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Mommy Deadliest
Case Featured On 20/20
Anti-Freeze For A Husband
It looked like a suicide. A man's corpse on the bathroom floor--next to a half-empty glass of anti-freeze. But fingerprints on the glass belonged to the deceased's wife, Stacey Castor. And a turkey baster in the garbage had police wondering if she force-fed the toxic fluid down her husband's throat.
Pills For A Daughter
In desperation, Stacey concocted a devious plan. She mixed a deadly cocktail of vodka and pills, then served it to her twenty-year-old daughter Ashley. The authorities would find Ashley with a suicide note, confessing to the anti-freeze murder. But Stacey's plan backfired--because Ashley refused to die. . .
A Killer For A Mother
Charged with murdering her second husband--and attempting to kill her oldest daughter--Stacey Castor sparked a media frenzy. But when police dug up her first husband's grave--and found anti-freeze in his body, too--this New York housewife earned a nickname that would follow her all the way to prison. They called her "The Black Widow." And with good reason.
Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos
Anti-Freeze For A Husband
It looked like a suicide. A man's corpse on the bathroom floor--next to a half-empty glass of anti-freeze. But fingerprints on the glass belonged to the deceased's wife, Stacey Castor. And a turkey baster in the garbage had police wondering if she force-fed the toxic fluid down her husband's throat.
Pills For A Daughter
In desperation, Stacey concocted a devious plan. She mixed a deadly cocktail of vodka and pills, then served it to her twenty-year-old daughter Ashley. The authorities would find Ashley with a suicide note, confessing to the anti-freeze murder. But Stacey's plan backfired--because Ashley refused to die. . .
A Killer For A Mother
Charged with murdering her second husband--and attempting to kill her oldest daughter--Stacey Castor sparked a media frenzy. But when police dug up her first husband's grave--and found anti-freeze in his body, too--this New York housewife earned a nickname that would follow her all the way to prison. They called her "The Black Widow." And with good reason.
Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos
415 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
360 people are currently reading
568 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 30, 2012
There were times the author repeated himself. Times when the story droned on very slowly and painfully. The story itself interested me, but This book was not one that I could not put down. At times the story seemed scattered, like he wasn't sure where to put certain information. Just not one of my favorites.
February 2, 2017
Definitely not the best but I did find the story so interesting and the writing was good. I think the biggest flaw was the repetition. To me it looked like he had no other information and had to sometimes go on interviews by others.
That being said I did enjoy this book a lot. The story was so fascinating, I could not help being absorbed by it.
Wow what a story, what a family. This book is probably best if you do not know much beforehand so I will write the rest of my review and put it in a spoiler tag.
Pictures are taken from http://murderpedia.org/
3.5 stars
That being said I did enjoy this book a lot. The story was so fascinating, I could not help being absorbed by it.
Wow what a story, what a family. This book is probably best if you do not know much beforehand so I will write the rest of my review and put it in a spoiler tag.
Pictures are taken from http://murderpedia.org/
3.5 stars
June 15, 2025
Way too short for such detailed crimes. Not enough details about other characters and their lives and interactive.
The book was also jumbled and all over the place.
For me, very sloppily done.
Good if you could find other sources about this woman and her crimes instead.
The book was also jumbled and all over the place.
For me, very sloppily done.
Good if you could find other sources about this woman and her crimes instead.
July 2, 2012
After reading a memoir about Vietnam, I needed something light and fluffy. Anything that has the potential to be (or already is) a decent Lifetime Movie was perfect.
I tried Ann Rule's Every Breath You Take, but I was too irritated by it. I am guessing since the victim was a woman who was terrorized by her ex-husband. I was not in the mood. So I tossed it and picked this up, since the woman is the victimizer and not the victim (hey it's women's lib in true crime!)
I saw an episode of Snapped that featured this true crime story, so nothing was really that shocking.
It was a quick read. I spent most of the book shaking my head at how sloppy this woman was. Not the brightest criminal I had ever seen on paper.
I do like true crime, it's a guilty pleasure. I've exhausted all the Nook books that are available that look somewhat interesting... so will see what Amazon has to offer. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open.
I tried Ann Rule's Every Breath You Take, but I was too irritated by it. I am guessing since the victim was a woman who was terrorized by her ex-husband. I was not in the mood. So I tossed it and picked this up, since the woman is the victimizer and not the victim (hey it's women's lib in true crime!)
I saw an episode of Snapped that featured this true crime story, so nothing was really that shocking.
