Crime followed me from boarding school to the Hamptons. Now I’m inspiring armchair
Carrie Doyle didn’t find true crime – it found her.
Long before she was writing mystery novels or co-founding a festival devoted to the genre, violence had a tendency to brush up against her life in a way that felt, at first, like coincidence.
‘I have always enjoyed mystery books and films,’ Doyle told the Daily Mail. ‘I love a twist and a puzzle, and it’s funny because I thought I was removed from any sort of crime or criminals until I paused and realized I have always been surrounded by it.
‘My classmate at boarding school’s sister was murdered. Growing up in Manhattan, my doorman in my Upper East Side building killed his wife.
‘My upstairs neighbor used to go jogging with OJ Simpson. When Nicole Brown Simpson’s diary was published, she wrote that the first time OJ hit her was outside of my building after a Christmas party.
‘During my first job in Russia, two men that I was working with hated each other so much that one had the other killed.’
It is an astonishing string of crimes to be tangentially associated with but only when Doyle took stock did the pattern reveal itself to her. For all the comforting assumptions about safety – good schools, affluent neighborhoods, the right cities – none of it offered exemption.
‘I write mystery novels, and I study cases,’ she said. ‘What I have learned is that, sadly, no matter who you are or where you are from, no one is immune to violence or interacting with criminals.’
The idea came to underpin her fascination with the genre and, ultimately, Hamptons Whodunit – a festival she and colleagues launched as an East Hampton Village trustee in a bid to increase foot traffic and commerce for local businesses in the off-season.
Carrie Doyle, founder of mystery and true crime festival Hamptons Whodunit, found she was tangentially linked to a string of crimes
Despite its wealth, beaches, beauty and perceived safety, crime still comes to the Hamptons (stock image)
‘I am a mystery author, so a mystery and crime festival seemed like a natural idea – even though I had never been to a festival before,’ she said.
Because if there is one place that trades on the illusion of remove, it is the Hamptons. Beaches, wealth, privacy.
And yet, as Doyle has come to understand, even there, where crime once felt almost unthinkable, that sense of security can be quickly undone.
‘When I was young, a burglar alarm company went around East Hampton trying to get business. No one was interested because there was no crime,’ she recalled.
‘Next thing you know, people are getting robbed – one wealthy woman woke up to a man trying to bite her sapphire and diamond engagement ring off her finger – and soon everyone got an alarm from the company that was selling them.
‘My mother was convinced they had been perpetrating the crimes, which were never solved.’
Rumors swirled locally at the time, she said, though nothing was ever proven.
More concrete and far more chilling was the 2001 murder of financier Ted Ammon, 52, who was beaten to death in his East Hampton home.
‘Ultimately, it was revealed that it was the fiancé of his estranged wife – the electrician who had done work on his house – who had killed him,’ she said, noting that Ammon’s wife, Generosa, was also a suspect before her death from cancer two years later.
The first time OJ Simpson hit Nicole Brown was outside of Doyle’s building in Manhattan after a Christmas party
Wealthy businessman Ted Ammon was found bludgeoned to death at his East Hampton home in 2001
His estranged wife Generosa’s lover Daniel Pelosi (pictured together) – the electrician who had done work on his house – had killed him. Generosa was also a suspect before her death from cancer two years later
For Doyle, these cases are not anomalies but reminders. Even in the most picturesque corners of America, violence has a way of intruding – often from within, not outside.
That perspective also shapes how she approaches true crime itself – and what she believes many people get wrong about it.
‘We have been conditioned through years of television shows and books to believe that all criminals are masterminds and all detectives are geniuses,’ she said.
‘Fortunately and unfortunately, this is not the case. Often, errors are made in investigations or, through chance and luck, a criminal evades arrest.’
This observation also helps explain the genre’s enduring appeal among women, who comprise the vast majority of the Hamptons Whodunit’s attendees.
Hamptons Whodunit is being held in East Hampton in April
‘Women are problem solvers. They like to find solutions and help people,’ she said. ‘Also, many women feel vulnerable. I think studying true crime and learning about it empowers women and helps them to be prepared and in control.’
Rather than leaning into spectacle, the festival is designed to pull back the curtain.
Panels this year will examine everything from investigative missteps to miscarriages of justice, while attendees are encouraged to think like participants rather than spectators.
‘We are really focusing on the “armchair detective”,’ Doyle said. ‘Most of our attendees are puzzle solvers and solution finders, who believe in justice and want to be prepared and helpful.
‘Our goal is to empower and inform our audience – to provide practical tips as to how people can make a difference.’
There is undoubtedly, however, a delicate balance to be struck in a genre that can at times blur into entertainment. But for Doyle, the danger is mitigated by keeping the focus firmly on the needs of those at the center of each case.
‘I think anyone who has been a victim of a crime or who has had a family member who was a victim of crime wants to find justice,’ she said. ‘They want their loved one remembered and to have had their loss count meaningful in some way.’
Even in the most picturesque corners of America, violence has a way of intruding – often from within, not outside
If her own life has taught her anything, it is that proximity to crime is more common than people care to admit.
A remarkable number of people in this world come into contact with crimes and know no differently, she said.
‘I think I was the same, and mine was in a more peripheral way. But I suppose this festival would not exist if I did not want to seek justice and celebrate crime solvers.’
In the end, after everything she has seen and studied, her conclusion about the nature of people is both simple and unsettling.
‘I believe humans are inherently good when they are born,’ Doyle said. ‘But there is valid documentation through the centuries that evil has always existed. It’s how you resist it that can define your life.’
The Daily Mail is the media partner of Hamptons Whodunit festival. The mystery and true crime event takes place in East Hampton from April 16-19 2026