Love Lies: A True Story of Marriage and Murder in the Suburbs

by Amanda Lamb

A suburban housewife’s picture-perfect life is shattered in this riveting true crime book from the author of Evil Next Door.   When Nancy Cooper moved from Canada to Cary, North Carolina, with her new husband Brad, their future was bright. Living in one of the most picturesque towns in the United States, the couple mingled with neighbors, attended parties, and raised two daughters.   Then, on July 14, 2008, the façade came crashing down when Nancy’s strangled body was found in a storm pond.   Nancy’s husband claimed she had gone for a jog and never came back. But as the police investigation deepened, a complex web of affairs and lies involving multiple residents of Cary’s idyllic neighborhoods was uncovered, and Brad was brought to trial for the murder of his wife. At the heart of it stood the Coopers’ soured marriage, Nancy’s threat to leave with the children, and her own cold-blooded murder. It would take a mountain of damning evidence before justice was served.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Mystery, Audiobook, Contemporary, Epic

454 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 6, 2011

About the author

In addition to being an author, Amanda Lamb is an accomplished public speaker, podcaster and veteran television crime reporter. She worked for an award-winning NBC affiliate in the southeast for nearly three decades. She also hosted, co-wrote, and co-produced three true crime podcasts including "Follow the Truth," "What Remains," and "The Killing Month August 1978." "Follow the Truth" won the regional Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in journalism. Currently, she hosts and produces "AGELESS: Opening Doors with Amanda Lamb" which is about women transforming themselves personally and professionally after fifty. This is the focus of her keynote speech about not allowing age to define your value and your potential. She shares her wisdom and inspiration with audiences across the country.

Amanda's newest thriller, Whispers on the Mountain, is due out in September 2025. It features a dogged newspaper reporter who arrives at a mountain resort only to learn there is a missing hiker. She can't ignore the tug of the compelling mystery swirling around her in the beautiful but dangerous North Carolina mountains. Amanda hopes this will be the first installment in a new murder mystery series.

Amanda has published twelve books in dramatically different genres from murder mysteries, to true crime books, to touching and humorous memoirs, to children's books. From murder cases to motherhood, Amanda examines life through the lens of a curious journalist who is constantly observing and documenting everything in her path with deep interest, insight, and compassion.

She has written a murder mystery series about a tenacious television journalist seeking truth and justice all while juggling her own intriguing backstory. These novels from Torchflame Books include "Dead Last," "Lies that Bind," and "No Wake Zone."

As a journalist, Amanda can only report about ten percent of what she knows, but her novels peel back the veil of the news industry and give readers an intimate peek into the world of journalism through the eyes of a crime beat reporter. While the people and stories in her books are fictional, they are all loosely based on real-life scenarios Amanda has encountered in her more than three decades in the trenches.

Amanda has also penned three true crime books which include "Love Lies," the saga of a young mother who disappeared after her husband said she went jogging and never returned home. In a desperate search for the truth her friends and family circle the wagons demanding answers-answers that ultimately expose a grim tragedy in the small, idyllic southern town. "Evil Next Door" features the story of a brutal rape and murder case Amanda covered as a news reporter. The victim, a young woman who was just beginning to live into her potential, was stalked and killed by a suspected serial killer who left copious amounts of DNA in his path, but little else for investigators to go on. They play a dangerous of game of cat and mouse with the police trying to lure the killer into their trap. "Deadly Dose" is a true crime story about a young up-and-coming scientist who was poisoned by someone in his inner circle. A dogged, old-school investigator refuses to give up in his relentless pursuit of the truth, a truth far more gruesome than anyone could have imagined.

Amanda's memoirs include "The Living Room" which chronicles her 80-day journey caring for her mother who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. In the midst of tragedy, Amanda learns how to live from her dying mother. The darkness is tinged with light as her mother's departure becomes a celebration of a life and an inspiration to those around her.

