing she didn’t know; their babysitter was a serial killer.

Some of his victims were buried—in pieces—right there, in his garden in the woods. Though Tony Costa’s gruesome case made screaming headlines in 1969 and beyond, Liza never made the connection between her friendly babysitter and the infamous killer of numerous women, including four in Massachusetts, until decades later.

Haunted by nightmares and horrified by what she learned, Liza became obsessed with the case. Now, she and cowriter Jennifer Jordan reveal the chilling and unforgettable true story of a charming but brutal psychopath through the eyes of a young girl who once called him her friend.

Title: The Babysitter

Author: Liza Rodman & Jennifer Jordan

Publisher: Atria Books

Publication date: March 2, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

I love fiction serial killers but when it comes to true crime I’ve usually found that there’re too many names, dates and data in general to keep track off, but as one of my online bookclubs was reading The Babysitter this month I decided to give it a try.

I came into it knowing nothing at all about Tony Costa or Liza’s story (I thought the babysitter of the title was a woman, that’s how aware I was of this story). I listened to the audiobook and, while I liked it and it kept me entertained a few hours, I was not blown away by it.

The level of research was fantastic and it showed in every single page. I think my issue with it is that it was more memoir than true crime. In fact, it only focused on the murders in the last third, once Tony’s arrested. Also, I found this part a bit confusing with so many police names, ranks, cities and dates, and the fact that it was audio didn’t help.

The book alternates Tony and Liza’s storylines, who was 9 yo when she met Tony. I found their link a bit weak and that subtitle, “My summers with a serial killer”, a bit of a stretch. What I found most interesting was Liza’s relationship with her mother. It was absolutely disgusting the way she was treated when she was a child. The fact that she was still in touch with her when she was an adult shows she was the bigger person in that relationship. Their last conversation helped understand many things in Liza’s mom behavior, but even then they were not justifiable.

The epilogue details how, while doing research for the book, the author solved some of the missing women cases linked o Tony Costa, and that was a great way to wrap up the story.

If you’re a fan of true crime and wanna discover a not so well known serial killer from the 60s, The Babysitter is the book for you.