The latest release by true crime author Gary C. King entitled An Almost Perfect Murder details the death of Kathy Marie Augustine, Nevada’s State Controller, by her husband Chaz Higgs, a Registered Nurse.
Higgs was a three times divorced Casanova-wannabe who latched on to Augustine just three short weeks after the death of her husband, Charles Augustine. Interestingly enough, Higgs had served as Charles’ critcal care nurse during the last few weeks of his life.
Shortly after marrying Augustine in a whirlwind ceremony that took place in Hawaii, Higgs returned to his philandering ways using Augustine’s strong-willed personality and role in politics as his excuse.
Just when it seemed that he might actually secure a fourth divorce, Augustine died one early Saturday morning under very suspicious circumstances, with only Higgs as a witness as to what actually occured.
The elements of a good true crime book always contain indepth background on both victim and the accused; unfortunately, King’s rush-to-publish writing of this book fails to provide only the most recent of details as pertains to those involved. Readers will find there is very little information about Augustine’s or Higgs’ childhood, teen years, or even early adulthood – leaving readers to wonder just how Higgs may have come to develop his murderous skills or how Augustine developed such intense independence.
Instead, King seems to focus more on the political aspects of Augustine’s life; filling page upon page with mundane political dribble. And just when the reader pulls out of this sleep-inducing page filler, they are immediately subjected to the trial of Chaz Higgs; which is nothing more than straight transcription from Court records.
Personally, I found this book to be a complete waste of time. Too much repetition combined with too little background and too much politics made for a long, boring read wherein I scanned numerous pages looking for something new and interesting.
I recommend reading this book only when there is nothing else available. Even then…keep looking.