Amanda's parenting memoirs include "I Love You to God and Back" which chronicles her young daughter's prayers giving the reader a glimpse into the way adults see the world through a child's eyes. There is also a companion child's book of the same title. "Girls Gone Child" chronicles Amanda's daughters' sometimes outrag

Reviews

[Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ist book I’ve read by this author and I’m not impressed. Poorly written, boring & from what I’ve read on-line not well researched at all. I also found it very biased, almost the entire book is based on interviews with friends of the victim; only a couple of token interviews with anyone sympathetic to the accused. Why, was this too difficult to arrange, or simply not worth the effort?
Brad was sentenced to life in prison based on motive (she was leaving him) and all circumstantial evidence, they got him over claiming that he googled the area where her body was dumped, yet there was no associated cookie on his computer. I didn’t buy the accusations of mental abuse either. Reading between the lines all Brad was guilty of was trying to curtail her spending habits, being a socially inept workaholic, and not doing the dishes when she was off on vacation.
A lot of people believe he was railroaded, I’m one of them. Go ahead and read it, but please be objective - do a little research as well. There is legitimate criticism on his sentencing.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 1 out of 5]

A young Canadian couple relocates to North Carolina and starts a family; one day the wife turns up missing and the husband is arrested for murder after her body is found. This book is admirably sympathetic to the victim and her family (to the point of being completely one-sided, some might argue), but it is long-winded and almost painfully repetitive. For example: both parties were unfaithful during the marriage, and the husband's affair with a particular neighbor (while having no bearing on the murder) is mentioned over fifty (!) times.

[Adriana Kincaid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this is a true story and I have all the empathy for Nancy Cooper’s family and friends but to write a book about this case was a little too much. It was very repetitive, legit repeating the same situations over and over again no less than five times.

Save yourself the time and just read a news article about it

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

When this trial was going on in Raleigh I was OBSESSED with it. I even wrote about how I was going through withdrawals from it. So I just had to read this book even though I had heard before that it was totally biased.

After reading the book, I can see why Amanda Lamb was biased. She ran in the same circles as Nancy (had seen her around everywhere she hung out), their kids were similar in age, and they even lived in the same neighborhood I think. So I am sure when this happened she thought "Wow, could this happen to me?"

The book is totally biased, doesn't tell as much info as if you would have listened to the whole trial, and basically assumed Brad did it from the beginning. I think there was one small chapter on Brad's defense. I kind of hate that I wasted my time reading it, but for some reason I was obsessed with that story, so anything to feed that obsession is something I will consume. I am still waiting for the Lifetime movie!

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up--this was an above average true crime book about a wife & mother who was brutally murdered in North Carolina. I went in knowing very little--in fact didn't know it was a murder story (but I could guess), and I went along for the ride.

Lamb is a talented journalist--she balances vivid narration with facts/information, including fairly presenting both "sides"--though it's pretty clear where we all land, and the book doesn't victim blame (unlike some of the supporters of the accused murderer). In fact, this comes down strongly and clearly on the side of abused partners and victims of domestic abuse. It's a thorough portrait of a strong, vibrant woman coming under the thumb of emotional and financial abuse--never physical, until, well. I cared a LOT about the "characters" (real people of course) in this book, and was pretty devastated by some of the "twists and turns." I hope Nancy's family are doing well, and are able to find peace/happiness!

My only quibble was toward the end, during the trial: in the interest of being thorough the book is a bit repetitive, as testimony on the stand repeats facts/timeline information already delivered several times earlier. Not horrifically bad, but I did get to that section and felt a slight drag.

Highly recommend if you're interested in true crime/domestic suspense nonfiction with a lot of compassion and heart, but that doesn't skimp in the narrative details or objective facts. The book is now especially chilling given the husband has been released from prison. He's out there, just living his life! Womp.

