Love Lies by Amanda Lamb

When this trial was going on in Raleigh I was OBSESSED with it.  I even wrote about how I was going through withdrawals from it.  So I just had to read this book even though I had heard before that it was totally biased.

Here's a synopsis from Amazon:

Who killed suburban wife and mother Nancy Cooper...?

Suspicion fell on Nancy's handsome husband, Brad. But why would a devoted husband and father of two young girls want to kill his wife? Nancy's parents and friends knew why. And what transpired revealed secrets not only about Brad, but about their deceptively quiet town.

It would take a mountain of damning evidence to make sure justice was served.

After reading the book, I can see why Amanda Lamb was biased.  She ran in the same circles as Nancy (had seen her around everywhere she hung out), their kids were similar in age, and they even lived in the same neighborhood I think.  So I am sure when this happened she thought "Wow, could this happen to me?"

The book is totally biased, doesn't tell as much info as if you would have listened to the whole trial, and basically assumed Brad did it from the beginning.  I think there was one small chapter on Brad's defense.  I kind of hate that I wasted my time reading it, but for some reason I was obsessed with that story, so anything to feed that obsession is something I will consume.  I am still waiting for the Lifetime movie!

I give the book 2 out of 5 stars

Run at Destruction by Lynda Drews

I think this is my second true crime book.  I don't know what made me pick Run at Destruction.  Of course it probably had something to do with my obsession with the Nancy Cooper trial.  She was a runner.  And a love triangle sounded scandalous and would probably make for a good story.

The book is written by the victim's best friend over 20 years after the incident.  It is a story about a case back in the 80s.  A woman dies from a combination or carbon monoxide poisoning and drowning in her bathtub (sounds like something that might happen to me on one of my bad Ambien nights.  I could probably accidentally kill myself on that stuff.)

The woman's husband was having an affair with one of his co-workers.  All of them are teachers.  All of them are runners and very involved with the local running community.

The book takes you through the events of that day, flashes back to things that happened in the past and takes you through the trial.  But the best part of the book I thought was the last chapter that talks about what has happened to all the main players in the story since the trial.  I felt like there was too little in that last chapter and too much in the rest of the book.  I felt like it could have been condensed a little more and was a little slow at times.

It was a very interesting case though.  And the way it is left, it still leaves the question on if Pam's death was suicide, murder, or accidental death.  I think based on what I read it was murder, but I guess only the husband and God know the truth.

I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

A Slaying in the Suburbs

This was my first true crime book! When I became so obsessed with that Brad Cooper trial I thought hmmm maybe I should read a true crime book because all I could think about during the trial is how awesome a book would be based on that story. I picked this one because it had good reviews and an interesting plot.

Tara Grant was a successful woman earning a six figure salary and getting to travel the world. Until the day she came home from a business trip and her husband killed her and cut up her body.

There were a lot of similarities to the Brad Cooper case. A wealthy family with two kids. An affair- only this one was with the nanny. Tara started out as a missing person case. She was strangled to death. Her sister got custody of the kids and hated the husband. The prosecution even wrapped up their closing argument very similarly to the prosecution in the Brad Cooper trial.

It was a really interesting story and at least with this one you know he did it. I definitely think I’ll read some more true crime books in the future.

I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.