A review by leighannsherwin
The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Trials of Amanda Knox by Nina Burleigh

3.0

While overall it was a pretty good book, The Fatal Gift of Beauty was not my idea of a great true crime story. I like the story to start at the beginning. Talk about the victims, the accused find out where they came from what makes them tick. Then the crime itself, the investigation, the detectives, lawyers and investigators involved and the evidence, then the trial, then the aftermath. The appeals, what happened to those involved along the way. This book bounces around a lot and doesn't seem to follow any order. One minute they were giving closing arguments and the next without any warning the verdict was over and they were in jail. So much of the story was bogged down with tales of satanic cults, ancient witches that I found myself skimming pages. While you certainly got to know Amanda and her family, a little about Raffaele and his family, and plenty about Rudy Guede, once again the victim is left almost out of the picture. I learned more about prosecutor Mignini and the various other lawyers and police than I did about Meredith Kercher. This book had potential. It was easy to read, and maybe others will like the style it's written in but as for me I have to say the style is not for me. Cudos to Nina Burleigh for all the research and effort she put into writing this story, maybe next time she'll follow a more chronological style.