Sex Guide Author Tries Hand At True Crime
Review by Kim Cantrell
Susan Crain Bakos takes a break from her how-to sex guides to detail the crimes of dentist Glennon Engleman of St. Louis, Missouri South Side fame in her 1989 book titled Appointment for Murder.
Engleman is known to have killed at least seven people for the sole purpose of collecting a portion of insurance policy payouts; with the exception of Sophie Barrera, a lab technician who had, just prior to her death, filed a civil suit against Engleman in an attempt to collect lab fees incurred by his dental practice.
The first 175 pages of this 384 page book were interesting; the remaining pages, not so much.
If you can wade through the sexual escapades of Engleman (which serve no other purpose than to turn a true crime book into a trashy dime store romance novel), there is an interesting story of a man who could kill without conscience and was able to get by with it for over two decades.
Most interestly, Engleman seemed to have some psychological hold over others, whom he involved in his murderous plots.
Can I recommend Appointment for Murder? No. If you want to know the story of Dr. Glennon Engleman, save yourself the time and energy by reading the Wikipedia article; a condensed, smut-free version of this book that tells you everything you need to know about it.
Updates on this case: Dr. Glennon Engleman died of natural causes in 1999 while still incarcerated. Barbara Gusewell Boyle, a co-conspirator of Engleman, was released from the Illinois Department of Corrections on October 9, 2009.