It was a quick read. I spent most of the book shaking my head at how sloppy this woman was. Not the brightest criminal I had ever seen on paper.
I do like true crime, it's a guilty pleasure. I've exhausted all the Nook books that are available that look somewhat interesting... so will see what Amazon has to offer. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open.
August 19, 2015
Good true crime read
October 9, 2018
Ah, the most common type of true crime book: a lurid cover, bad wordplay in the title, and overwrought writing. This is a perfect example of the Pop Tarts of true crime writing: not great, not nourishing for the soul, but so much fun to consume and doesn’t leave you with a terribly bad aftertaste. (It may be very wrong to use a food metaphor in a book about a poisoner. Oh well!)
I’d seen a Dateline on this case, but this gave a lot more information. A woman poisons her husband (with antifreeze, ew!) and is really stupid about it, to be honest. Benson is good at pointing out the errors in the crime scene that she made, as well as the others - like telling police she called home multiple times to check on her husband when her cell phone records show otherwise. I won’t tell you the others, because spoilers, but they will make you groan and shake your head.
But that wasn’t enough for her! No, when she feels the cops closing in, she attempts murder on her oldest daughter. The oldest and the deceased - her stepfather - had a strained relationship, so Mommy decides to kill her daughter and blame the murder of her husband on the teenager. She made a fake suicide note and made her daughter drink alcohol with a lot of drugs in it. Luckily, the younger daughter found her sister in time to save her sister’s life. At this point, police decide they need to exhume the murderer’s first husband’s body - he supposedly had a heart attack, but they suspect that she might have killed him too.
I cannot imagine the coldness needed to murder someone, much less the brutality to try to kill your kid so she’d take the fall for you! And the sensationalism of the crimes is amplified by the breathlessness of Benson’s writing. If you like Ann Rule, this is right up your alley. Four of five stars for comfort food factor, three of five if that’s not your thing.
I’d seen a Dateline on this case, but this gave a lot more information. A woman poisons her husband (with antifreeze, ew!) and is really stupid about it, to be honest. Benson is good at pointing out the errors in the crime scene that she made, as well as the others - like telling police she called home multiple times to check on her husband when her cell phone records show otherwise. I won’t tell you the others, because spoilers, but they will make you groan and shake your head.
But that wasn’t enough for her! No, when she feels the cops closing in, she attempts murder on her oldest daughter. The oldest and the deceased - her stepfather - had a strained relationship, so Mommy decides to kill her daughter and blame the murder of her husband on the teenager. She made a fake suicide note and made her daughter drink alcohol with a lot of drugs in it. Luckily, the younger daughter found her sister in time to save her sister’s life. At this point, police decide they need to exhume the murderer’s first husband’s body - he supposedly had a heart attack, but they suspect that she might have killed him too.
I cannot imagine the coldness needed to murder someone, much less the brutality to try to kill your kid so she’d take the fall for you! And the sensationalism of the crimes is amplified by the breathlessness of Benson’s writing. If you like Ann Rule, this is right up your alley. Four of five stars for comfort food factor, three of five if that’s not your thing.
February 26, 2021
Detailed and very interesting.
August 19, 2020
This is a true-crime story about the crimes of Stacy Castor. Stacy was married to Michael Wallace, with whom she had two daughters, Bree and Ashley. Michael died of what was deemed a heart attack when his oldest daughter was 12. Stacy eventually remarried to David Castor and apparently they had some disagreements. After one such disagreement, David was found dead in their bed of an apparent suicide, or was it poisoning? Only Stacy knows for certain and she's not telling. In fact, her older daughter also suffered from a similar suicide or poisoning at about the same time.
This was a pretty good book. I had seen the case presented before on a TV special, either Forensic Files or 20/20 so I was familiar with the major aspects of the case. It was interesting getting to know all of the little bits and pieces that go into a successful trial. But all the same, I felt like the author devoted way too much time to the trial; some parts of it were just so repetitious that I just started skimming my way through it. The author went over all of the bits of evidence and what made them worthy evidence. It almost reads as a "how to not commit murder" book because if you are a true-crime aficionado like me, you may end up cringing at all of the errors she made. If you truly want an update you can google Stacy Castor and find out what happened to her. I won't say here so as not to spoil anything. I seem to recall hearing something on the TV special about a "secret" bond between Bree and her mother but there was no mention of that in this book and now I wonder if I am confusing it with another case. Anyway, a good read.
