Before He Wakes: A True Story of Money, Marriage, Sex, and Murder - Hardcover

Bledsoe, Jerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525938265 ISBN 13: 9780525938262

Publisher: Dutton Adult, 1994

Synopsis

Describes how Durham detective Rick Buchanan uncovers a shocking history of compulsive spending, lying, promiscuity, and murder while investigating the "accidental" shooting of Barbara Stager's husband--after discovering that her first husband had died the same way.

About this title

Review:

Veteran true-crime readers are familiar with the cold murder committed by a sociopath, versus the hot murder committed in a moment of rage or jealousy. But what to make of someone who murders her spouse simply to keep him from finding out that she borrowed a few thousand from the bank? This story of a Durham, North Carolina, woman who appeared to be a devoted mother, meticulous housekeeper, loving wife, and church leader, is even more puzzling when we learn that what's beneath is not all that shocking: she lies, she's promiscuous, she's a perfectionist, and she spends too much money. The mystery is the motive in this tale of a murderer, both of whose husbands died, in bed, of "accidents with guns." Jerry Bledsoe has a crisp, unemotional prose style. His expertly paced courtroom cliffhangers kept this reviewer up reading long past midnight. Before He Wakes was a finalist for the 1995 Edgar Award in Fact Crime.

About the Author:

Jerry Bledsoe is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Bitter Blood and others. Among the many publications in which his work has appeared are Esquire and the New York Times. Bledsoe lives in North Carolina and Virginia.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dutton Adult
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0525938265
• ISBN 13: 9780525938262
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384