When library assistant Gail Fulton (she was not a librarian contrary to what the book blurb says, but I guess the single word sounds better on the blurb) is murdered as she was leaving work, everyone right away suspects the husband. That is basically the cliche: if the victim is married, cops look at the spouse right away (and even if by some miracle it was not the spouse the cops still won't let it go right away). You can set your clock by this cliche. We soon find out that George, the spouse, was having an affair, so there is your motive for the killing. So far, we have the ingredients to get the spouse. However, he has a very solid alibi, and so does the mistress. Soon we find out there is a love triangle, and Donna, the mistress, orchestrated a somewhat inept (that is putting it charitably) murder for hire for no other reason than she was obsessed with George.
The author tells the story starting from the crime to the main characters' stories leading to the crime. The last act of the book is mainly the trial. The narrative is fairly straightforward, and it is an easy, engaging read. The book is written in short chapters, which adds to the ease of reading. You read a little bit, then a little bit more, and before you know it you are halfway through the book. The narrative can be a bit sensational here or there, but that is common in the true crime genre. Some elements get a bit repetitive; I think a good editor could have done a little trimming to keep things moving, and the book would still be good. Pacing overall is fairly swift until we get to the trial when it slows down. That last part really was slow reading.
One of Gail's daughters, Emily, claims to be "psychic" (can see things, auras, so on). On the one hand, my first impulse was to think this was a bit ridiculous for a serious crime book. However, I came to see it more as a character trait for her. It is part of who she was, and it played a role in the narrative for her point of view. I leave it to readers on how much they believe or not.
Overall, I liked the book. It was engaging and an easy read for me. It does reinforce that more often than not criminals really are dumb. Donna was her own worst enemy, and the people she hired to kill Gail were as stupid as they come. In a twist to the cliche, other than being a philandering (and possibly emotionally abusive at least) asshole, George had nothing to do with killing Gail. I know, amazing, huh?
In terms of appeal factors, the book is a good example of the true crime genre. It has a salacious crime of passion, a bit gruesome, sensational narrative, and very real, i.e. not fiction, though it can read like fiction. True crime readers, unless they are not familiar with this author, they probably enjoy his books already. I liked it enough that I am willing to seek out some of his other books.
On a final note, a nice detail is in the epilogue where the author thanks his team, etc. as usual but he also shows gratitude to his readers in a sincere way. I thought that was nice. On another note, by the way, that book cover should qualify as false advertising as the killer was nothing like the woman pictured; book does include photos of Donna so you can verify. I guess a sultry cover can help sell a few more books.
3 out of 5 stars.
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Additional reading notes:
A truism:
"Some people will do whatever possible-- regardless of the ramifications or pain it causes others-- to fulfill their unquenchable needs and selfishness" (95).
When adultery goes bad:
"What most people involved in these types of adulterous situations don't realize as things come undone is that, sooner or later, there comes a time when the unnecessary occurs. This sort of back-and-fort, pointing of fingers, making accusations, idle threats, curses and slurs, cannot go on forever without a consequence-- sometimes several consequences. And when one is dealing with an irrationally thinking psychopath, one has to expect the unexpected" (235).
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Book qualifies for these 2021 Reading Challenges:
