Coming shortly
Kathleen McKenna Hewtson originally dismissed the idea that Nichol Kessinger had any significant involvement in the deaths of Shan'ann, Bella, Cece and Nico Watts in her 2021 book 'Blood & Marriage' as being part of the general misogyny that surrounded the case, while many persistent True Crime sleuths have continued to insist that Ms. Kessinger's behavior and that of the investigators remained highly suspicious.
And guess what ... those sleuths really had, and have, a point - a spectacularly long list of points, as it happens, when you really get into the reeds of this part of the investigation, or conspicuous lack thereof.
So, Kathleen's new book will conduct a rigorous investigation into the evidence against Nichol Kessinger as being at least a co-conspirator in the murders of Chris Watts' family, and possibly a prime instigator, while also addressing the murder by Jodi Arias of Travis Alexander and revisiting the Casey Anthony case, whose absurdities she detailed originally with great wit in her book 'Look at Me!' rated 4.8/5 on Amazon.
And the link between these cases? Good time, fun girls who turned out not to be so much fun after all - the girls of summer.
The first part of 'The Girls of Summer' will cover exclusively Nichol Kessinger and her antics, and be published by July 17, 2025 - on the tenth anniversary of Cece Watts' birth, as requested by Kelly Smith of the 'Watts the Obsession' True Crime YouTube channel.
The full three-part book will be published in the fall of 2025.
And guess what ... those sleuths really had, and have, a point - a spectacularly long list of points, as it happens, when you really get into the reeds of this part of the investigation, or conspicuous lack thereof.
So, Kathleen's new book will conduct a rigorous investigation into the evidence against Nichol Kessinger as being at least a co-conspirator in the murders of Chris Watts' family, and possibly a prime instigator, while also addressing the murder by Jodi Arias of Travis Alexander and revisiting the Casey Anthony case, whose absurdities she detailed originally with great wit in her book 'Look at Me!' rated 4.8/5 on Amazon.
And the link between these cases? Good time, fun girls who turned out not to be so much fun after all - the girls of summer.
The first part of 'The Girls of Summer' will cover exclusively Nichol Kessinger and her antics, and be published by July 17, 2025 - on the tenth anniversary of Cece Watts' birth, as requested by Kelly Smith of the 'Watts the Obsession' True Crime YouTube channel.
The full three-part book will be published in the fall of 2025.
'Dream House'
Published June 23, 2024
This is the story of the strange death and sad marriage of Eric Richins.
On the night of March 3-4, 2022, a young woman in Utah, Kouri Richins, called 911 saying, “my husband is cold.”
So began the mystery of Eric Richins.
The autopsy showed he died from a massive overdose of Fentanyl. His family and friends say he did not use drugs, and his beautiful young widow at first agreed. Then she was arrested for his murder, and her story changed.
Eric and Kouri were a young, healthy, wealthy couple, who had it all: beautiful children, a big house, plenty of money, and an “almost perfect marriage.”
Or did they? Because when there is an unexpected death, every secret thing comes to light. Infidelity, hidden trusts, stolen money and missing love.
But did she kill him?
'Dream House' on Kindle - Click here
'Dream House' in paperback - Click here
On the night of March 3-4, 2022, a young woman in Utah, Kouri Richins, called 911 saying, “my husband is cold.”
So began the mystery of Eric Richins.
The autopsy showed he died from a massive overdose of Fentanyl. His family and friends say he did not use drugs, and his beautiful young widow at first agreed. Then she was arrested for his murder, and her story changed.
Eric and Kouri were a young, healthy, wealthy couple, who had it all: beautiful children, a big house, plenty of money, and an “almost perfect marriage.”
Or did they? Because when there is an unexpected death, every secret thing comes to light. Infidelity, hidden trusts, stolen money and missing love.
But did she kill him?
