Shattered Night

I'm a sucker for a true crime book.

So I initially started this book for two reasons:

1) My coworker's mom loaned it to me and I've had it for way too long

2) I needed a palate cleanser before I start my next big novel.

For some reason, I always end up reading some obscure true crime book to get myself back on track.

So, Shattered Night follows the Sandiford couple, Kay and Frank.

For those unfamiliar with the case, Kay shot her well-known heart surgeon of a husband.

So the book is broken into three parts; "The Shooting," "The Beginning," and "The Trial."

The shooting obviously grabs you in because it leads you on a goose chase as to why in the world Kay bought a gun and decided to use it on her husband. Very quickly we see Kay was not in the best place mentally. We hear her stories of how Frank beat her one night not long after they were wed. He thought he needed to teach his wife discipline.....with a good beating. Everything went downhill from there. She knew the kinds of moods he was in based on how in walked in the front door after work. She knew this was a marriage she needed out of.

This book dealt with Kay's mental state more than anything else. Yes, it talks about the shooting too. But mostly, it talks about how Kay went from subservient housewife to battered wife who kills her husband. It was all very textbook.

It was definitely a good read and the perfect true crime cleanse that I needed!