
Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder
And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 12)
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Narrated by:
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Laural Merlington
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By:
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Ann Rule
About this listen
Real-life murder. Real-life mystery. In some murder cases, the truth behind the most tragic of crimes crystallizes with relative ease. Not so with these fascinating accounts drawn from the personal files of Ann Rule, America's #1 best-selling true-crime writer. What happens when the case itself becomes an intractable puzzle, when clues are shrouded in smoke and mirrors, and when criminals skillfully evade law enforcement in a maddening cat-and-mouse chase? Even the most devoted true-crime listener won't predict the outcome of these truly baffling cases until the conclusions revealed in Ann Rule's marvelously insightful narrative. An ideal family is targeted for death by the least likely enemy, who plotted their demise from behind bars... A modest preacher's wife confesses to shooting her husband after an argument - but there's more to her shattering story than meets the eye. These and other true cases are analyzed with stunning clarity in a collection you won't be able to stop listening to.
©2008 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
A ship's pilot legendary for guiding mammoth freighters through the narrows of Puget Sound, Rolf Neslund was a proud Norwegian, a ladies' man, and a beloved resident of Washington State's idyllic Lopez Island. Virtually indestructible even into his golden years, he made electrifying headlines more than once: after a ship he was helming crashed into the soaring West Seattle Bridge, causing millions in damages; and following his inexplicable disappearance at age 80. Was he a suicide, a man broken by one costly misstep? Had he run off with a lifelong love? Or did a trail of gruesome evidence lead to the home Rolf shared with his wife, Ruth?
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Finally...worth it!
- By Luv lots on 09-04-13
By: Ann Rule
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Green River, Running Red
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 19 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In the most extraordinary journey Ann Rule has ever undertaken, America's master of true crime has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who murdered more than 49 young women. Green River, Running Red is a harrowing account of a modern monster, a killer who walked among us undetected. It is also the story of his quarry -- of who these young women were and who they might have become.
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Suspenseful and chilling
- By 9S on 07-02-11
By: Ann Rule
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But I Trusted You and Other True Cases
- Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 14
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The most fatal mistake? Trust. It's the foundation of any enduring relationship between friends, lovers, spouses, and families. But when trust is placed in those who are not what they seem, the results can be deadly. Ann Rule, who famously chronicled her own shocking experience of unknowingly befriending a sociopath in The Stranger Beside Me, offers a riveting, all-new collection from her true-crime files, with the lethally shattered bonds of trust at the core of each blood-soaked account.
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more than just a little creepy.
- By Melody Russ on 12-09-16
By: Ann Rule
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The End of the Dream: The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up and Other True Cases
- Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 5
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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They were best friends, four talented and charismatic young men who lived charmed lives among the evergreens of Washington state: Kevin, the artist; Steve, the sculptor; Scott, the nature lover and unabashed ladies' man; and Mark, the musician and poet. With their stunning good looks, whip-sharp minds, athletic bodies - and no lack of women who adored them - none of them seemed slated for disaster. But few knew the reality behind the leafy screen that surrounded Seven Cedars, Scott's woodland dream home....
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BORING for Ann Rule
- By SJ hiker on 06-24-14
By: Ann Rule
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Bitter Harvest
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In this harrowing New York Times best seller, Ann Rule is at her masterful best as she winnows horrific truths from the ashes of what seemed like paradise in Prairie Village, Kansas. Rule probes the case of Debora Green, a doctor and a loving mother who seemed to epitomize the dreams of the American heartland. A small-town girl with a genius IQ, she achieved an enviable life. But when a raging fire destroyed that home and took two lives, the trail of clues led investigators to a stunning conclusion.
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Quite possibly The the best Ann Rule book
- By Rodell on 08-10-20
By: Ann Rule
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Heart Full of Lies
- A True Story of Desire and Death
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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An idyllic Hawaiian wedding held the promise of a wonderful future for handsome, athletic Chris Northon, an airline pilot, a confirmed bachelor-turned-devoted family man; and Liysa, an acclaimed surf photographer, loving mother, and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter. But few, including Chris, had seen Liysa's other side - her controlling behavior and dark moods, her insatiable hunger for money and property. And no one anticipated the fatal outcome of a family camping trip in an Oregon forest.
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Liysa Northon- It’s not a lie if you believe it
- By M. Thompson on 01-06-21
By: Ann Rule
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You Belong to Me
- And Other True Cases: Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 2
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A former Seattle policewoman, Ann Rule has extensive experience of violent crime and brings this knowledge to bear in this collection of fascinating case studies. You Belong to Me focuses on one of Florida's most shocking criminals - Tim Harris, the poster-perfect 'All-American' State Trooper who hid bizarre and fatal fantasies behind his badge of authority.
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ANOTHER OVER-LONG, MEANDERING MIX
- By The Louligan on 12-14-13
By: Ann Rule
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A Rose for Her Grave - and Other True Cases
- Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 1
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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"A Rose for Her Grave" - the principal story of this collection - vividly recreates the cautionary tale of Randy Roth, a misogynistic sociopath from the Pacific Northwest whose rage was directed primarily at women and children. Addicted to his own greed, Roth exercised a powerful aura of control over his victims, using his ability to charm and boyish good looks to lower their defenses. By the time they saw the reality of the madness in his eyes, it was usually too late.
