I nearly couldn't put this down. The story is engrossing and well-written, with extensive background and histories of the people involved. The families involved lost so much, and you cannot help mourning with them. Fritz Klenner was a seriously deluded and extremely manipulative person, and whether she was part of the planning or not, Susie Lynch, a different sort of flawed personality, was a big part of the cause of these tragedies.

In the aftermath, Susie's brother Rob Newsom, a lawyer, said something that will stay with me for a long time: "Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence ... was not designed to handle sociopaths with automatic weapons. The police cannot and do not protect us. They avenge us sometimes, but they don't prevent anything."

Share/Like this Review?

This book tells the story of what can happen when family arguments go too far. This is an amazingly powerful, tragic story, and a must-read for anyone who is a fan of the true crime genre.

Share/Like this Review?

This one will keep you awake! Extremely well written and frightenly true.

Share/Like this Review?

If this had not been a true story it would have been hard to believe ...... sticks in your mind long after finishing the book.

Share/Like this Review?

Very well written, hard to put the book down.

Share/Like this Review?

The writer of this novel-like true crime book based it upon his extensive coverage of multiple murders in two prominent southern families for his newspaper. He has done a masterful job of detailing these terrible tragedies. The fact that the murders were committed by beloved family members makes the story all the more poignant. The historical perspective is interesting and the personalities and psychological makeup of the characters are presented through the even-handed interviews with friends and family memers. This is a heart-breaker.

Share/Like this Review?

great reading you will not be able to put down the book....

Share/Like this Review?

The first bodies found were those of a feisty millionaire widow and her beautiful daughter in their posh Louisville, KY, home. Months later, another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law were found savagely slain in Winston-Salem, NC. Mystified police first suspected a professional in the bizarre gangland-style killings that shattered the quiet tranquility of two well-to-do southern communities. But soon a suspicion grew that turned their focus to family. The Sharps. The Newsoms. The Lynches. The only link between the three families was a beautiful and aristocratic young mother names Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch. Could this former child "princess" and fraternity sweetheart have committed such barbarous crimes? And what about her gun-loving first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, sone of a nationally renowned doctor?

Share/Like this Review?

Excellent read for fans of true crime books.

Share/Like this Review?

The first bodies found were those of a feisty millionaire widow and her beautiful daughter in their posh Louisville, Kentucky, home. Months later, another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law were found savagely slain in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mystified police first suspected a professional in the bizarre gangland-style killings that shattered the quiest tranquility of two well-to-do southern communities. But soon a suspicion grew that turned their focus to family. The Sharps. The Newsoms. The Lynches. The only link between the three families was a beautiful and aristocratic young mother named Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch. Could this former child "princess" and fraternity sweetheart have committed such barbarous crimes? And what about her gun-loving first cousin and lover, Fritz Klenner, son of a nationally renowned doctor?

Share/Like this Review?

excellent

Share/Like this Review?

Very interesting story.

Share/Like this Review?

The dying began on a Sunday. A feisty millionare widow and her beautiful daughter are murdered gangland style in their big house in Louisville, Kentucky. Months later another wealthy widow and her prominent son and daughter-in-law are also slain one night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The mystified police first suspect a professional killer, then turn their focus on family.
The Sharps. The Newsoms. The Lynches. Three well-to-do families, all linked by an aristocratic young mother, Susie Sharp Newsom Lynch. Could this former child princess and one time fraternity sweetheart, the daughter, granddaughter, ex-sister and ex-daughter-in-law, be involved in these murders? And what about her close and obsessive first cousin, Fritz Klenner, who dreams of succeeding his nationally known successful doctor father?
In this tightly wound and unrelenting tale, events build to a horrifyingly dramatic and shattering conclusion that leaves the remaining family members and the citizens of two states devastated.

Share/Like this Review?

Riveting true crime story. One of the best I've read!

Share/Like this Review?

A true story of Southern family pride, madness and multiple murder.

Share/Like this Review?

True crime story of murder, madness, and obsession in the mid-80s, as a child-custody battle escalates into mayhem and ends in tragedy.

Bledsoe loses points for bloating the book with entirely too much backstory about not only the protagonists (and their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents), but gets some back for carrying on after where many true-crime tales would have ended, discussing the impact of the crimes and their aftermath, not only on the families of the victims but on the law enforcement officers involved

Share/Like this Review?

If you like true crime, you don't want to miss this one. The author does a great job researching this story, and making it read like a novel. I really like the way he writes.

Share/Like this Review?