Author: Leslie Rule
Publisher: Citadel Press
Release Date: April 28, 2020
Page Count: 304
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Read book blurb here
"A Tangled Web" gives us the true-crime story of Dave Kroupa, a regular guy and two women, Cari Lea Farver and Shanna “Liz” Golyar, drawn together into incredibly devious murder and its bizarre aftermath. You've probably heard of this case (it was highlighted in a Dateline episode) but Rule's book really gives you the ins and outs of the murderers' catfishing over many years, and the numerous ways Liz used technology to track and intimidate her victims.
Rule points out that most women were very suspicious of Liz, while men just didn't pick up on her insanity. And honestly, Dave is perhaps not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but then again who could have imagined the insanity Liz unleashed and the extent to which she was willing to go. Unfortunately, the people called to investigate the cases (arson, missing person, identity theft, etc.) seemed to have totally missed or completely misread the manipulations until it was finally taken seriously and solved in a very definitive manner.
Rule is very thorough in her unraveling of the tangled web of data, but at times I wished for a much clearer focus on the murderer. However, her family did not cooperate in any way to provide background so after all the details about the case, the murderer still remains elusive in a sense.
Leslie Rule does a good job of coordinating all the information and presented it in a clear fashion but at times I wished for the deeply personal way her mother, Ann Rule, framed and enriched the bare details. Ann had a way of digging into a murder that made it heartwrenchingly personal and close to home. Leslie is not quite there yet, but then again few crime writers are at the level of Ann Rule at her finest (which I would suggest is "Small Sacrifices") 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars for "A Tangled Web."
I received an ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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