I finally got around to reading the third installment of James Patterson's Murder is Forever series! Like the other books, Murder Beyond the Grave features two true crime stories.
Murder Beyond the Grave
This story followed former drug dealer, Danny Edwards, who moved on to bigger things....specifically kidnapping and murder. After letting police wire him up, he throws his supplier under the bus, only to have the entire plan backfire. He knows he needs to give up the drug dealer life, but the money is just too good. Once his girlfriend, Nancy, gives him a push, he eventually agrees to quit selling. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have another scheme cooking.
As he's driving home from his parent's house, he notices a man standing in a yard, watching his children play, while a Ferrari sparkles in the driveway. Danny thinks to himself, "Man I wish that was my life." By complete chance Danny and this man end up at the same boat shop. The cashier lets it slip that the man is Stephen Small, a local millionaire. That's all it took from Danny to set his sights on him.
He quickly went to work building what Nancy described as a box big enough to hold a person. Stephen's very own coffin; fitted with a PVC air tube, a gallon of water, and a handful of candy bars. Danny essentially held Stephen for ransom without thinking his contraption through.....
Murder in Paradise
Bonnie Hood wants a project of her own.
Her very own home away from home.
The Hood's bought the lodge Bonnie remembered visiting as a child. Her intention was to fix up the lodge, the hiking trails, even the saloon. She even went as far as to having a swimming pool installed. But none of that mattered to husband, Jim. He was content being a real estate mogul in the city. He could never wrap his head around why Bonnie would want to invest her time and their money in a rundown place like this.
The locals around Camp Nelson Lodge were not impressed with Bonnie from the get-go. She received dozens of death threats in the first few months. She decided it would be best if she lived at the lodge full time and Jim kept their kids in the city during the week. This gave both of them time to start living vastly different lives.
Bonnie may or may not have started sleeping with the groundskeeper at Camp Nelson. Jim may or may not have been the very person behind the death threats she was receiving.
In a turn of events, the killer is revealed in a way I honestly was not expecting but looking back.....it made perfect sense. I think my jaw actually dropped.
Looking for the rest of the Murder is Forever series?
