After returning home from a trip to the shooting range, Michael Fletcher dialed 911 to report his wife was dead of a gunshot wound. He said she’d shot herself, but one of the first officers on the scene immediately suspected Fletcher. The officer had just watched a program on the assassination of John F. Kennedy and was struck by the lack of blood on Fletcher’s clothing versus how much had been on Jackie Kennedy’s. Leann’s mother jumped to that conclusion too. Soon Fletcher would be on trial for murder and the secrets he’d been keeping became public knowledge.
A Deadly Affair by Tom Henderson recounts the details of Fletcher’s trial with monotonous transcription of the testimony that often repeats information found elsewhere in the book. Although a lot of research was clearly done, Henderson seems not to know what to edit out as the narrative of A Deadly Affair is frequently derailed by long tangents such as information about Dr. Kevorkian’s trial and racial profiling in the Detroit metro area (despite both the victim and the suspect being white). Furthermore, A Deadly Affair is not what one would call unbiased; Henderson attempts to present both sides, but the complimentary words for the defense reveal the agenda behind the book. And just in case one hadn’t caught on, the afterword, which includes Fletcher’s answers to questions Henderson sent him after the conviction, leaves no doubt that Henderson believes the fairly implausible accidental shooting scenario put forth by the defense.
About the audiobook: A Deadly Affair is read by Paul Michael Garcia. Garcia’s narration made the repetition of information not so excruciating, but his attempts at accents were unbearable. The audio version was published December 2017 by Blackstone Audio. It runs 15 hours.
2/5
Review copy provided Audiobook Jukebox.
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