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I Think I Need A Break for Awhile
- By Susie Q on 09-30-17
By: Ann Rule
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And Never Let Her Go
- Thomas Capano: The Deadly Seducer
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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On June 27, 1996, 30-year-old Anne Marie Fahey, who was the scheduling secretary for the governor of Delaware, had dinner with a man she had been having a secret affair with for over two years. "Tommy" Capano, 47, was perhaps the most politically powerful man in Wilmington. Son of a wealthy contractor, former state prosecutor, partner in a prestigious law firm, advisor to governors and mayors, Tom had a soft-spoken, considerate manner, endearing him to many. But sometime after 9:15 that night when Anne Marie and Tom left a Philadelphia restaurant, something terrible happened to her.
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Don't give up!!
- By Lane Hobby on 04-01-21
By: Ann Rule
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Empty Promises
- And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 7)
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Expertly analyzing a shocking, headline-making case, Rule unmasks the deadly motives inside a seemingly idyllic marriage: a beautiful young wife, a rising star in America's top-ranked computer corporation, and a prosperous husband, the scion of a family building business.
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A Good Read
- By Mimi on 07-24-16
By: Ann Rule
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In the Name of Love
- And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 4)
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Jerry Harris was a self-made California millionaire who, at age forty-four, had it all: booming businesses, yachts, a mansion, a beautiful wife, and a voice to rival Elvis. No one who knew this well-liked, generous man could make sense of his sudden disappearance one autumn night. On a final phone call to his brother from his Mercedes, Jerry breathed a muffled oath - then the line went dead. For Jerry's wife, Susan, it was just the beginning of an unwavering, eight-year search for the truth behind her husband's vanishing.
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Don't Buy Twice!
- By Laura on 06-16-13
By: Ann Rule
What listeners say about Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lena Robeen
- 09-17-22
Great book
this book is so good. I have now bought it twice. I didn't remember already listening to it, and got it again but it was worth it.
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- Gordonv
- 11-10-23
Murder has its reasons
The stories were good but not great. The last one—-The Preachers Wife was the best!! I do like one case better.
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- Patti Chubbuck
- 04-04-24
Love these true life cases
Always detailed, great narrator. The mix of cases are well done. It’s great when there is a movie or documentary about one of the cases presented.
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- Timothy M
- 04-01-23
Solid collection of true crime
A bit too heavy on the prior life details, but that's just a personal opinion.
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- SLN
- 02-27-24
Couldn’t get past the narration.
I don’t like to call the reading of books “performance”. It is not a play. When this reader first began her narration, I thought she was pretty good. However, after a few times of her mispronouncing mature, it really started getting annoying. She would say it as if it ended in TORE like I tore my shirt, but in fact, the word ends with ure like, I sure am hungry. So she constantly said ma tore for mature throughout the end of the book. I was so annoyed that I was ready to throw the book out the window because for some reason this book used that word a lot. Also I did not care for her changing her voice. Every time she was reading some thing in quotation marks. She had one voice she used for every male and one voice for every female. Totally not necessary. Please just read the book.
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- yo
- 01-26-23
I wanted to love it but didn’t😌
I’ve read (or listened to) every Ann Rule book and this one falls short. None of the characters were very relatable or particularly interesting. The motive for murder was not compelling and in the end, I found myself barely caring about the verdict. Now that’s a sign of a bad narrative. It’s like watching a long football game, not really caring who wins because the teams are boring, the game is full of fumbles and it tends in a tie. And the announcer is just ho-hum.
This is not easy for me to say because I LOVE Ann Rule, she’s been my favorite true crime author for 40 years. But this one isn’t worth the read unless you’re in a long road trip.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Cyn
- 03-21-23
Lots of interesting stories
You get a nice mix of true crime from past years, so I had know about others I had not. Some really touched my heart, what they all have in commend is the true evil of the people who did them. The preachers widow I am not sure I am buying all that the widow saids, some yes but I think she did it so she wouldn't have to face him with what she has done. There are a lot of interesting stories here, it really was a book I didn't want to put down.
The narrator did a great job giving true emotions, you could hear it in her voice. Her character voices are very nice you always knew who was talking and what their feelings were. There are no background noise, no repeating of words, and no noise changes. It really was an emotional listen that I couldn't put down.
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- Julieann
- 05-18-15
Recommend
All ver riveting, interesting cases. Didn't think I would enjoy this book as much as I had the books that focused strictly upon one event however, I found this to be just as compelling. Although I cannot say that I "enjoy" listening to the events recalled within these pages, the information, people and events need to see the light of day. Listen, pray and take heart, because you just never know anyone as well as you assume, and you never truly know what hell the man or woman next door might be living through.
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6 people found this helpful
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- shane stark
- 10-25-17
Another great book and performance.
Ann Rule never dissapoints and Laurel Merlington always gives a great, consistent performance. Great Book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- lawson84
- 07-09-23
Always interesting
Ann Rule’s books are always very good and worth reading or listening to. Highly recommend.
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