Karen Kingsbury True Crime Novels: Final Vows, Deadly Pretender, The Snake and the Spider, Missy’s Murder

by Karen Kingsbury

More well known for her family life fiction, here are four true crime novels written at the beginning of Karen Kingsbury’s writing career. They include a special reader's letter from Karen explaining how the darkness in these stories became more than she could bear and prompted a dramatic career change to write life-changing fiction.

Final Vows:
When Carol Montecalvo began writing to a man in prison through a program at her church, she considered it her Christian duty. But these letters soon became her lifeline as she fell in love with Dan, the man behind the letters. In Final Vows, Karen Kingsbury chronicles a couple’s unlikely romance and marriage, and what led to Carol's bloody death on her kitchen floor. It seems her husband has obvious motives for murder. But is this former felon really guilty? Or could he actually be a grieving widower, in the wrong place at the wrong time, showing the wrong type of emotions when faced with his wife's lifeless body?

Deadly Pretender:
CIA Agent. Business Owner. Lobbyist. Bigamist. David Miller was the envy of both friend and foe, with a dream job and perfect family. He seemed to have it all. But he wanted more. One family wasn't enough: he wanted two. Two careers weren't enough; he invented a third. He juggled it all quite well . . . until the day his two wives found out about each other. David Miller groped for ways to hold on to his finances and reputation. His solution? Murder. But it had to be done right, leaving him off the list of suspects.

The Snake and the Spider:
Florida. Spring Break. Words that evoke excited anticipation for young adults . . . and extreme angst for their parents. But the parents of best friends Daryl Barber and James Boucher were confident their sons could be trusted to spend a week in the sun without them. As they all waved goodbye, no one imagined it would be the last time they'd see each other alive. When the boys missed their agreed-upon daily check-ins, both sets of parents were disappointed. When the boys failed to come home on their planned return date, both sets of parents were furious. And when it was clear the boys had vanished without a trace, both sets of parents were terrified.

Missy’s Murder:
On an October day, teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy's best friend, Karen, publicly vows to find the killer and even moves in with Missy's family to help. No one could have guessed what would happen next. Missy's Murder is a shocking tale of how jealousy can drive people to acts of great evil.

Genres: True Crime, Fiction, Thriller

1439 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2017

About the author

Karen Kingsbury, #1 New York Times bestselling novelist, is America’s favorite inspirational storyteller, with more than twenty-five million copies of her award-winning books in print. Her last dozen titles have topped bestseller lists and many of her novels are under development with Hallmark Films and as major motion pictures. Her Baxter Family books are being developed into a TV series slated for major network viewing sometime in the next year. Karen is also an adjunct professor of writing at Liberty University. In 2001 she and her husband, Don, adopted three boys from Haiti, doubling their family in a matter of months. Today the couple has joined the ranks of empty nesters, living in Tennessee near five of their adult children.

See more at: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/K...

Reviews

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sooo one of the four stories takes place at Daytona Beach in the mid to late ‘70s which just so happens to be when my family took our family vacations until 1995. So there’s that fun fact. Also I want to know how this private investigator could always find a parking spot; I mean ALWAYS. “Downtown “ Daytona” is packed with people who I now know were criminals. Tha is INSANE

[Wendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories

I love that there were 4 great stories in this one book. I realize these books were written 20 years ago but they still need to be edited. My expectations were much higher for books written by a journalist because this was beginner level writing. In all of the stories, the conversations were filled with "honey", "sweetheart", and "baby" which made them seem fake. Nobody talks like that.

[Judy Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

What hair-raising stories! Breaks one's heart to see what people do to others without God in the picture. I'm so glad that this author is writing hopeful stories and can well understand why she is no longer writing true crime. A real eye-opener to the evil in this world. Very spell-binding and keeps one eager to find out if justice prevails.

[teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 true crime books

True crime at its best . Easy to follow from crime to end of trial. Karen Kingsbury is a great author

[Dianne McMahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not my usual genre,but I did read the four true crime stories,contained within this book, with at times a sad heart,but I still wanted to see it to the end.
These were written in the early stages of Karen Kingsbury's writing career.
Each story is different ,& the author tells each very well,but decided after writing these,to go a different route with her writing.
I read many different genre's & enjoy then all for different reasons
This book really made me do a lot of thinking?
Do we really know our neighbors friends even family?
Although these stories mainly took place in the,80's,has time,really changed anything?
I think, you will see many similarities in our World,we live in today,after reading these pages.I know I did.




Pick up a newspaper anywhere or turn the news, on tv.The stories out there today are just as shattering,maybe more so !

[Joelle Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had started this earlier in the year, but let it go back to my HOOPLA account. I tried finishing it again, but mostly just skimmed the last two stories. The writing is absolutely terrible! There are also grammatical errors on almost every page, and factually things flip between chapters. The timeline gets convoluted, events happen differently, and people change. I'm not a huge Kingsbury fan to begin with - her books are often saccharine and the people cry way to much - but this is definitely her worst book.

[Jo Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Informative and captivating

Ms Kingsbury writes a very concise and interesting story. Sometimes I want her to just move on to the good stuff but she’s just setting the scenes. Too much of that additional information at times pulls away from the story. I do enjoy her books and agree with her that I would rather read less on the evils man can commit. Some how since these were true stories, it hits me deeper than fiction murders.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, Karen Kingsbury took a true crime and wrote about it in a way that came across as fiction. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the story that she dramatized many conversations based on testimony. But it just felt overly dramatic. The ending was also very disappointing. But, admittedly, the author had no control over the outcome.

[Jenny Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, but Dark

Very well written. Intriguing, but also deeply disturbing. Sometimes real life crime stories can seem more unbelievable and shocking; maybe because they actually happened.

[KAREN JAQUITH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reporting

I really enjoyed these books even though the subject was difficult. Karen is a great writer and stated the facts of each crime clearly. I enjoy all of Karen Kingsbury books.

[Connie Freeman]

Very interesting and thought provoking would

Knowing that the stories are true made then so intriguing. I could hardly put the book down when I had to. It was hard to imagine that people could actually kill someone in these ways.

[Rozann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Had me sitting on the edge of my seat! The reality of life is sometimes very hard to look at.

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it was very slow and even though I kept trying, I just couldn't get into it . I'll stick to her Christian love stories.

[Melinda Willford]

Not Karen Kingsbury's usual writing but some of her first novels - true crime. Couldn't put any of these books down. Kingsbury does an excellent job of recounting these horrific crimes.

[adam k wallis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but...

Good read but everytime it gets good there's a character life story to go through for a chapter not needed.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four well-written true crime stories

Final Vows (8)

When Carol Montecalvo surprised burglars in her home, she was killed and her husband Dan was shot. However, police did not believe his story and he was their number one suspect.

Deadly Pretender (9)

David Miller was so special he didn't see why he couldn't have two wives as long as they never found out about each other.

The Snake and the Spider (8)

Two naive Michigan teenagers went to Daytona Beach for a week's vacation. They had no idea what they were getting into.

Missy's Murder (35)

A pretty, popular teenager was cruelly murdered by her two best friends who were jealous because they were neither pretty nor popular.

[Monaclaibornehotmail.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series - it was a little dark for Karen Kingsbury, but couldn't wait to get to the end of each story to find out what happened.

[Helen Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karen Kingsbury true crime noveld

I'm so glad I don't live in that world I can't imagine how people can be so cruel to someone evil lives I know and will till the Lord returns