[P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming. First don't be fooled into thinking this is a police procedural. Lamb is no Ann Rule...not even close. The author starts out telling about the disappearance and murder of a woman in Cary, NC, at the point of divorcing her husband. Then you hear it from each of those friends. Then she covers the funeral where she gives the blow by blow of every person that got up and spoke. Then the story is rehashed in court via a custody battle. Then it's seen through the eyes of family members by way of their mere speculation as to what happened as if that was evidentiary. Then it's rehashed in the criminal court where every single person's testimony is given. Then it is summarized ALL OVER AGAIN in the final summaries of both the defense and prosecutors. If you are bored by all the 'thens' in my summary, that is how reading this book was for me!
The actual focus of the police work and investigation is only revealed in court through testimony. In other words, it's like reading a Lifetime movie about a guy killing his wife. I could tell you by the end of the book what everyone thought because the whole book is so much hearsay. By the end I was just paging through trying to get to the final verdict.

[Dina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This literally happened 3 blocks away so it was fascinating to finally know all the details. I loved the first part up to the trial but then it was a little repetitive - mainly because it had to be since she retold what happened at the trial. Liked this one mainly because I was so curious about what had happened.

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books I’ve read lately. It was just an extremely long summary of a domestic violence case bookended by the author’s tangential connection to the victim. This is like a textbook example of how writing about true crime can be problematic

[gloria j post · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save your money!

I am a true crime kinky and I am usually inclined to blame the husband. That being said, I found this author to be extremely prejudiced. I could not recommend this book to anyone.

[Danny Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been on a true crime kick, and I hoped to really enjoy this book. It's a rather ordinary crime--a wife and mother (low-risk crime victim) "disappears" while she and her husband are planning to divorce. A no-brainer. Still, these stories can be fulfilling and intriguing for fans of the genre when they are well-written.

Don't get me wrong, the author writes well, but the problem with how she wrote this story is the repetitiveness. At one point late in the book, she references a final witness to the case having to go over a storyline that has been told so many times that the prosecutor tried to spare the jurors from the painfulness of redundancy. However, the author didn't spare her readers. She told the same story over and over and over again. She has every word from the dozens of witnesses detailed first in press conferences, then through depositions, then a civil hearing, then during the trial, and she even makes you read these same accounts again in the end.

I'm not sure if she was trying to fill the book since there isn't a lot to the story, but that isn't how you do it. I found myself scanning pages until I could find new material.

It's really not a well-told story. Sorry.

[Allison D · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book caught my attention as we recently moved nearby where this case took place. I however found this book very biased and boring especially in comparison to accounts and articles I've read via google research. It's very repetitive.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very biased. Meh.

[Julie Young Buckler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plea Bargains

This book was detailed, organized and well written. The narrative had a constant and engaging flow. Even though this story is utterly frustrating, the writing kept me constantly engaged.

Apparently, a plea deal in this case is as close to an admission as anyone is going to get.

[Julia B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

The beginning of this book, with the outline of the case and the events leading up to the murder (as well as the reactions of the communities it affected), was interesting enough. However, once you reach the halfway point, almost everything is repeated over and over. I understand the reader has to keep up with the details, but I'm almost certain there's a more effective and succinct way to order this. I think that the account of the witnesses on trial was almost totally unnecessary because they just repeated what we had already been told. I must have read that the twin sister was "a haunting reminder" of Nancy like, 8 times, and that "the Coopers' marriage could not recover after Brad's affair with Letour" what felt like 100 times.

The actual intriguing part of the case, the lack of physical evidence, was drowned out by all these unnecessary repeating facts about how bad the marriage was. I understand, whether Brad Cooper murdered his wife or not, he sounds like a Grade-A shitbag. And the book poised itself as if it was going to focus on the aspects of emotional and financial abuse that led up to Nancy's eventual murder, and I don't think it did this successfully. It was just sort of brought up a couple times. And even then, I found the way it was brought up peculiarly insensitive: that people have to focus more on upper-middle-class victims of domestic abuse because they would be "too embarrassed to admit" they were being abused, as if working-class victims are any more likely to report it, or that their experience is less important because it's to be expected. I just didn't like the tone with which it was discussed, and I also don't think it did enough to really bring awareness to domestic abuse of this nature. It really did focus on the murder and the conviction, so I didn't understand what exactly the purpose of the book was. As another reviewer said, a lengthy article would have sufficed. At a point it just felt like Lamb was trying to fill pages.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read some of the reviews/comments before purchasing this book. I didn’t find it any more repetitive than any of the other true crime novels I have read before it. I think that the repetitiveness comes from the different witnesses accounts of the same event or events discussed in the trial. I didn’t know anything about this case. It does seem as if Brad Cooper killed his wife, Nancy. Evidence is circumstantial. The fact that he got a retrial and bargained his children for a lesser sentence speaks volume. At least Nancy’s family doesn’t have to deal with him anymore more, relive her death, and the children are well taken care of.