This was a pretty good book. I had seen the case presented before on a TV special, either Forensic Files or 20/20 so I was familiar with the major aspects of the case. It was interesting getting to know all of the little bits and pieces that go into a successful trial. But all the same, I felt like the author devoted way too much time to the trial; some parts of it were just so repetitious that I just started skimming my way through it. The author went over all of the bits of evidence and what made them worthy evidence. It almost reads as a "how to not commit murder" book because if you are a true-crime aficionado like me, you may end up cringing at all of the errors she made. If you truly want an update you can google Stacy Castor and find out what happened to her. I won't say here so as not to spoil anything. I seem to recall hearing something on the TV special about a "secret" bond between Bree and her mother but there was no mention of that in this book and now I wonder if I am confusing it with another case. Anyway, a good read.
February 3, 2017
True Crime Gold.
Very good book for the reader of true crime Well written and a real page Turner.. Karma is a bi!#=ch. Found out that Stacey Castro passed away in prison from a heart attack last year.
Very good book for the reader of true crime Well written and a real page Turner.. Karma is a bi!#=ch. Found out that Stacey Castro passed away in prison from a heart attack last year.
May 21, 2016
Short on character histories and in-depth details. Lots of descriptions, though, of clothes and hairstyles. I didn't feel as if I'd gotten to know the "players" in this tragedy very well
July 11, 2017
Jenell M. Dancy and Goodrsds
Interesting book on how a cold blooded killer almost got away with it. Just goes to show time does not pay.
Interesting book on how a cold blooded killer almost got away with it. Just goes to show time does not pay.
August 2, 2023
I'm giving this account full stars mostly for the length of the trial content and its background. The writing itself is rather peculiar in that before the trial begins, it is in the vernacular including some barely acceptable writing. And when the trial does begin, there is a strangely upgraded professional language style that lend authority to the pages. It's as though more than one person is writing the book. Or is the author using common terms as a tool, when he is in the neighbourhood in which the events occur and when the court is in session, he changes it from folksy to formal? The crime scene descriptions are very repetitive for no particular reason. Perhaps the book needs a good editing for clarity. It could be reduced to half of the verbiage. The same scenes are told so many times over that they become monotonous since nothing new is added. What I did enjoy was the back and forth at the trial itself. It was hard to fathom what each side was attempting to bring out at times, or what the final outcome could possibly be. That kept me on the edge of my seat. The pictures were a bonus. Without giving away the verdict, I found it a book that I did want to slug through to its end.
October 8, 2023
Michael Benson is an okay writer and Mommy Deadliest is an okay true crime account. He doesn’t “take sides,” but does a good job of presenting relevant facts and letting the reader decide what they add up to. In my opinion the defect in his book is his choice of murderers; this one was remarkably stupid and it’s amazing that she got away with it for as long as she did. But even a dumb perpetrator can serve as a smart lesson. I keep a list* of things you should not do before (and after) murdering a spouse; the protagonist in Mommy Deadliest provided me with an additional entry: if you absolutely must murder a second one, do not use the same method even if it appeared to have worked well the first time.
True crime fans should like the book but general readers might find it slow-moving.
* As a teaser, in case I someday figure out a way to monetize it, I’ll reveal the first admonition on each:
Do not have had an affair within recent memory.
Do not cut up the body afterwards.
Take my word (based on having read hundreds of true crime books) for it - these are things that will make people will take against you.
True crime fans should like the book but general readers might find it slow-moving.
* As a teaser, in case I someday figure out a way to monetize it, I’ll reveal the first admonition on each:
Do not have had an affair within recent memory.
Do not cut up the body afterwards.
Take my word (based on having read hundreds of true crime books) for it - these are things that will make people will take against you.
May 13, 2024
It's just okay
I have read quite a few true crime stories so I know what intrigues me as a reader. Unfortunately this book did not pull me into the story being told like others have. I'm not sure if Michael Benson is a former law enforcement officer but some of the details drawn out throughout the book were excessively involving law enforcement. Little details were shared about the daughters, both of whom were also victims of their mother. One segment bothered me since I didn't understand the need for it? During the trial section of the book, The author described in great detail one particular witness for the prosecution. There were several other witnesses during the trial but none of them were described with such exacting information. Why single out this one witness? The subject matter is interesting though and worth the read.
