True crime readers will like the latest release from Lyn Riddle: First We’ll Kill My Husband. This book details the events leading up to the death of Doug Gissendaner: just a good old, hardworking Southern boy whose wife decided she’d rather have him dead than as an ex-husband.
Gissendaner’s wife, Kelly, had a penchant for infidelity. Not only once had he decided that he was ready to divorce Kelly, but all too often he returned “for the kids.” (Only one of those being his biological child and the youngest having been conceived during one of their seperations. However, Doug was notorious for loving all three children as if they were his own flesh and blood.) As a matter of fact, Doug had even discussed with his father plans to once again divorce Kelly just days before his murder.
Yet Kelly had a different plan. She wanted to keep the house the couple shared, so she convienced her boyfriend, Gregory Owen, to kill Doug. Of course, she couldn’t tell Greg the whole truth about why she wanted Doug dead (the house, a paltry life insurance) so she told him she feared Doug would never leave her alone.
What happened next was a vicious attack on Doug and an endless search for him by his friends and family for many days following. All the while, Kelly cried and carried on with her church friends; friends who, in the end, would be shocked by Kelly’s secrets and just how far she was willing to go to get her way.
Readers will come to grieve Doug Gissendaner and loathe his wife Kelly; all the while asking just how stupid someone like Gregory Owen could be.
This is a very well written, interesting true crime tale. I highly recommend First We’ll Kill My Husband to anyone who enjoys this genre!
