She Wanted to be a Dancer. She Became a Murder Victim.
Review by Kim Cantrell
I just finished another really awesome true crime book by Paul LaRosa titled Death of a Dream, which he co-wrote with Erin Moriarty.
In Death of a Dream, readers are invited into the secret life of Catherine Woods, a Ohio native who traveled to the big city of New York to seek out her fame and fortune as a dancer.
Unfortunately, those dreams would be cut short when young Catherine would die at the hands of a vicious murderer at the tender age of twenty-one; leaving friends and family to wonder who and why.
LaRosa and Moriarty provides readers with an step by step of how the crime (theoretically) occurred; a method that sucks readers in immediately, making it difficult not to turn the pages in anticipation of the next step.
Soon afterwards, readers meet the two of the many men in Catherine’s life: David Haughn and Paul Cortez, both who quickly come under suspicion for Catherine’s murder.
Yet, in the end, only one is arrested, tried and convicted: Paul Cortez.
The question is why was Paul Cortez “the choosen one”? David Haughn depended on Catherine for shelter, food and financial support despite the fact that she had recently told him to move out and their relationship was, at best, a one sided roommate situation. Paul, on the other hand, is articulate, educated, and extremely mild mannered – and claims that he and Catherine had a romantic relationship, despite recents lovers’ spats.
The intense writing of this book surroundingefforts to catch a killer will leave the reader debating in their own mind – and elsewhere, I’m sure – about the validity of the investigators’ charges.
An awesome read from one of my favorite authors based on one of my favorite crime shows – a MUST READ!
