daceymormont's review
1.0
One of the worst true crime books I’ve ever read. It makes me wonder why Ann Rule is so celebrated. Did she do any research at all outside of talking to the people directly involved, specifically the husband? Good true crime is investigative and digs into the story. This one so one-sided it was laughable.
I understand that Debora did terrible things. There is absolutely no excusing her crimes, and she should be in jail for the rest of her life. But also, it sounds like she had serious mental health issues for many years that went unnoticed, including a substance abuse disorder. Her husband knew about this for years and didn’t get her help, and he was a DOCTOR! She also had chronic pain.
And, just speaking of Ann Rule’s writing alone. Wow, she sure thinks Michael is a swell guy. Because Michael says he is a swell guy. And that darn Debora is a frigid bitch who doesn’t clean the house (couldn’t Michael have cleaned the house? Wasn’t Debora working full-time in a demanding job with multiple children? How is this important to a murder story?) And wow, she got fat, and that’s just not fair! And she didn’t like sex, and Michael didn’t like that! She even pushed him away in the delivery room when she was giving birth to their third child. When she was really unhappy about having to have the child. And judging by past behavior, maybe didn’t want to have sex anyway.
Look, I’m not giving a pass to Debora for killing her kids. It’s horrifying and she’s a terrible person. I’m just saying that Michael also seems like a pretty crappy person, and Ann Rule wrote a sexist book that is also a bad book.
I understand that Debora did terrible things. There is absolutely no excusing her crimes, and she should be in jail for the rest of her life. But also, it sounds like she had serious mental health issues for many years that went unnoticed, including a substance abuse disorder. Her husband knew about this for years and didn’t get her help, and he was a DOCTOR! She also had chronic pain.
And, just speaking of Ann Rule’s writing alone. Wow, she sure thinks Michael is a swell guy. Because Michael says he is a swell guy. And that darn Debora is a frigid bitch who doesn’t clean the house (couldn’t Michael have cleaned the house? Wasn’t Debora working full-time in a demanding job with multiple children? How is this important to a murder story?) And wow, she got fat, and that’s just not fair! And she didn’t like sex, and Michael didn’t like that! She even pushed him away in the delivery room when she was giving birth to their third child. When she was really unhappy about having to have the child. And judging by past behavior, maybe didn’t want to have sex anyway.
Look, I’m not giving a pass to Debora for killing her kids. It’s horrifying and she’s a terrible person. I’m just saying that Michael also seems like a pretty crappy person, and Ann Rule wrote a sexist book that is also a bad book.
sueotwell's review
5.0
I love to read true murder mysteries and while this isnt the happiest of endings I couldnt put it down...
mirandao78's review
4.0
I love Ann Rule. She has always been my favorite true crime author. This isn’t my favorite or in my opinion her best book, but I would recommend it and definitely enjoyed it.
kaileycool's review
4.0
I think this was the best Rule book I've read so far. Lighter on the misogyny and cop-worship than the others with a tighter narrative.
heidim's review
4.0
No one wrote true crime books like Ann Rule. This is a chilling story of poison, arson and murder that destroyed so many innocent people. Although this crime occurred in the 90’s the story is still a fascinating account that does not feel outdated.
lunmione's review
extremely fucking weird to repeatedly insinuate that a woman being overweight, not putting much effort into her looks, not wanting to fuck her husband "enough", and swearing a lot are signs that something is wrong with her or that she is a killer