If You Really Loved Me: A True Story of Desire and Murder

by Ann Rule

Overview

There was only one way to please her father: Murder his wife....

David Brown was the consummate entrepreneur: a computer wizard and millionaire by age thirty-two. When his beautiful young wife was shot to death as she slept, Brown's fourteen-year-old daughter, Cinnamon, confessed to killing her stepmother. The California courts sentenced her harshly: twenty-four years to life. But in the wake of Cinnamon's murder conviction, thanks in part to two determined lawmen, the twisted private world of David Brown himself unfolded with astonishing clarity — revealing a trail of perverse love, twisted secrets, and evil mind games. A complex and often dangerous investigation suggested a horrifying scenario: Was the seemingly bland David Brown really a stone-cold killer who convinced his own daughter to prove her love by killing for him? A man who turned young women into his own personal slaves, who collected nearly $1 million in insurance money, and married his dead wife's teenage sister, David Brown was a sociopath who would stop at nothing...a deadly charmer who almost got away with everything.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780671769208
Publisher:	Pocket Books
Publication date:	04/01/1992
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	49,522
Product dimensions:	4.19(w) x 6.75(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Ann Rule is the author of thirty New York Times bestsellers, all of them still in print. Her first bestseller was The Stranger Beside Me, about her personal relationship to infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. A former Seattle police officer, she knows the crime scene firsthand. For more than two decades, she has been a powerful advocate for victims of violent crime. She lives near Seattle. Visit her at AuthorAnnRule.com.

Hometown:

Seattle, Washington

Date of Birth:

October 22, 1935

Place of Birth:

Lowell, Michigan

Education:

Creative Writing Program, University of Washington

Editorial Reviews

"A story of crime and punishment...bizarre enough to rivet anyone's attention."
— The New York Times Book Review

"Bone chilling. A truly staggering case."
— The Washington Post

From the Publisher

Rule, who scored a great success with Small Sacrifices , has triumphed again with this story of a millionaire computer expert seen as archetypal sociopath. In 1985 Southern Californian David Brown arranged, with the connivance of his 17-year-old sister-in-law, Patti, to have his daughter by his first marriage, 14-year-old Cinnamon, shoot and kill his 23-year-old wife, Linda. Apprehended, Cinnamon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a 27-year term, keeping silent about the roles of her father, aged 32, and Patti in the murder. Eventually, however, she did implicate the pair, now-married, and they were arrested. From his jail cell Brown plotted the murders of Patti, the investigator and prosecutor on the case, but the convicts he enlisted to carry out his scheme betrayed him, bringing further charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Patti was placed in the custody of the California Youth Authority. In this vivid account, a monster to whom every other human being was a ``throwaway person'' is masterfully potrayed. Photos not seen by PW. 150,000 first printing; $125,000 ad/promo; author tour. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Best-selling true crime author Rule ( Small Sacrifices , NAL, 1987) tells the story of computer businessman David Brown, a ``complete sociopath'' who manipulated his 14-year-old daughter, Cinnamon, into murdering his 23-year-old wife in Orange County, California in 1985. Brown collected some $800,000 in insurance money and married his wife's 17-year-old sister while Cinnamon went to the reformatory. Despite her ``confession,'' prosecuting investigator Jay Newell felt uneasy about Cinnamon's alleged vague and trivial motives. He continued to pursue the case and in 1990 Brown was convicted of masterminding his wife's murder. This lengthy account is generally engrossing, and it is recommended for public libraries.-- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis

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