[Rose Daugherty-rudd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but insanely repetitive

This actual real life case was intriguing, but this book basically just repeated itself over and over. Most of it seemed like regurgitated court reports. At one point the author says that those following the trial thought they’d heard enough already, and to move on..... I felt similarly for the last half of my reading.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book and thought it was well written and narrated. Like the author’s other true crime book, I felt that this one got repetitive. There were many conversations and court testimonies that kept repeating the same information. Still, the book is worth reading and I feel so bad for the kids, family members and friends impacted by this horrible murder.

[Michelle Fryzuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a devastating story but the book just wouldn’t end - felt like I was wading through mud to get it done.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm astonished that this has an overall 4 star rating because i scrolled through the reviews and the majority agree with my opinion: this book was boring, repetitive, and extremely biased. This is one of those books that didn't really have enough of a story to fill a whole book. I listened to the audiobook and finally upped the speed to 2.25x just to get through it.
It was VERY repetitive, there was never any question as to who did it - the author majorly failed to create any type of suspense, it was just a bit boring. Also it irritates me to no end when true crime writers vilify being socially awkward. Yes the guy ended up being a murderer, but him not having great conversational skills was in no way an indicator of that! Not at all on his side, but don't demonize neurodivergence 🤷‍♀️

[Cheyenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was repetitive and play-by-play of the trial drew on with things that the reader had already been presented with. Interviews in the book were one sided and stacked against Brad from the beginning.

However, it serves as an important reminder that domestic violence is not always physical. Emotional and financial abuse can lead to a lethal end. Really made me reflect on my own relationships and the relationships of my loved ones.

[Emily Ashlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be the weirdest reading review from me because I not only found this at Liberty Book Company but I read it within the past hour (I gotten up a few times and scrolled on tiktok) at liberty!

[PattyM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good a writer as she is a tv journalist, Amanda Lamb covered the tragic domestic violence case with both professionalism and heart. The book was as compelling to read as the original news coverage was at the time.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly sad story. This true story allowed me to understand that sometimes we don’t really know what a person is capable of when angry. Thankful the two daughters had their mother’s family to take care of them.

[Debbie McMickin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting case but the book is so much longer than it needs to be. So many things are repeated over and over and over again. Save your time and just Google it.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gut-wrenching cautionary tale....

The death of a young mother is always tragic. The murder of a young mother by the one man who should be protecting her is almost unthinkable. And yet a women is most likely to be killed by her husband and the father of her children. It happens so often that it has almost ceased to be shocking.

This book made a profound impression on me, partly because we had a young family friend in a very similar situation. Like Nancy Cooper, she was an attractive, athletic woman, glowing with health, enthusiasm, and friendliness. She also was a Canadian, living in the U.S., and married to an angry, controlling man who was unfaithful to her.

As I read Nancy's story, I couldn't help but think "What if?" It's hard to imagine someone you know being a murderer, but how many times have you heard neighbors and co-workers say, "I NEVER would have thought he could do such a thing!" That's the problem. We don't think it can happen until it does.

As I read about the Renz family (Nancy's parents, brother, and two sisters) I was reminded of my surprise at how naive my friend and her family seemed to be about abusive marriages. It was as if they were living generations ago, when people assumed that all marriages would last forever. That all husbands would protect and support their wives and children, because that's what good men do. That any marriage can be saved if the wife just worked a little harder at pleasing her husband.

