On November 6, 2000, paramedics answered a call to find Kristin Rossum, 24, sobbing. Her husband, Greg de Villers, wasn't breathing and she claimed he had overdosed on drugs after learning she was leaving him. But family and friends who knew of Greg's distaste for drugs weren't buying Kristin's story - particularly the idea that he would take his own life. The daughter of a well-to-do California family, Rossum was a brainy blonde beauty whose talent for toxicology had won her a post at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. But her sweet smile masked a dark side. She'd developed a taste for methamphetamine in high school, and six months after her marriage to Greg, she'd begun seeking secret trysts with other men. At the time of her husband's death, Rossum was engaged in an illicit affair with her married boss. Investigators found that the Medical Examiner's Office was missing supplies of meth and fentanyl, the narcotic that had killed her husband. With each clue discovered, another piece of Rossum's "good girl" facade fell away. What the world would eventually see was the true face of a murderer - and the hand of justice...
New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother, has written or co-authored eight books, including MY LIFE, DELETED (October 2011), POISONED LOVE (December 2011), NAKED ADDICTION (January 2012), DEAD RECKONING, DEADLY DEVOTION, BODY PARTS, TWISTED TRIANGLE and LOST GIRLS.
Her latest book, NYT bestseller MY LIFE, DELETED, is an inspirational memoir of former NFL player Scott Bolzan, who is rebuilding his life after suffering a brain injury and losing his entire long-term memory. She co-authored the book with Scott and his wife Joan. (HarperOne, October 2011)
Out in December 2011: The updated POISONED LOVE adds 20 pages of new developments in the Kristin Rossum case, in which the beautiful San Diego toxicologist was convicted of poisoning her husband with powerful narcotics she stole from her lab at the county Medical Examiner's Office, then staging a suicide scene by sprinkling red rose petals over her husband's body.
Then in January 2012: In her debut thriller, NAKED ADDICTION, a lethal confluence of sex, drugs and the murder of young beauty school entrepreneurs hits the wealthy beach community of La Jolla. Undercover narcotics detective Ken Goode confronts his own demons during a homicide investigation that brings him into contact with a drug ring and an escort service while he tangles with a seductive witness and worries that his missing sister will be the next murder victim.
Rother's next true crime book will be LOST GIRLS, a behind the scenes account of the rape and murder of teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois by sexual predator John Gardner (July 2012).
Before writing books full-time, Rother worked for nearly 20 years as an investigative reporter for daily newspapers, covering issues ranging from addiction, suicide, mental illness and murder to politics and corruption at City Hall and in Congress. She now writes books full-time, teaches writing and works as an editorial consultant/book doctor.
Most recently a Pulitzer-nominated staff writer for The San Diego Union-Tribune, Rother also has been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and The Daily Beast. Her many media appearances as a crime expert include "Women Who Kill" on E!, the "Snapped" series on the Oxygen Network, five shows on Investigation Discovery, and "On the Record" with Greta Van Susteren on FOX News.
Rother, who earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from University of California Berkeley and her master's in journalism from Northwestern University, teaches narrative non-fiction, creative writing, advanced feature writing and interviewing at UCSD Extension. She founded San Diego Writing Women and its blog. Check it out at sandiegowritingwomen.blogspot.com.
