A review by gabmc
American Mother: The True Story of a Troubled Family, Motherhood and the Cyanide Poisonings That Shook the World by Gregg Olsen, Gregg Olsen

2.0

This was an interesting story, made more shocking by the fact that the 'American Mother' killed a perfectly innocent woman while trying to kill her husband. However, it was far too long and detailed to make a riveting read. There seemed to be whole transcripts of conversations and court hearings - and a whole lot of characters introduced who never added to the story. The title was also over the top - 'the cyanide murders that shook the world'. I'd never heard of this case - I had heard of the Tylenol murders in 1982. Stella McNickell used the idea of the Tylenol murders to kill her husband for his life insurance policy. Her daughter, Cindy, turned her into the FBI. Tragically, Sue Snow was also killed by Stella in an effort to make the poisoning idea more real.