Sunday Synopsis

 

Alice & Gerald: A Homicidal Love Story by Ron Franscell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First, let me say this was a well-written book. In that way, it was good. In looking at the events of the book, not so. Alice and Gerald are two of the most disgusting humans to walk the Earth.

From the beginning, the reader knows what happened to Virginia Udin and her two young sons, Richard and Reagan, ages 12 and 10 respectively. They were shot by Virginia's ex-husband and the father of the boys, Gerald. The reason why? Gerald and his current spouse, Alice, didn't want to have to pay child support. In fact, Alice resented Gerald's former family so much she refused to let Virginia step on her property to drop the boys off for a visit.

In addition to these 3 victims, Virginia's mother Claire was a victim. She lived out the rest of her life not knowing what happened to her daughter and grandsons and having a small hope that at least the boys would turn up.

Alice did not have a problem with Gerald's method of removing the problem. In fact, she had previously killed one of her husband's, maybe two of them. Her own children went to the police, but the police could never prove it. Just like with Gerald, the police knew, but they had no bodies, so scene, and no evidence.

What is so disgusting is that Alice and Gerald lived free and clear for the next forty years. Forty! Until a tenacious police officer finally found the body of Alice's poisoned, dead husband right where they knew he was going to be. This led to Gerald's confession of his crimes. But for 40 years, they lived free and clear, even moving out of state far from the long arm of the law.

Franscell does a masterful job of relating the details and ins and outs of this complicated story creating suspense in spite of knowing the eventual outcome. It was well worth the read.

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