Nancy Renz married Brad Cooper in a hurry because he had been offered an excellent job in North Carolina and she could only go with him if they were married. She didn't get a green card, so she couldn't work in the U.S. WHY didn't she insist on getting a green card and getting into the work force? Even after Brad's angry, controlling nature became apparent, she failed to insist on changes.

She complained to her family and let them know she was unhappy, but they urged her to stick with the marriage and make it work. Brad's controlling behavior was less of a red flag to them than it would to most people today. Again, why did Nancy (childless at that time) not get out while she could?

I think the key lies in her determination to have children. Her previous love affairs had been with older men who didn't want a second family. Raised in a close, loving family, she naturally longed to have her own children. Her identical twin learned that she could never have children and both sisters were heart-broken. At thirty, was she afraid that she would never find another man to father her children before time ran out for her?

Eventually, she gave birth to two little girls. As often happens, the responsibilities of being a father made Brad even more difficult to live with. With no way to work and two tiny children to look after, Nancy (once a successful business owner) was trapped by a financial dependence which she probably never thought possible. "I guess I always thought I'd marry someone like my Dad" she said.

But Garry Renz is a loving, generous husband and father - proud of and protective of his grown children and his grandchildren. Brad was the product of cold, critical parents. As often happens, he was attracted to Nancy's close, loving family, but then became resentful of it. And the success of the Renz family gave him a perfect excuse for dodging his financial responsibilites. "Your parents can take care of you and the girls." The idea of paying child support infuriated him even further.

Nancy lacked the experience to see the dangers of her situation and (apparently) had no one around to guide her. She should have gotten a green card immediately and established some financial independence. She should have gotten Canadian citizenship and Canadian passports for her children as soon as they were born. Once she felt threatened by her husband, she should have made plans to protect herself and her children and to get them out of danger.

Sadly, her family gave her terrible advice, based on their innocent belief that right always wins out. None of them realized that a woman trying to leave a marriage with an angry, controlling man is in great danger. Too late, they realized the vital importance of getting Brad's permission to take the children back to Canada where she would have family support and be eligible for government benefits and health care.

In the end, Nancy was gone and her family was forced to make the best bargain they could in exchange for safe-guarding her children and raising them in a loving, stable home. Not exactly a "happy ending."

I see that some reviewers have criticized this author for being biased and not telling "both sides." It's clear that the author (a young wife and mother herself living in Nancy's community) identified closely with Nancy. I think that personal identification is one of the strengths of the book, giving it more emotional force than many true crime stories.

Given Brad's nature - arrogant, angry, and self-absorbed - and his parents' similar attitudes, I doubt if anyone could penetrate the Coopers' defenses and get the material necessary to present Brad's side of the story. He continued to insist on his innocence, until legal necessity made him admit to the murder. He continued to blame Nancy for the failure of their marriage and to show little or no real interest in his children.

As the Renz family learned too late, not all abused wives have bruises. It IS possible for continued psychological abuse to turn a confident, intelligent woman into one who doubts her own ability to make decisions. Above all, a woman seeking to leave an abusive marriage needs to use her knowledge of her husband's nature to formulate an exit plan.

Organizations for abused women give excellent advice to help wives exit abusive marriages safely. But not all women turn to those organizations. Most turn to friends and family and we must be prepared to recognize danger and offer wise guidence and whatever help is needed. Truly, lives may depend on it.

These tragedies will continue until we approach marriage more sensibly. We ALL want "happily ever after" but happiness and even life itself depends on thinking about possibilities we would rather not consider. Young people should be taught to look for red flags and to ACT on them. To think honestly about the possibility of their marriage turning sour and their partner becoming a dangerous stranger. The old adage "Forewarned is forearmed" applies to marriage more than to any other aspect of life.

I admire the Renz family's determination to use Nancy's tragedy to warn other young woman (and their friends and families) to recognize abuse before it's too late. I like to think that this book has educated people about this "hidden" problem and made them better able to provide help to those they love.

[Ashley Hansgen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book took some time to get into. Overall, the story was very interesting. However, the author repeated many multiple accounts of the same stories and/or depositions over and over, which added to the unnecessary length of the book. This was the first of Amanda Lamb's books that I have read. It is apparent that the book was written by a journalist.

