Book Review: Trust Issues by Elizabeth McCullough Keenan and Greg Wands

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Trust Issues  by Elizabeth McCullough Keenan and Greg Wands opens with Perry finding out that his wife had an unfortunate accident and passed away, which leaves him to tell his estranged stepchildren, Kagan and Hazel, what happened. When Kagan and Hazel offer their help with settling the estate, Perry turns them away and absconds with everything, but not before charming a wealthy widower in hopes of conning her out of money. Will Kagan and Hazel be able get their inheritance back and stop their stepfather before he takes advantage of yet another lonely woman? I'd like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for approving me to read an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of Trust Issues . I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Hazel, Kagan, and Perry have to be the most unlikable characters in the history of books. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about them. In fact, I disliked the characters so much that I considered not finishing the book. The only redeeming ...
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Book Review: The Devil's Tickets: A Vengeful Wife, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age by Gary M. Pomerantz

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1929, Kansas City:  Myrtle and Jack Bennett invite another couple over to play Bridge for the evening. During the competitive game, Myrtle grumbles that Jack is lousy player, and he slaps her and announces that he's leaving. Moments later, Myrtle shoots and kills her husband. Subsequently, Myrtle Bennett is put on trial for the murder of Jack and is represented by onetime presidential candidate, James A. Reed.

I won The Devil's Tickets: A Vengeful Wife, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age by Gary M. Pomerantz in Goodreads.com's First Reads Giveaway. Entering the giveaway because I thought the book sounded intriguing, I was ecstatic when I found out that I actually won a copy of the book. 

However, it was a different story once I sat down to actually read the book. Although I don't read a lot of non-fiction, I do enjoy a well written account of events that happened in the past. This was not one of those books . . . it read like a text book. Painfully boring best describes The Devil's Tickets: A Vengeful Wife, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age. 

Knowing that the murder took place over a bridge game going into the book, I expected that there would be a bit of background about the game. However, I didn't expect it to go into such detail about it and Ely Culbertson, a Russian who made it an "ultimate battle of wits between men and women" and not such a trivial game. It felt like there wasn't enough information about the murder and the trial to actually write a book without heavily talking about Culbertson.

What I did find interesting was that James A. Reed represented Myrtle Bennett. He was a senator, attorney, and at one time was the Democratic Presidential Candidate. He was friends with William Randolph Hearst and represented Henry Ford. It seems odd to me that someone who ran with such wealthy, well known people would get involved in this case. However, it did make me want to learn more about him, but I have yet to see if there are any biographies out there about him.

Unfortunately, I would not recommend The Devil's Tickets: A Vengeful Wife, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age to anyone. I gave it one out of five stars on Goodreads.com.


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