Poisoned Love [Mass Market Paperback]

Caitlin Rother (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

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...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786017147
• ISBN-13: 978-0786017140
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > Criminology

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent True Crime from a Rookie Author, July 12, 2006

By 

Kim Cantrell "Soap Box Bandit" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poisoned Love (Mass Market Paperback)

Caitlin Rother, although no stranger to newspaper reporting, did an excellent job with this story as a first time true crime author. Readers will find indepth background coverage on the major players in this twisted tale of drug abuse, adultry and murder. I simply couldn't put it down!

This book is the story of Kristin Rossum, who is undoubtedly a spoiled, overindulged girl who has never grown into the maturity of womanhood. Her actions alone speak of someone who has never been taught that there are consequences for their actions. Being the only daughter of enabling parents, it isn't surprising that Kristin would kill her husband rather file for divorce (with monetary gain to be had) when he threatened to expose her relapse into her drug addiction and her affair with her boss, Michael Robertson.

But I do not believe that Kristin acted alone...just as Kristin was childlike in demeanor, so was Robertson. While to some he may have seemed experienced and intelligent, his need to continously seek the "new feeling" of "falling in love," shows his immaturity as well. It would not surprise me to learn that his sophmoric attitude wouldn't lead him to assist Kristin to kill her husband in the niave belief it wouldn't be found out and would live happily ever after....or at least, till the new wore off with Kristin and he went in search of "the feeling" again. In addition, Rossum and Robertson are both arrogant individuals; and most often times, it those who think so highly of themselves that take the hardest falls.

Overall, a must read for true crime fans. I'll look forward to this authors next true crime book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Love, Just Poison, August 22, 2005

By 

TawnTawn (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Poisoned Love (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is extremely well-written and gives a great deal more background info than John Glatt's book on the same subject. Kristin Rossum was a cute young lady who loved the meth more than anyone or anything. Like most druggies, she knew how to charm and manipulate to get her way. Unlike most druggies, she had rich parents to back her up at every turn. They refused to believe this could happen in their family, better to sweep it under the rug, get her married off and let her become someone else's headache for awhile. Poor Greg de Villiers, who hadn't had much experience with women, fell for Kristin right off the bat, and she took advantage of it, by stealing from him, his brother and his roommate to buy meth. Prior to meeting Greg, she had asked her current boyfriend to rescue her. He got them a hotel room, and while he took a shower, she cleaned out his wallet, and disappeared to Mexico, where she met Greg, her next victim. She later told this boyfriend that she'd been kidnapped and taken to Mexico, and driven around in the trunk of a car. She said she lied to him to spare his feelings.

When it was time to get married, Kristin repeatedly reminisces that "if only" her parents had listened to her concerns and stopped the wedding. However, she was a grown woman who could have done as she pleased. She married Greg and proceeded to cheat on him with at least 3 men. When she fell for her boss Michael, she was still writing her husband emails begging him to say he loved her. She said she didn't have the guts to leave Greg because it would "hurt" him. So she continued to lie to him, cheat on him, drive him crazy, and probably drug him for the last weeks of his life, until she decided he was interfering too much with her meth use. Then she administered the fatal dose of Fentanyl. Her boss/lover, who also hadn't got a divorce and was actually going to counseling with his wife, quickly claimed his mother was ill and hotfooted it back to Australia - out of reach of the authorities. It's my personal belief that he had to know what was going on - if not before the fact, immediately after. The guy has a PhD, no one can be that oblivious to what's in front of you. Drug use, drugs missing from the lab, 3 different diaries (one written only for Greg to read), and completely different versions of events told - some of them Michael's.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An objective point of view, July 2, 2005

By 

Gary Anderson "Amerlok" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poisoned Love (Mass Market Paperback)

The death of Greg de Villers and subsequent conviction of his wife, Kristin, for murder is tragic in so many ways.

Did Kristin kill her husband? Did someone actually see her commit the crime? There will always be a doubt but is it a reasonable doubt? Of course, in order to find Kristin innocent one would also have to accept that it is possible for one person to win the California lottery three times a row. Impossible? Of course, not. Improbable? Definitely.

Unlike John Glatt's book on same subject, "Deadly American Beauty", Ms. Rother has taken an objective approach to the subject. Where Mr. Glatt cries out that "She did it!", Ms. Rother walks the reader through the evidence.

Ms. Rother has handled with exceptional journalistic dexterity what is a most tragic story.