'Dream House' on Kindle - Click here
'Dream House' in paperback - Click here
Next projects:
'Lost and All Alone'
The next book up will depend on when the Kouri Richins trial takes place, because, in all likelihood, Kathleen will write a second book to follow 'Dream House' after the trial.
Which is not to say that she is abandoning work on 'Lost and All Alone,' her examination of the Gabby Petito case, because she believes there will be a few surprises there, too. It is just a question of which book gets written first.
Which is not to say that she is abandoning work on 'Lost and All Alone,' her examination of the Gabby Petito case, because she believes there will be a few surprises there, too. It is just a question of which book gets written first.
'The Willet's House'
When Leeann Worthier agreed to marry the wealthy George Willets, she never dreamed that she would end up living in a house she had feared her whole life, the horror mansion where her brother had died.
And as she would soon discover, her worst fears were about to be realized.
'The Willets House' on Kindle - click here
'The Willets House' in paperback - click here
And as she would soon discover, her worst fears were about to be realized.
'The Willets House' on Kindle - click here
'The Willets House' in paperback - click here
Yet more from Murdaugh ...
'Murdaugh, She Wrote' updated after trial end ...
Kathleen's book 'Murdaugh, She Wrote' was published before the 2023 trial of Alex Murdaugh for the murder of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, because she had already discovered, via insider sources, most of what had happened that rainy night of Monday, June 7, 2021, on the Murdaugh Moselle estate in South Carolina.
But while the original version of the book covers most of the ground that has emerged during the trial itself (phew!), a substantial amount of extra detail, or 'color,' has become available (such as the verbatim police interviews and the OnStar data from Alex's car, and thus a complete timeline for the fatal events) over the last few weeks ... And then there has been the riveting spectacle of Alex Murdaugh himself being cross-examined after he made the astonishing decision to take the stand in person - a high-wire act without a safety net if ever there was one.
Now the post-trial addition to the book is available on Amazon - and it has turned out to be rather longer than the original book, but that is a six-week trial for you!
'Murdaugh, She Wrote: After the Trial' on Kindle - click here
'Murdaugh, She Wrote: After the Trial' in paperback - click here
But while the original version of the book covers most of the ground that has emerged during the trial itself (phew!), a substantial amount of extra detail, or 'color,' has become available (such as the verbatim police interviews and the OnStar data from Alex's car, and thus a complete timeline for the fatal events) over the last few weeks ... And then there has been the riveting spectacle of Alex Murdaugh himself being cross-examined after he made the astonishing decision to take the stand in person - a high-wire act without a safety net if ever there was one.
Now the post-trial addition to the book is available on Amazon - and it has turned out to be rather longer than the original book, but that is a six-week trial for you!
'Murdaugh, She Wrote: After the Trial' on Kindle - click here
'Murdaugh, She Wrote: After the Trial' in paperback - click here
This is a story of murder and money and power gone wrong.
In June of 2021, following two brutal homicides in a prominent family, the rest of the world learned what people in a small Southern town called Hampton had long known …
… Anything is possible if your last name is Murdaugh.
‘Murdaugh, She Wrote’ is a Southern gothic tale of one family and the people who served them. It’s an account, or better to say an accounting, of five murders that took place in a tiny area of the Lowcountry, South Carolina, and which left a long blood trail that led always back to one family.
There are patriarchs, and a mad young man, and victims aplenty. Some are dead, some are ruined for life, but them’s the breaks in the Kingdom of Murdaugh,
Come on down, there are tales to be told.
Buy the Kindle version - here
Buy the paperback version - here
In June of 2021, following two brutal homicides in a prominent family, the rest of the world learned what people in a small Southern town called Hampton had long known …
… Anything is possible if your last name is Murdaugh.
‘Murdaugh, She Wrote’ is a Southern gothic tale of one family and the people who served them. It’s an account, or better to say an accounting, of five murders that took place in a tiny area of the Lowcountry, South Carolina, and which left a long blood trail that led always back to one family.
