Deadly American Beauty

by John Glatt

Greg DeVillers was a top biotech executive, and Kristen Rossum was embarking on a career in toxicology at the San Diego Medical Examiner's office. They seemed to be happily married, living the American dream. But only months shy of their second anniversary, Kristen found her handsome husband dead from a drug overdose-his corpse sprinkled with rose petals. By his side was their wedding photo. The scene was reminiscent of American Beauty, one of Kristen's favorite movies. Authorities deemed it a suicide.

Until they discovered that the rare poison found in Greg's body was the same poison missing from Kristen's office. Until they discovered the truth about Kristen's lurid affair, about her own long-time drug addiction, and about the personal and professional secrets she would kill to keep hidden-secrets that would ultimately expose the beautiful blonde as the deadly beauty she really was...a Deadly American Beauty

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 13, 2004

About the author

English-born John Glatt is the author of Golden Boy Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, Playing with Fire, and many other bestselling books of true crime. He has more than 30 years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. Glatt left school at 16 and worked a variety of jobs—including tea boy and messenger—before joining a small weekly newspaper. He freelanced at several English newspapers, then in 1981 moved to New York, where he joined the staff for News Limited and freelanced for publications including Newsweek and the New York Post. His first book, a biography of Bill Graham, was published in 1981, and he published For I Have Sinned, his first book of true crime, in 1998. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including ABC- 20/20Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography. He and his wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/johnglatt

Reviews

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, I've seen Kristen Rossum's story on Deadly Women and it wasn't that interesting even then, but I thought maybe it could be if I read (or listened to, in this case) it as a book. Sadly that was not the case and I choose to dnf somewhere in the 70s (percent). But as always, I appreciate the amount of detail in the book.

[Lilli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engrossing and twisted true crime read. I was surprised I had never heard of this case and even more surprised on how little information comes up with a few quick Google searches. Definitely recommend this to true crime fans. Further review to come!

[Tooter · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

[Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always know I'm getting a solid true crime story with this author. I love the way he writes. He blends plot and research seamlessly, creating an authentic and absorbing portrait of a murder. This particular book recounts the murder of Greg De Villers by his wife Kristin Rossum. Lies, deception, infidelity and addiction all play a role. The story starts with the introduction of Kristin's family and her life growing up. It then switches to Greg's history, his and Kristin's union and ultimately Greg's deathand the impending investigation.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do like a true crime read every now and again but this was so just way to tragic and dark for me.

[CrabbyPatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true crime story of a toxicologist with the San Diego ME's office who murdered her husband with fentanyl. Kristin Rossum had a lovely childhood and wanted to be a ballerina, but ended up addicted to meth, had an affair with her immediate boss in the toxicology department, lied to almost everyone she met, stole drugs from the ME's office and murdered her husband by drugging him with a massive dose of fentanyl.

In comparing and contrasting John Glatt's Deadly American Beauty and Caitlin Rother's Poisoned Love, I gotta say that Glatt's book was the clear winner. He gave a much clearer overview of the criminal case and the trial and provided more details about Greg's personality and family life. I found his writing interesting and engaging and liked how he had a good balance between providing the overview of the case, and well as providing smaller telling details. 4 stars.

Vist my new blog - I Love True Crime Books!

[Jazmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author repeats things over and over again, to the point of annoyance. The girls family was ticking me off, too: smokin' hot SoCal girl gets hooked on meth and totally starts spiraling downward but parents can't see how their precious little gumdrop could ever kill someone.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, intelligent woman and a handsome, intelligent man literally bump into each other going to Tijuana, fall in love and eventually get married. You would think this would be a happy ending, the perfect couple and future. But no, Kristin Rossum was a devil in disguise and Greg de Villers was the ultimate victim.
It was hard to read about such a narcissistic, evil human who would kill her husband. Yes, he loved her so much that at times he was clingy and obsessed with the lovely woman he had married, but that is never a reason to kill someone. By all accounts he was a friendly, ambitious, fun guy and in fact had helped her get over her meth addiction!!
Wolves do come in sheep's clothing so beware.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime. Kristin Rossum, who worked for the San Diego Medical Examiner’s office, was addicted to crystal meth and had been stealing it from her workplace. Her husband threatened to tell her boss. In a scene reminiscent of the movie American Beauty, Rossum poisoned him with fentanyl and then covered his body in rose petals. This also freed her to continue her affair with another man.

