Poisoned Love

Title: Poisoned Love
Author: Caitlin Rother
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Release Date: July 1, 2005
Page Count: 480
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

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A true crime story of a toxicologist with the San Diego ME's office who murdered her husband with fentanyl.

Because Kristin was blonde, brainy and beautiful, she thought no one would doubt her claim that her husband Greg had committed suicide, but she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Turns out Kristin was also a long-time meth addict and having an affair with her boss. Some think that the boss-boyfriend helped Kristin in killing Greg, but he was never brought to trial.

The author does a good job of showing the evidence, but we never really get a sense of the personalities of any of the major players. And the truly forgotten person is all of this is Greg. We never really get a sense of him as a person, other than all agreed he was a nice guy who loved his wife, and was basically "put down" like a dog.

3 stars.

After reading John Glatt's book about the same case - Deadly American Beauty - I am finding that Rother's book either left out some details, or didn't provide a full account. What seemed needlessly convoluted in Rother's book is crystal clear in Deadly American Beauty.

Deadly American Beauty

Title: Deadly American Beauty
Author: John Glatt
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Release Date: March 13, 2004
Page Count: 304
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

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A true crime story of Kristin Rossum, a toxicologist with the San Diego ME's office, who murdered her husband Greg DeVillers with fentanyl, and then placed red rose petals on his bed,

Rossum had a lovely childhood and wanted to be a ballerina, but ended up addicted to meth, had an affair with her immediate boss in the toxicology department, lied to almost everyone she met, stole drugs from the ME's office and murdered her husband by drugging him with a massive dose of fentanyl and vainly attempted to cover up her crime.

 In comparing and contrasting John Glatt's Deadly American Beauty and Caitlin Rother's Poisoned Love, I would say Glatt's book is the clear winner. He gives a much clearer overview of the criminal case and the trial and provides more details about Greg's personality and family life. I found his writing interesting and engaging and liked how he had a good balance between providing the overview of the case, and well as providing smaller telling details. 4 stars.

Until the Twelfth of Never : The Deadly Divorce of Dan and Betty Broderick

Title: Until the Twelfth of Never: The Deadly Divorce of Dan and Betty Broderick
Author: Bella Stumbo
Publisher: Taylor Street Publishing
Release Date: February 4, 2013 (originally published in 1993)
Page Count: 661
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

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If you watched Dirty John : The Betty Broderick Story on USA Network, I recommend you drive into this HUGE, very well-researched book about the case.  I've seen Bella Stumbo's book referenced in many places as the best book on the subject.

An amazing, gut-wrenching book about Betty Broderick, the La Jolla woman who killed her ex-husband Dan and his new wife Linda in 1989 after a 6-year divorce and property settlement battle. There's plenty of blame for everyone in this tawdry case - attorney Dan Broderick who used the courts to punish Betty, Linda who carried on an affair with Dan for years, and Betty who had no identity other than "wife of Dan, mother of their 4 children."