Customer Reviews

The Count and the Confession: A True Murder Mystery

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Murder mysteries, both fiction and non-fiction, are generally driven by one of three questions, or by some combination thereof : (1) Who done it?; (2) How'd they do it?; and/or (3) Why'd they do it? One of the things that makes John Taylor's The Count and the Confession so engaging is that the true-life crime at its core not only involves all three of these questions but, remarkably enough, a rarely asked fourth question : Was there even a murder? There's certainly a body. In 1992, Roger de la Burde--a thoroughgoing scoundrel, though he styled himself a Polish count--was found dead in his locked Powhatan County, Virginia house with a single gunshot wound to the head and the proverbial smoking gun in his hand. To all appearances it was a case of suicide, but eventually his lover of thirteen years, Beverly Monroe, would be convicted of his murder, a verdict aided greatly by Ms Monroe's own confession that she was present when the gun fired.

Over the course of the book, as Mr. Taylor walks back the cat on this case, two elements emerge as the keys to what may well have been a miscarriage of justice. First he explores the deplorable character of Roger de la Burde, who in addition to not actually being a count was also a serial womanizer--having left his wife for Ms Monroe and having impregnated another woman at the time of his death, among his many sexual exploits--and a dealer in bogus artworks. He was also mired in a lawsuit with his former employer, Phillip Morris, which seems to have been a groundless attempt to extort money from them. He was also extraordinarily manipulative. One of the of the highlights of the book is his will, which is a model of self-absorption, judgmentalism, and how not to treat your daughters. All of this makes him pretty entertaining to read about but it's surpassing hard to mind that he's dead, whether by his own hand or at that of another.

Meanwhile, Beverly Monroe captivates us because on the one hand she seems reasonably pulled together, well-educated, financially independent, seemingly a good mom. But on the other, she tolerated de la Burde's shenanigans, including knowing that he was trying to have a "male heir" by just about any woman who was willing, and she made that confession. And that's the second element that Mr. Taylor focuses on : why would beverly Monroe confess to being there when de la Burde died if she wasn't?

It is here that a sort of villain emerges, David Riley, chief investigator for the county. Riley determined to his own satisfaction that the position in which de la Burde was lying and the way he was holding the gun indicated not suicide but murder and he settled upon Beverly Monroe as the culprit. He then used a variety of techniques, from a lie detector test that he informed her she'd failed to commiserating about how badly de la Burde had treated her to threats about how the prosecution might portray her to an oft repeated, nearly hypnotic suggestion that, even if she didn't kill him, she must have been there when de la Burde died. When she accepted this last scenario and made it her own, it enabled the state to portray her as a murderess once they used forensic evidence to rule out suicide.

As Mr. Taylor shows though, and as her lawyers were able to show on appeal, it seems unlikely that she was in the room at the time and there is significant reason to doubt the evidence that the state purported to show that de la Burde did not fire the shot that killed him. In fact, Ms Monroe's appeal was eventually successful and she has been released from prison pending further appeal by the state. However, even if we accept that she did not kill de la Burde--and the author, though he does not slip into advocacy does make it hard for us to believe anything other than that it was a suicide--in the end, we come back to the central mysteries : the count and the confession.

Towards the end of the book Mr. Taylor recounts a moment where Beverly Monroe's original attorney, Murray Janus, is reflecting on the reasons he lost at trial :

After all these years, Janus still could not believe that Beverly had given those statements to Dave Riley. They were tantamount to a confession.
Why she did it was truly a mystery, second only to the mystery of how Roger de la Burde had died.

That this moment comes so late in the proceedings and that even then we join in Janus's wonderment at these two mysteries, suggests why Mr. Taylor's story works so well. For by then we kind of know the answer to two of those classic murder mystery questions. We know why someone would have killed de la Burde and we know how it might have been done (a jury bought it anyway). But we still don't know who killed Roger de la Burde and we really have to doubt that anyone did. It seems a simple case of suicide gone horribly wrong in the hands of an overzealous investigator. And Beverly Monroe seems to have been, as she was so often and maddeningly during his life, a victim of de la Burde's misbehavior and her own malleability. But if her continual acquiescence in that misbehavior makes her somewhat unsympathetic early on in the tale--just as it makes him wholly unsympathetic--then the grace with which she handles the conviction and the determination with which she and even more so her daughter, Katie, fight the appeal serve to redeem her. Even if you're ambivalent about her at first, as I have to admit I was, you'll be rooting for Beverly Monroe by the end.

GRADE : A-

It's not difficult to know who really killed the subject early on, but to quote a sentence in the book, "It also said the courts were a crapshoot." This true crime story is a good one. An individual who critiqued this story stated there was too much detail. I thought the detail was necessary as the story progressed; it was essential! Beverly Monroe, a PhD, an accused and convicted murderer, has a story of great interest. On the State's side you have the motivation to find the guilty person and the details of dastardly deeds, and on the Defense side, you have the myriad of motions and just plain work to try to prove innocence. What a spider's web this story becomes. A fine read worth 5 stars.

