True-crime fans are a separate subculture. Yes, we read other kinds of books too, but a guilty incomparable I-know-what’s-coming thrill springs from these quickie page-turners that follow certain conventions: each covers a fairly recent American crime of passion in extreme detail, usually starting with a graphic description of the crime scene and then delving way, way, way into the life histories of the major players, the pursuit, the before-and-after. Usually there’s just one perp and one or two victims per crime, as these are character studies and that’s the whole point. This sturdy offering by the prolific and reliable Fleeman ropes us immediately into the twisted headspace of an attractive twentysomething North Carolina psychologist who persuaded her lover to kill her equally attractive Air Force-pilot husband.
Grade: B