There are patriarchs, and a mad young man, and victims aplenty. Some are dead, some are ruined for life, but them’s the breaks in the Kingdom of Murdaugh,
Come on down, there are tales to be told.
Buy the Kindle version - here
Buy the paperback version - here
In August of 2018, in a wealthy Denver suburb, a shocked and horrified nation learned that Christopher Lee Watts had murdered his pregnant wife, their two little girls and their unborn son.
But shock was soon replaced by puzzlement. Why?
And the surprising answer is that a standard Anadarko Petroleum employee policy led, unintentionally of course, to the murders.
By early 2018, the Watts family finances were beyond dire again after a recent shattering bankruptcy, then Chris Watts’ employer, Anardarko Petroleum, offered him a life insurance policy on the lives of his wife, Shan’ann, and his very young daughters, Bella and CeCe, for a total of $450,000.
Wouldn’t that get him out of a spot?
After that, Shan’ann’s days were numbered, preferably via a perceived oxycontin overdose.
Well, Chris Watts tried that twice and failed. Then he decided to go for the jackpot. Shan’ann would ‘murder’ the girls, and would then disappear. Nobody was going to find her body in the Cervi 19 oil storage tanks. He would collect on the girls immediately and then get the rest when Shan’ann was legally declared dead.
It was an excellent plan, to be carried out by a complete moron.
On the night of Sunday August 12, 2018, two things went catastrophically wrong, leaving Chris Watts to dispose of three bodies, not one, and facing a nail-biting time crunch.
Then a friend of Shan’ann’s called in the cops on the morning of Monday August 13, and it was game over.
But, for some, that’s when the party started.
Also featured in the book will be American lawyer superstar Anne Bremner, who, after thirty years in private practice, has never lost a case as lead counsel, and, as an international awarding-winning super lawyer, is a regular commentator on True Crime TV shows. Anne's role will be to point out how ol' Pennywise could potentially challenge his own confessions in an appeal to overthrow his plea deal, anticipating what Chris Watts' own lawyers will be arguing later in the year. That Chris Watts may still bound free is a sobering, but all-too-possible, thought.
Buy the Kindle version - here
Buy the paperback - here
But shock was soon replaced by puzzlement. Why?
And the surprising answer is that a standard Anadarko Petroleum employee policy led, unintentionally of course, to the murders.
By early 2018, the Watts family finances were beyond dire again after a recent shattering bankruptcy, then Chris Watts’ employer, Anardarko Petroleum, offered him a life insurance policy on the lives of his wife, Shan’ann, and his very young daughters, Bella and CeCe, for a total of $450,000.
Wouldn’t that get him out of a spot?
After that, Shan’ann’s days were numbered, preferably via a perceived oxycontin overdose.
Well, Chris Watts tried that twice and failed. Then he decided to go for the jackpot. Shan’ann would ‘murder’ the girls, and would then disappear. Nobody was going to find her body in the Cervi 19 oil storage tanks. He would collect on the girls immediately and then get the rest when Shan’ann was legally declared dead.
It was an excellent plan, to be carried out by a complete moron.
On the night of Sunday August 12, 2018, two things went catastrophically wrong, leaving Chris Watts to dispose of three bodies, not one, and facing a nail-biting time crunch.
Then a friend of Shan’ann’s called in the cops on the morning of Monday August 13, and it was game over.
But, for some, that’s when the party started.
Also featured in the book will be American lawyer superstar Anne Bremner, who, after thirty years in private practice, has never lost a case as lead counsel, and, as an international awarding-winning super lawyer, is a regular commentator on True Crime TV shows. Anne's role will be to point out how ol' Pennywise could potentially challenge his own confessions in an appeal to overthrow his plea deal, anticipating what Chris Watts' own lawyers will be arguing later in the year. That Chris Watts may still bound free is a sobering, but all-too-possible, thought.
Buy the Kindle version - here
Buy the paperback - here
Anne Bremner and Kathleen McKenna Hewtson