Did southern lady, mild-mannered and genteel Beverly Monroe, murder her lover, wealthy art collector and scientist Roger De la Burde? John Taylor's account leaves the question open. In fact, you are given a website when you can register your own verdict on the matter.

Long-time journalist Taylor has given us a workmanship write-up of this intriguing case. Beverly is characterized in depth, as is De la Burde, and his pregnant Polish mistress, and even Beverly's two daughters and son. One idea he expresses will leap out at you: How much has feminism really accomplished, how deep has been the impact of women's liberation, when two highly educated and accomplished women still become obsessed over a man?

I just finished reading this book and am urging my friends to read it fast so I can discuss it with them without ruining it for them!

This is a true crime mystery told with meticulous attention to detail. It is totally engrosssing, and even a little unsettling, as it presents a scenario in which one can see that it IS really possible for an innocent person to be suspected of a crime. (But then again....IS she innocent???!!!) In any case, this is a woman who, in most respects, is just like the nicest lady in any neighborhood.

Throughout most of the book, I was torn between what I felt and how the evidence was stacking up in my mind. The strength of the book, I felt, was that it portrayed each character with such authenticity. From the victim to the overzealous investigator, from the children of the suspect to each attorney involved in the case...this is a mystery that hinges on personalities, and I thought the writer did a very thorough and even-handed job with his presentation of each one.

Most of all, however, and of greatest concern is the irrefutable "story" that exists in records and transcripts of this case from the investigation through the most recent appeal. It is so disturbing to see what weighty consequences can hinge on the personal foibles of those in our justice system. This particularly struck me, as I am also a very nice lady, just like Beverly Monroe, who has a natural respect and trust in that system.

I do have better taste in boyfriends, however!

Great book...wonderful grist for the debate mill! I can't wait for my friends to read it!

i loved this book. from the first page i was literally drawn into the most compelling story...the writer's descriptions of thing make you feel as if you are right there.

i read everything "true crime" that i can get my hands on and this is the best to come along in a LONG time...

FABULOUS!

I started this book two days ago and I find it hard to tear myself away from it...although I have not yet finished this book, I felt the need to write a review because no other reviews had yet been written and I wanted to share the wonderful news: this is a good one, folks! It is a well-laid-out and neutrally written true mystery. If this is the sort of book you enjoy, don't pass it up. I am fairly certain that you will find yourself totally engrossed after the first few pages.

I have never read a mystery after a few that were too obvious and cheesy.
The Count and the Confession is an exception! Aside from the fact that this is an ongoing trial, a true crime, John Taylor's excellent skills make you think that you're in the courtroom.
Throughout the book, you will be thinking, "Is Beverly guilty? Or innocent?"
I predict that this will be made into a movie!

This is not a typical true crime book, and I say that as someone who loves the genre. Where the true crime greats are interested in what creates a murderer and the circumstances that lead to murder, John Taylor in interested in what leads to a confession. A confession that may or may not be accurate.

Certainly there is ample empiric data to support the notion that innocent people do confess to crimes they didn't commit. But if the question "can it happen" can be answered, that doesn't mean that we are much closer to knowing entirely why these false confessions occur or even which confessions are false. Taylor contends that Beverly Monroe falsely confessed to the murder of Roger de la Burde. Did she? Was Burde murdered or did he commit suicided? You won't have solid answers to these questions at the end of the book but you will likely have a queasy feeling about police tactics in getting confessions.

So why only 2 stars? In the end, I felt that Taylor left a lot of good material on the ground. Roger de la Burde was a fascinating if loathsome character yet I never got the feeling that Taylor gave me a well-rounded picture of him. Taylor is similarly too easy on Beverly Monroe. On the one hand she's such a people pleaser she'll confess to a crime she didn't commit but she's had multiple adulterous affairs? What's up with that? What were her feelings about Roger's wife? The old "they'd grown apart" just seems a little too pat. Ultimately Taylor is clearly more interested in the police tactics and the meaning of "reasonable doubt" than in the case itself. Which is a pity, because de la Burde's pretensions and antics are quite a commentary on what passes for "success" in modern day America.

An highly entertaing read with more twists and turns than most novelists can deliver.

A skilled true crime writer can take the mundane and make it interesting through dramatic writing. But this is a case of a naturally fascinating crime (or was it a crime?) and subsequent court proceedings.

Fascinating charachters and a very interesting story.

I was looking for nonfiction written like a novel, and found it in this book. The tightly woven story and the bizarre cast of characters kept my attention drawn throughout. As a criminal defense attorney myself, I found the author's grasp of the law and proceedings excellent. Although I am a fan of mystery novels and generally like my books to have nice, neat endings, I thought the unresolved ambiguities made this book far more interesting. I've been recommending it to just about everyone I know!