Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave

Twentynine Palms is a compelling account of the devastating murder of two young girls by a troubled Marine in the rural California desert town of Twentynine Palms. More than just a murder-mystery, Twenty-nine Palms is a passionate dissection of desert life itself. With the desert as a main character, Deanne traces the family histories of the murder victims back for generations, in one case to the Donner Party and the other to a shack in the Philippines, and then, the inevitable and fatal arrival of each family in the Mojave. Her focus is the world of rootless kids who live in the shadows of a giant military base on the edge of the modern American frontier. The Mojave becomes a character for Stillman, as powerful and immidiate as any of the actors in this real-life drama. The first edition was a Los Angeles Times bestseller, and names one of the best books of 2001 by the L.A. Times Book Review.

Twentynine Palms is a compelling account of the devastating murder of two young girls by a troubled Marine in the rural California desert town of Twentynine Palms. More than just a murder-mystery, Twentynine Palms is a passionate dissection of desert life itself. How did such a grisly crime occur in the shadow of a military outpost populated by those who are sworn to protect us?

Read an exclusive essay by Deanne Stillman