The Stranger She Loved: Dr. Martin MacNeill, His Beautiful Wife, and an Almost Perfect Murder

by Shanna Hogan

Overview

Martin MacNeill-a doctor, lawyer, and Mormon bishop-discovered his wife of thirty years dead in the bathtub of their home in Pleasant Grove, Utah, her face bearing the scars of a face-lift he'd persuaded her to have the week before. At first sight, the death of fifty-year-old Michele MacNeill, a formel model and mother of eight, appeared natural. But days after the funeral, when Dr. MacNeill moved his much-younger mistress into the family home, his children grew suspicious...

A DECEPTIVE HUSBAND WHO WOULD KILL TO HAVE HIS WAY...
Soon the MacNeill daughters conducted their own investigation into their mother's death-only to uncover their father's multiple marital affairs, past criminal record, and falsified college transcripts he used to con his way into medical school. It would take six long years to solve the mystery of Michele MacNeill's death and secure a first-degree murder conviction. This is the shocking story about how one family unmasked a monster in their very own home-and lived to tell.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250080387
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/02/2016
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	378,902
Product dimensions:	4.20(w) x 6.70(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

SHANNA HOGAN is a journalist and New York Times bestselling author of two previous true-crime books. She has written for numerous publications for nearly a decade and has received more than twenty awards for her feature writing and investigative reporting. Shanna was named Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Press Club in 2010 and again in 2011 by the Arizona Newspaper Association. She has appeared on The View, Dateline, 20/20, CNN, HLN, Fox News, Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen, and Investigation Discovery. Shanna lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband, Matt LaRussa, and their three dogs.

Editorial Reviews

Picture Perfect is almost perfect. . . . It isn't often that a true crime book reads like a Patricia Highsmith novel, with shades of Ruth Rendell passing across the pages as the story of lives converge toward what the reader knows is a horrifying conclusion. . . . Hogan has established herself as a skilled writer of suspense, whose future books are likely to just keep getting better.” —Janice Harper, Huffington Post

“A riveting read that paints a vivid picture of this unfortunate couple who illustrate so clearly what happens when an obsessive relationship goes horribly awry.” —Bookreporter.com

“With its detailed research, front row narrative, and no-fluff presentation, Shanna Hogan turned a book into an addiction. . . . Picture Perfect is one of the best true crime books of 2013. Don't be the only one who hasn't read it!” —True Crime Zone

From the Publisher

02/15/2015
In April 2007, Michele MacNeill, a much-beloved mother of eight, is found dead in her bathtub. The scene is grisly. Michele, who appears to have drowned after an overdose, was recovering from a face-lift and the sutures are broken and bleeding. Her husband, Dr. Martin MacNeill, seemingly attempts CPR but to no avail: Michele is pronounced dead at the hospital. Weeks later, MacNeill brings his eldest daughter to the Mormon temple so he can pray for someone to help him with the younger daughters. A woman in white appears—presumably an answer from above. In truth, he's seen her many times before: it's his mistress. When MacNeill shamelessly moves her into the family home days later, his already-suspicious daughters and Michele's family launch a dogged, well-publicized fight to bring the man to justice. The writing is histrionic at times and the portrayal of MacNeill is clearly subjective; he is universally despised by virtually everyone in the book, including the author. This makes it difficult to understand why Michele loved him—or why anyone would, really—regardless of the book's title. VERDICT Despite the issues mentioned, Hogan weaves a cohesive and engaging account, and her narrative chronology makes this a compelling read. MacNeill's bizarre and narcissistic behavior, his extensive criminal history (including identity theft and sexual assault), and a wide array of sources give the author a substantial amount of information to navigate, but she charters the waters with efficiency.—Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia, PA

Library Journal