Lovers of Deceit - Hardcover

Gallagher, Mike

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385416849 ISBN 13: 9780385416849

Publisher: Doubleday, 1993

Synopsis

An account of the so-called "Fatal Attraction" murder case describes how the sexy, blonde schoolteacher shot her lover's wife in cold blood and recounts the events leading up to and during the trial. 15,000 first printing. $15,000 ad/promo.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

A convoluted, behind-the-scenes look at the Westchester County murder case that titillated tabloid readers with its purported parallels to the Hollywood shocker Fatal Attraction. Told by a reporter who covered the case for the Westchester Gannett newspaper chain, this overextended narrative features a trio of adulterers, an heiress-turned-murderer, shady p.i.s, and cops of staggering incompetence: sleaze and slapstick in the suburbs. In the late 80's, 25-year-old Carolyn Warmus, a computer instructor in Pleasantville, New York, was engaged in a torrid affair with married fellow-teacher Paul Solomon--whose wife, Betty Jeanne, was also having an affair. Despite having slept with several married men, Warmus became obsessed with Solomon and talked continually of marrying him--but he sidestepped commitment. When, in January 1989, Betty Jeanne was shot dead while home alone, suspicion centered on her husband, whose alibi was quickly proved false--at the time of the death, he actually had been on his way to a steamy rendezvous with Warmus. A report eventually surfaced that Warmus had recently purchased a handgun and silencer from a tawdry p.i. she'd hired to track another lover, but the gun was never found and the police investigation dragged on. Meanwhile, Solomon avoided Warmus and, less than six months after his wife's death, took up with another woman. Warmus lost control, dogging Solomon and his new love to Puerto Rico and harassing friends and relatives of the pair with threatening phone calls. Finally, Warmus was charged with Betty Jeanne's murder, largely on circumstantial evidence. The first trial ended in a hung jury but, in a retrial, the accused was found guilty. She's now serving a 25-year-to-life sentence. Overly detailed with legal technicalities, and the portrait of the spoiled and sociopathic Warmus remains vague and uninflected. Of interest, then, mostly for its revelations about police fumbling of the case. (Eight pages of b&w photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

Whoa! What's going on here? There seems to be a plethora of angry women out there just waiting to whack somebody! Their likely victims are the wives or girlfriends of their lovers. Their philosophy seems to be that the easiest way to a man's heart is over his wife's dead body. First there was Amy Fisher, who attempted to kill her alleged lover's wife. Now, we have the story of Carolyn Warmus, who is accused of shooting her lover's wife nine times, then meeting him at the local Holiday Inn for dinner and a session of oral sex in his car. Gallagher, an award-winning reporter, has done an amazing job of tracing Warmus's obsession with Paul Solomon. Warmus was arrested more than a year after Betty Jeanne Solomon was murdered and indicted for her death. After two highly publicized trials, Warmus maintains her innocence. Lovers of Deceit is a sordid tale of husbands deceiving wives, wives deceiving husbands, and lovers deceiving lovers. Recommended for most general collections.
- Belinda Pugh, Kings Bay Base Lib., Ga.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0385416849
• ISBN 13: 9780385416849
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 423