I’ve been a big fan of Mikita Brottman’s writing since I read her wonderfully engaging “Maximum Security Book Club” and this newest book certainly didn’t disappoint.


This story makes soap operas seem mundane and practical by comparison. There’s childhood friendships that blossom into dating and then marriage, there’s a seedy, years-long, affair, there’s a murder plot and life insurance fraud. Be that as it may, Brottman does an admirable job keeping the narrative on the rails and not losing sight of the human tragedy (the aforementioned murder and the lives it destroyed) at the center of this twisted tale, a case that epitomizes the old adage that sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. In covering a case that is frankly sensational, she avoids sensationalizing in a feat of admirable restraint. The author deftly tells the tale while shunning all easy answers, eschewing simple platitudes, and showing the crime and its after math in all its complexity and very human messiness.


My advice to everyone is to read this book immediately, but start on a weekend, it’s the kind of story that invites finishing in a single sitting.