A Deadly Affair

By: Tom Henderson

Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia

Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

A promising young attorney and a dedicated family man, Michael Fletcher seemed to have it all. But in the summer of 2000, Michael found himself standing trial for the murder of his pregnant wife, Leann. The verdict - guilty of second-degree murder - would leave friends, family, and the public at large scrambling to make sense of a twisted and frightening series of events that ended in the brutal killing of Leann Fletcher. What could possibly have led Michael Fletcher to commit such a gruesome act?

As a college student, Michael Fletcher married the girl of his dreams after a three-year courtship. It seems like a fairy-tale romance come true: a match made in heaven. So why would a man with no history of domestic violence murder his devoted wife right after he told her how much he loved her? Why would Michael shoot Leann in the back of the head, not only killing her but also the child that she was carrying inside her? According to prosecutors, Fletcher has been involved in an extramarital affair with a beautiful judge for two years. Was his relationship with respected District Judge Susan Chrzanowski enough cause for him to murder his wife in cold blood? Raising even more troubling questions, the startling discovery colored Leann's already shocking murder with shadings of sex, political scandal, and deadly betrayal.

©2014 Tom Henderson (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Repetitive and biased.

To be far to the author, most of the people he had to write about in this book came across as pretty insufferable, including the victim with the constant insistence that she was the purest angel to ever walk the face of the earth.

But I can't blame the people involved with this case for the fact that he felt the need to repeat the same irrelevant facts over and over. How many times does the reader need to hear about Michigan's humidity or Dr. Dragovich's love for Sherlock Holmes, or that Gloria is the Miseners' rock? How many times does it need to be said how much the jury loathed certain witnesses? I'm pretty sure he actually repeated the same quotations multiple times.

Between heading off in irrelevant and dull directions- namely, the life history of everyone involved in the trial- and the constant repetition, the only reason I finished this book is that I got it in a 2 for 1 deal and didn't think I could return it without losing the other. After the verdict especially, the final chapters stretched on, as though Henderson felt as though he needed to write the reaction of every single person he had interviewed.

It's unfortunate, because the story itself is incredibly interesting, but when it's told through the eyes of someone who quite clearly glossed over the defense and demonized the prosecution on top of the amateurish writing, it's no better than reading or watching any other account where the prosecution is praised and the defense is ignored. I finished this book with a strong feeling of irritation, salvaged only by the narrator. If Paul Michael Garcia can make this tolerable, I'd love to see what he can do with a really good book.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Accidental?

I enjoyed that this book was very descriptive and spoke a lot about the victim and how her husband may have been the one who actually shot her instead of killing herself by accident. I wish there was more information on the mistress and her backstory and more of why she was part of the motive.