What I've been reading

Before I tell you about the book, I want to show you this pretty little bookmark my mother made for me.

She had my dad to look around outside for small wildflowers and tiny leaves. She then pressed and dried them between the pages of a heavy book for a few days.

Then they laminated them on both sides of a strip of cardboard and added a tassel.

Pretty clever, huh?

Well it was a shame to use something so sweet and pretty as a place marker in this book about a horrendous murder...but that's what I've been reading.

"A Deadly Game" by Catherine Crier. 

The author is the very same Catherine Crier you may remember if you were a Court TV fan.

She has done an excellent job with this true crime novel about Scott Peterson and the murder of his pregnant wife Laci Peterson, on Christmas Eve 2002.

It was a highly publicized case and Court TV kept viewers up to date as the investigation progressed and the trial got underway, but they were not allowed to show the trial on the air (judges decision).  So there are a lot of details in the book that didn't get out to the general public at the time.

The story starts out with Scott Peterson's version of events that took place on that Christmas Eve that Laci went missing.  He had been fishing that day and arrived home to find his dog in the yard but wearing his leash, and his eight months pregnant wife no where in the house, but her car is there.

Well, he washes his clothes and eats some cold pizza before calling his mother-in-law to see if  Laci is there. Laci's mom springs into action right away and gets the police involved. The police are way more responsive than usual because of Laci's advanced pregnancy.

It's this early investigation by police and a smart and watchful detectives that turns the focus on Scott Peterson as a possible murder suspect.  The book gives lot's of details about  small things that made them suspicious of Scott...even though both Scott and Laci's families and friends felt sure he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

The author keeps the story moving along as she describes the Peterson's childhoods, family members and early married lives.

Finally the book reaches the part where Laci's headless body washes ashore and the body of her baby son is found washed up a short distance away.

A bit about the murder trial brings the book to a close. Just the right amount of information without going into long courtroom word for word exchanges.

I don't want to give away too much of the story. I would recommend reading it if you like true crime.

I checked to see if Catherine Crier had written other books, and she has, but this looks like her only murder investigation novel.