[Bill reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading Deadly American Beauty I was reminded of the old adage, "nice guys finish last." Greg de Villers hooked up with Kristin Rossum, a beautiful but troubled meth addict. Her father is a well respected college professor and was on the team of Nancy Reagan's "just say no" campaign. Too bad his darling daughter could not say no. Greg came to her rescue, at least temporarily, until she relapsed back to drug addiction. In spite of her personal demons she was able to graduate college with a degree in chemistry. At a toxicology lab, the young woman had access to numerous drugs. She hooked up with her married boss and after Greg's sudden death, the story takes off. Ann Rule and Joe McGinness are two of my favorite true crime writers but both are presently worm food. John Glatt is as good a storyteller as Ann and Joe and after The Perfect Father and this great book, I have more of his tales for future reading.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how John Glatt spins his true crime tales. The books I’ve read have given me great insight into crimes that I had not previously heard of. This was one of them. I had no doubt from the beginning that she did it. Drugs and live affairs never mix well. But I surely could never imagine what it was like to slowly kill your husband with fentanyl. How could you watch it happening? How could you not just leave the life you were growing to hate? She used and abused all men in her life, lied to her family and friends and is truly a despicable person.

[Jimmy Chaillot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kristen Rossum was your typically blonde beauty until drugs ravished her life and took over her life. Which when she did drop them search for the next thrill which included cheating on her husband/fiancé leading to his death by the most excruciating way possible.

This book delivered on information even thought it was short if you need a quick read while still being good. This is worth it.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago so there isn't much I can say about the story specifically but it was another great true-crime book and John Glatt is a terrific writer.

[Cindy Boss · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good, except that it stated some things too many times

[Jurij Fedorov · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was free in Audible. The app is so great! I don't even want to bother moving audio files anymore this saves me sooo much time it's incredible and the books are very cheap. Cheaper than real books despite more work going into them. There are many sales and free books. And the podcasts are often free for all.

This one is quite fine. For the right reader it will be very curious and engaging. Unfortunately for me as nerd dude the true crime genre is about detective work. I don't care as much about what crime it is or if we even get to know anything about the criminal as the investigation is the curious part and then finding out the why. The gathering of evidence and the court trial is what I'm after as it's the intellectual part.

Here we start by knowing she did it and how she did it. And we then slowly go over her full life history. She was a teen ballet dancer who got injured. Then started dancing again on her injure, had to quit for life and got addicted to drugs and meth. She soon went into chemistry and meets a guy who saves her life by getting her off drugs. She of course is so addicted she starts buying drugs and stealing drugs from the workplace. And yet again starts sleeping around and falls in love with her married boss. She loses her good looks each time she gets addicted yet her husband is extremely clingy and has a savior complex. He refuses to divorce and instead tells her to quit drugs or he'll reveal the affair. She feels stuck. He has this on her and her boss. She is stuck in marriage she hated from day one as she cheated at every point. And she wants out and her drugs back. Maybe a divorce would get him mad and reveal everything getting her lover fired?

She adores American Beauty so she stages a death scene with roses on the bed as she hates how her husband is never romantic. She steals the drugs used to poison him and his body had so much drug in his system it's never seen before. He clearly didn't overdose and she herself claims he didn't want to leave this world. We are left with 1 possible scenario. Maybe her lover helped her too as they were seen planning right before the murder. But her past life and drug abuse reveals that she's not as pure and focused as her rich parents and professor dad. And her lover is a well-off married man in power so he would seldom stoop this low.

I'm not sure if the book name is mainly focused on the movie or her. The movie is a classic. She herself doesn't look like a regular druggie killer. But she's not exactly a model citizen or in looks. Husband murders are also rarer than wife murders. But overall partner killings are the norm and expected in any murder case. So the case feels a tad ... normal. Maybe it was a big story in the media, but today it feels a tad small and insignificant compared to most other big cases. This case is so clear there is nothing much to explore and maybe the way he wrote the book removes the mystery factor that surely played a part in any media frenzy focused on mystery and justice. Unless we move through this slow exposure and wait for the verdict it all feels too clear right away. There is no mystery to write about. And unfortunately we never really read anything from the the people directly. We get statements only. It feels like a to the point overview with not enough details about research and science that goes into bringing such a case to court. And the court case is also just them saying the stuff we already read about. It just feels too small. Maybe if she admitted to it it would feel more focused and complete. But even the parents victim statements in court feel hollow when it's the writer just straight up using statements without adding in emotional valence.

