This first installment in the New York Times bestselling Crime Files series is a chilling collection of shocking crimes and the ensuing struggles to bring the perpetrators to justice—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me . Soon to be a Lifetime original movie. The “country’s premier true crime author” ( Library Journal ) brings her clear-eyed, compassionate writing and investigative skills to this unputdownable anthology. Distinguished by the former Seattle police officer’s razor-sharp eye for detail and her penetrating analysis of the criminal mind, the featured case in this collection is the twisted story of Randy Roth—a man who married, and murdered, for profit. Following are compelling tales of bloody vengeance, estranged relationships that turn deadly, and fateful encounters. With her trademark “unwavering voice” ( Publishers Weekly ), Ann Rule exposes the darkness that lurks among us. Rule is this country's premier true crime author as well as one of its most prolific. She maintains her position with this first volume in a projected five-volume series. This book contains one long piece (a book in itself) and five shorter pieces, all dealing with male killers of women in the Northeast, Rule's home turf. The title piece focuses on a modern-day Bluebeard, Randy Roth, who murdered his second wife for insurance, claiming that her death was a mountaineering accident; tried to murder his third wife; ditched a promising marriage prospect when he discovered her to be uninsurable; and then murdered his fourth wife, this time explaining her death as an accidental drowning. Although there was no hard evidence in any of the cases, the cumulative circumstantial evidence was enough to convict him. Rule's ability to depict both criminals and victims as believable human beings is perfectly embodied in this sad, fascinating account. Indeed, all her accounts present the female victims as real people who deserve compassionate treatment. For all popular true crime collections. - Ben Harrison, East Orange P.L., N.J. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ann Rule (1931–2015) wrote thirty-five New York Times bestsellers, all of them still in print. Her first bestseller was The Stranger Beside Me , about her personal relationship with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. A former Seattle police officer, she used her firsthand expertise in all her books. For more than three decades, she was a powerful advocate for victims of violent crime. ann rule signed by ann rule ann rule autographs signed by true crime