[Jenny Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent true crime offering from a debut author. It’s easy to read. It gives you deep insight into the victim, her family & the quaint North Carolina town where the murder happened. Another plus with this book is that it doesn’t cover a popular case. It offers a take on something we see way too often in true crime - domestic violence.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. According to Brad Cooper, Nancy Cooper’s husband, Nancy went out for a jog one morning and didn’t come back. The Cary, NC mother of two beautiful little girls was in the process of divorcing her husband. This was no secret. Nevertheless, Nancy, according to her associates and friends, didn’t seem depressed or sad. So what happened to her and why didn’t her husband report her missing when she didn’t return home from jogging? Nancy’s identical twin sister, Krista, believed something sinister happened, and her suspicions were aimed at Nancy’s husband, Brad. “What happened to Nancy?!” she pointedly asked him. But he denied any involvement in her disappearance. Krista never understood what her sister saw in Brad. They were so different. Nancy was vivacious and outgoing, and Brad is reserved and antisocial. So what really did happen to the beautiful young housewife?
I’ve always been fascinated by true crime stories. To me it’s like reading an episode of Investigation Discovery (I.D.). And while Love Lies drew me in initially I can’t say it kept me glued to its pages like some other true crime stories, particularly those written by one of my favorite true crime writers, Ann Rule. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think the structure of this story wasn’t as appealing. At times I felt like it pattered on and that I wasn’t getting anything of substance to keep me fully invested. Perhaps it was partly due to the characters. From what was revealed about them I had a bit of a hard time relating to them on some levels. I asked myself, based on the information that was relayed in the book, why the couple got married in the first place. They didn’t seem in the least bit compatible. And while the book had its moments, I also think it could have been shorter in length. The conclusion of the story left me feeling more curious about what really happened to Nancy than when I started the book. So ultimately I was left somewhat unfulfilled. I did feel sad that Nancy’s life was cut short.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I typically enjoy true crime - even if the writing isn't particularly strong. My qualms with this book did not stem from the actual writing nor researching of the subject matter but rather the order in which it was presented. This is your standard story - adored wife, daughter, sister, mother is killed by her abusive, scum of the Earth husband and the kids are left with a messy custody battle as the case against their father is being developed. It is a horribly tragic tale and there were actually many facets to this case (her Canadian citizenship, his abilities to alter phone records, lack of physical evidence etc) that made it stand out from similar stories. However, I think, the way in which the author chose to present the information made it seem dull and repetative. I felt like I was just being read an obituary of someone written by a person who did not know them. It was overly sentimental in the way in which her relationships were described with her family, friends etc. And yet the violence and abuse felt less pressing because it was repeated over and over in the narrative with little to know fanfare or focus. I think the author should have spent more time laying out the timeline and then gone back through and filled in the details. As it read I just did not feel the suspense and/or tension I typically do with this type book. I think the author researched very thoroughly to create this book and it felt as though she muddied that by pressing on points that had already been made clear. Overall, I knew nothing about this crime and now I do - however, I felt I could have cared more and gotten more out of it than I did.

[Imani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy. I wanted to like this more. I really did, because the writer clearly did a lot of research to be able to present this density of information. But the way the story was retold was excruciatingly dry.

This guy did this.
And then that guy did that.
And then this woman said this.
And then that woman said that.
And then this family came here.
And then that family went there.

She reported words and actions with metronomic consistency, but the result was a vague mass of barely connected data points.

Nancy Cooper sounded like a dynamic, smart, resilient, ambitious woman. I really wanted to understand her story better. How did she end up in a situation where she couldn't even buy a loaf of bread, without relying on an allowance from her husband? And for Brad to murder her like that - it would have been good to understand how he came to be the kind of person who commit such a brutal and shameless crime.

I don't believe in monsters. There's always a reason - even if it's a dumb one - that motivates people's choices. This book felt like it started at the 75% mark and, for me, the biggest questions are still unanswered.