I won't recommend this over a documentary or podcast intro. It feels too unemotional and too detailed in the wrong way. But it's not as bad book at all. Just maybe okay?

[Lynne M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I set down this book feeling sad. Feeling very sad for Greg de Villers's family members, who lost their loved one for nothing, and also sad for Kristen's family, who seem to have put their heads in the sand about how troubled their daughter was. I don't think they will ever face facts about her.

Kristin Rossum sounds like a devil in the disguise of a beautiful woman. She sounds like a chronic liar, and a user (not just of drugs.) I think people are sometimes fooled by a person's outer appearance- just because she happened to be beautiful, successful at her career, and from a good family does not mean that she was a good person. In short, she was an an addict who constantly seemed to make the wrong choices.

Based on this book and other accounts that I read, I don't believe that Greg committed suicide. I believe that Greg posed a large threat to Kristin's career, as well as the career of her lover, and that she decided that she could not be exposed as having relapsed. Her parents placed a great deal of pressure on her to succeed in life, and she had let them down many times before especially when she became addicted. She couldn't let that happen again.

I also believe that Michael Robinson is not innocent here. I think he knows far more than he has ever let on, and I think it's disgusting that he's still off living free in Australia.

[Arianna Mclaughlin (arianna.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Glatt is my go-to true crime writer right now. I have a long queue of his books on audio waiting for me.

I wasn't very familiar with the case behind Deadly America Beauty. It's the story of Kristin Rossum, a toxicologist with the San Diego ME's office (!!!!) who murders her husband with a deadly dose of fentanyl.

Glatt traces back her life and shows us how she went from a happy childhood to a meth addict who stole drugs; was a compulsive liar and eventually a murderer.

In his style, Glatt tells us about the killer and also the victim, Greg DeVillers. The court and trial details are well researched and told in an interesting way.

His research is outstanding and his writing is engaging. Highly recommend his work to all my fellow true crime lovers!

[Mrs. Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Glatt writes good true crime books. Deadly American Beauty would have been more interesting had the crime been more difficult to solve/prosecute but - at least as Glatt presents it - it was virtually open-and-shut. Thus the trial (my favorite part of true crime books) is basically uneventful and makes up only a small part of the account. The real mystery is the killer’s ability to identify and exploit suckers. Deadly American Beauty is recommended for true crime readers; for that matter it should interest anyone who wants a close-up view of an intelligent, attractive, successful - and utterly merciless - psychopath in action.

[Cynthia Rennolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful Smart Woman Kills Husband

Interesting account of the Kristin Rossum story. Kristin was beautiful and very smart but harbored a drug addiction that seemingly caused her to make very bad decisions. Marrying young, she had an affair that she wished to turn into a more lasting relationship. However, it seems her husband stood in the way. Instead of divorce she killed him.

[Wyatt Flett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's crime tale that has all of the classisms, which include drug abuse, an affair, and murder in order to complete the picture. It's a semi-entertaining read for somebody who enjoys lust and blood or an episode of Fatal Vows.

[J Prosaist · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those true crime books that tells you whodunit from page 1, so there's zero suspense as a bunch of unlikable people make bad life choices to an end you already know. There was nothing extraordinary about these events to make the story stand out.

[Shannon Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good pace for a true crime novel. I wish certain areas had gone more in depth. I also wish there had been an after that gives a brief update on what has happened with the case since but google is good enough for that. Would recommend.

[Patricia Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As far as true crime books go, this was a decent read. It's very scary how someone could get away with so much. As someone who works in criminal justice, it really makes me think about what else can slip through the cracks of a murder investigation. Thankful justice was served.

[Ines Parrish · Rating 2 out of 5]

insight was slight

Although there were a lot of details about routine and mundane stuff there wasn’t enough insight into main person nor her husband in this. How could husband be so blind. Ugh!!

[Gail Hedlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

OMG!!! I've heard of heartless evil people, but this female takes the cake!!

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a terrible case, but the killer got what she deserved.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book.
But "LIFE" ??
as a dane - it is hard to understand.

Otto

[Reyne' · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think True Crime books might be my new things. This was enthralling!

[Aura Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good true crime story about addiction, lust, adultery and selfishness.