Tacoma Weekly read review

Seattle Weekly review read review

Seattle Post Intelligencer read review

Trice Books Review Journal read review

“LaRosa, a journalist and TV producer who was won two Emmy Awards, does a fine job detailing the tragic chain of events that led to the 2003 murder of Crystal Brame at the hands of her estranged husband, David Brame, the chief of police of Tacoma, Wash., who immediately killed himself. That this murder-suicide came as a shock to the local citizens was a testament both to the timidity of the press and the mishandling of David Brame's growing instability and violence by city government, including fellow members of the police force. The essential sadness of the tale comes through in LaRosa's careful prose, though he leaves some important ambiguities unresolved, perhaps by necessity. Some readers might have preferred more of an emphasis on the local politics that contributed to the enabling of Chief Brame's domestic violence, but this is a solid summary of the depressing basics of the case.”—Publishers Weekly

"A searingly close look at the crime that shocked an entire state on a spring day in 2003. The motive for murder and suicide was as old as time—but the identity of those who died was unbelievable to those of us who lived in the Seattle-Tacoma area, as it soon was to all of America: A top cop and his beautiful wife. In this compelling book, La Rosa peels away dozens of layers in their chaotic lives, finally revealing the ultimate destruction of what appeared to be the perfect marriage.. This tragedy of major proportions is a must-read for true-crime fans, a finely documented book that shows as many sides of the case as a kaleidoscope. Does absolute power corrupt? You be the judge."
—Ann Rule, author of Worth More Dead and Green River, Running Red