I have read quite a few true crime stories so I know what intrigues me as a reader. Unfortunately this book did not pull me into the story being told like others have. I'm not sure if Michael Benson is a former law enforcement officer but some of the details drawn out throughout the book were excessively involving law enforcement. Little details were shared about the daughters, both of whom were also victims of their mother. One segment bothered me since I didn't understand the need for it? During the trial section of the book, The author described in great detail one particular witness for the prosecution. There were several other witnesses during the trial but none of them were described with such exacting information. Why single out this one witness? The subject matter is interesting though and worth the read.
July 23, 2024
Like most of the true crime books I read, I thought it was a bit slow in the beginning. I of course was hooked by the time I finished the book.
So much I can say about this book, but honestly I'm not surprised by any of it at all. I feel like I saw the 20/20 special that was the topic of this book.
I think the person that caused all of these deaths and potential deaths got exactly what they deserved.
So much I can say about this book, but honestly I'm not surprised by any of it at all. I feel like I saw the 20/20 special that was the topic of this book.
I think the person that caused all of these deaths and potential deaths got exactly what they deserved.
August 24, 2023
I've given this book a 3 because the actual event made it interesting. But the book droned on and on and it took a long time for me to finish it. It was actually really boring for the most part but the beginning was interesting enough to make me keep reading, perhaps in the hope that it would get better. It did not.
August 24, 2023
Great
Loved it Author did a great job writing of this book. I like to say MS Janice don't feel guilty about David if you wouldn't have left you wouldn't be around to raise David Jr. Stacy was evil from the day she was born , She Saw David as an easy target, she's a serial Killer.
Loved it Author did a great job writing of this book. I like to say MS Janice don't feel guilty about David if you wouldn't have left you wouldn't be around to raise David Jr. Stacy was evil from the day she was born , She Saw David as an easy target, she's a serial Killer.
December 20, 2023
Blood isn't always a true bond
This was a good read as far as true crime novels go. There were times it tended to be a bit wordy for me and lost my attention though. It was a good storyline. It never fails to surprise me at how foul and disgusting the human mind can be. We all have the survival instinct but where does one draw the line.
This was a good read as far as true crime novels go. There were times it tended to be a bit wordy for me and lost my attention though. It was a good storyline. It never fails to surprise me at how foul and disgusting the human mind can be. We all have the survival instinct but where does one draw the line.
January 25, 2019
Very well written
account of a monster who posed as human. There really are bogeymen, we should remind our children, but they pose as mothers and in other cases as fathers, friends, etc. We tend to look for the good in people but should always be careful who we marry or befriend.
account of a monster who posed as human. There really are bogeymen, we should remind our children, but they pose as mothers and in other cases as fathers, friends, etc. We tend to look for the good in people but should always be careful who we marry or befriend.
December 3, 2023
Excellent Read
This was well written and interesting. This is the first book I've read by this author and I'm impressed. He kept me interested from beginning to end. I'm going to look for more of his books.
This was well written and interesting. This is the first book I've read by this author and I'm impressed. He kept me interested from beginning to end. I'm going to look for more of his books.
June 20, 2018
Well written without the annoying grammatical errors which spoil so many books these days. I did enjoy the book however it could have been a lot shorter.
August 13, 2021
Very long winded. Too much stuff we don't want to read.
November 11, 2014
i was so excited about this book. It was pretty good. I prefer a book that cuts to the quick, though. This one dragged on through jury selection and the entire trial. I have to admit, I skipped more than a few pages due to the droning on of lawyers and evidence, etc. I would rather it have been less court oriented.
February 21, 2013
WOW what a good book! There were so many facts that I read the first half slowly because I didn't want to miss anything.
Once the trial started I didn't want to put the book down!
No doubt that Stacey is guilty and how could she possibly have considered trying to kill her own daughter.
Once the trial started I didn't want to put the book down!
No doubt that Stacey is guilty and how could she possibly have considered trying to kill her own daughter.
April 9, 2012
Great book. Hard to put down. Almost felt like a part of the courtroom during the time Fitzpatrick was questioning Stacey Castor.
February 10, 2012
finished in 2days hard to put down.
July 4, 2012
Another one that leaves it open at the end, although I do think that Ashley is innocent.
October 7, 2012
A great book about a terrible person. Hard to put down for sure!
March 2, 2015
Too straightforward, with zero mystery.
January 24, 2016
I've heard of black widows, but can't understand why someone would do such a thing to her own daughter. The woman is too stuck on herself to feel anything for anyone else.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews