Social Studies from Texas Monthly

February 15, 2018

This collection of essays originally published in Texas Monthly begins with "The Cheerleader Murder Plot" by Mimi Swartz. This was the famous case in which the mom of a cheerleader tried to hire an assassin to kill the daughter's rivals: a mother and a cheerleader. Skip Hollandsworth's "The Last Ride of Cowboy Bob" is the tale of a woman who dressed up as a bearded cowboy when robbing banks. "A Kiss Before Dying" by Pamela Colloff begins as a ghost story in Odessa about a haunted high school auditorium and then reveals the truth behind that ghost story: the shocking incident of a depressed high school girl who convinces a fellow student to help her commit suicide with a shotgun. "The Talented Mr. Khater" by Francesca Mari is about a Texas woman assaulted by a con artist in Chile. "Just Desserts" is a classic tale of an accountant at a famous fruitcake bakery who embezzles money so he can live the high life, if only for a few years. In order, narrators Pam Dougherty, Bruce DuBose, Staci Snell and Karissa Vacker (together), Mallorie Rodak, and Lydia Mackay convey these pieces perfectly. VERDICT Any fans of true crime and the Lone Star State will find this collection enchanting.--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

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