Suzy Spencer is an American author and journalist who made the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in 1998 with her first

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

book ''Wasted''. Since then, she has written three additional true-crime books. Her book about alternative sex, ''Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality'', was released in 2012.

Early life and education

Spencer was born in

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas, United States and is the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and is west of the Texas- Louisiana state line. Its population is 34,143 as of 2020. Lufkin was founded in 188 ...

, where she graduated from

Lufkin High School Lufkin High School is a public high school located in Lufkin, Texas and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is part of the Lufkin Independent School District that serves the Lufkin area and central Angelin ...

in 1972. She received a degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

in Waco, Texas.

Career

She moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and worked as a reporter/researcher for ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'' magazine. Two years later, Spencer was in Los Angeles freelance writing and completing an MBA in finance and marketing and a master's in professional writing from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. Spencer has appeared on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', ''

ABC World News ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

'', ''

Primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

'', ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...

'',

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

E! Channel E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable television network. It is owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel focuses primarily on pop culture, celebrity based reality shows and movies. ...

, and ''

Katie Katie is an English female name. It is a form of Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own. People Sports * Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player * Katie Clark (born 1994), ...

'' on ABC.

Books

Her book ''Wasted'' about the 1995 murder of Regina Hartwell in Austin, Texas, made the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in 1998. In February 2002,

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

released Spencer's book, ''Breaking Point'', about

Andrea Yates Andrea Pia Yates ( Kennedy; born July 2, 1964) is an American woman from Houston, Texas, who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. The case of Yateswho had exhibited severe postpartum depression, postpartum p ...

' murders of her five children. After the book's release, Spencer's press credentials to cover the Yates trial was revoked by the court and she sued. The court denied her request, so she stood in line each day with the general public for a daily spectator pass. Spencer's memoir, ''Secret Sex Lives'', released by

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an American imprint founded in 1955 by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein owned by the Penguin Group unit of Penguin Random House. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Compa ...

in 2012, was featured at that year's

Texas Book Festival The Texas Book Festival is a free annual book festival held in downtown Austin, Texas. The festival takes place each fall in October or November and includes programming for children and adults. It is one of the largest and most critically acc ...

. Her book ''The Fortune Hunter'' was the basis of the 2021 Lifetime movie ''Secrets of a Gold Digger Killer'' starring Julie Benz.

Reception

Spencer was called by ABC's ''PRIMETIME LIVE'' program Austin, Texas' best-known true crime writer. Her first four books each earned awards: *''Wasted'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller and Violet Crown Book Award finalist; *''Wages of Sin'' was reissued by Kensington Books in December 2010, 10th anniversary of the book's publication; *''Breaking Point'' was a Book of the Month Club, Doubleday Book Club, Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selection; *''The Fortune Hunter'' was called "riveting" and "blockbuster" by the ''Globe''

References

External links

Author's website
*
WorldCat bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Suzy 1954 births Living people People from Lufkin, Texas American non-fiction crime writers 21st-century American women writers American women journalists Baylor University alumni Marshall School of Business alumni University of Southern California alumni 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women crime writers