A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases

Last updated

A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases
A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases Book.jpeg
Author Ann Rule
Genre True crime, Non-fiction
Published1993
Publisher Pocket Books
Pages528
Awards Anthony Award for Best True Crime (1994)
ISBN 978-0-671-79353-1
Website A Rose for Her Grave

A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases is the first book in author Ann Rule's Crime Files Series. Released in 1993 by Pocket Books, the book details Randy Roth, who murdered two of his wives for insurance money, [1] as well as other cases, including those of Dick Marquette, a convicted Oregon serial killer.

Contents

Critical reception

Publishers Weekly , in its August 1993 review, wrote that "Rule discusses the effect of the individual case on her feelings about capital punishment and other issues, and her unwavering voice presents even the most gruesome details rationally." [2]

The Library Journal's Ben Harrison wrote in 1993 that Rule's accounts of the crimes "present the female victims as real people who deserve compassionate treatment."

Awards

In 1994, the book won Bouchercon's Anthony Award for Best True Crime. [3]

Film adaptation

In 2023, Lifetime released a television movie loosely based on the book, starring Colin Egglesfield, Laura Ramsey, and Chrishell Stause. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>In Cold Blood</i> Novel by Truman Capote

In Cold Blood is a non-fiction novel by the American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Paretsky</span> American author of detective fiction

Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction, best known for her novels focused on the protagonist V. I. Warshawski.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Rule</span> American true crime author (1931–2015)

Ann Rae Rule was an American author of true crime books and articles. She is best known for The Stranger Beside Me (1980), about the serial killer Ted Bundy, with whom Rule worked and whom she considered a friend, but was later revealed to be a murderer. Rule wrote over 30 true crime books, including Small Sacrifices, about Oregon child murderer Diane Downs. Many of Rule's books center on murder cases that occurred in the Pacific Northwest and her adopted home state of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Crais</span> American author of detective fiction

Robert Crais is an American author of detective fiction and former screenwriter. Crais began his career writing scripts for television shows such as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Quincy, Miami Vice and L.A. Law. His writing is influenced by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Robert B. Parker and John Steinbeck. Crais has won numerous awards for his crime novels. Lee Child has cited him in interviews as one of his favourite American crime writers. The novels of Robert Crais have been published in 62 countries and are bestsellers around the world. Robert Crais received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award in 2006 and was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2014.

Barbara Louise Mertz was an American author who wrote under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. In 1952, she received a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. She was best known for her mystery and suspense novels, including the Amelia Peabody book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karin Slaughter</span> American crime writer (born 1971)

Karin Slaughter is an American crime writer. She has written 24 novels, which have sold more than 40 million copies and have been published in 120 countries. Her first novel, Blindsighted (2001), was published in 27 languages and made the Crime Writers' Association's Dagger Award shortlist for "Best Thriller Debut" of 2001.

Cathleen Scott is a Los Angeles Times and New York Times bestselling American true crime author and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books The Killing of Tupac Shakur and The Murder of Biggie Smalls, both bestsellers in the United States and United Kingdom, and was the first to report Shakur's death. She grew up in La Mesa, California, and later moved to Mission Beach, California, where she was a single parent to a son, Raymond Somers Jr. Her hip-hop books are based on the drive-by shootings that killed the rappers six months apart in the midst of what has been called the West Coast-East Coast war. Each book is dedicated to the rappers' mothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathryn Casey</span> American novelist

Kathryn Casey is an American writer of mystery novels and non-fiction books. She is best known for writing She Wanted It All, which recounts the case of Celeste Beard, who married an Austin multimillionaire only to convince her lesbian lover, Tracey Tarlton, to kill him.

Kate Summerscale is an English writer and journalist. She is best known for the bestselling narrative nonfiction books The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, which was made into a television drama, The Wicked Boy and The Haunting of Alma Fielding. She has won a number of literary prizes, including the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction in 2008.

Cameron L. Stauth is an American author and journalist who is best known for his narrative nonfiction accounts of true stories, and for his medical books.

The rate of crime in Oregon, at least since 1985, has varied from below the United States national average to slightly above, depending on if one is looking at violent crime or property crime statistics. The violent crime rate remained below the national average every year between 1985 and 2022, while property crime generally remained above the average during that time. Every year between 2011 and 2020, Oregon maintained one of the 20 lowest violent crime rates in the United States. However, some of the most notorious serial killers in U.S. history were known for killing or operating in Oregon, including perhaps the most famous, Ted Bundy, as well as the second most prolific in terms of confirmed murders, Gary Ridgway, among many others.

Randy Roth is a convicted murderer and thief from Washington. He was convicted of the 1991 murder of his fourth wife, Cynthia Baumgartner Roth, and he was suspected of murdering his second wife, Janis Roth, in 1981, but was never tried. In both deaths, he was the only witness. He claimed the activities that led to the deaths were the ideas of his deceased wives and he had the bodies cremated as quickly as could be arranged. He was also convicted of stealing in the form of defrauding insurers and the Social Security Administration. In 1975, he was sentenced to one year for theft, then in 1992 was sentenced to 50 years for first degree murder. At least two true crime books are based on Roth's crimes, A Rose for Her Grave by Ann Rule and Fatal Charm by Carlton Smith.

Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XXIV and the 8th Anthony Awards ceremony.

Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XXV and the 9th Anthony Awards ceremony.

Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. It is named in honour of writer, reviewer, and editor Anthony Boucher; also the inspiration for the Anthony Awards, which have been issued at the convention since 1986. This page details Bouchercon XXVII and the 11th Anthony Awards ceremony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gera-Lind Kolarik</span> American journalist

Gera-Lind Kolarik is an American journalist, playwright and best selling author of true-crime books. Her work has been included television appearances on Maury Povich, Phil Donahue, 48 Hours, Inside Edition. Kolarik founded Evidence Video, a Chicago-based video production company that assists attorneys in personal injury and workers compensation cases.

Leslie Rule is an American novelist, paranormal non-fiction author, magazine writer, photographer, and the daughter of true crime author Ann Rule.

<i>Practice to Deceive</i> 2013 book by Ann Rule

Practice to Deceive is a 2013 true crime nonfiction book by the American author Ann Rule that details the murder of Russel Douglas, found shot between the eyes in his car on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, Washington, the day after Christmas 2003. The book was released in October 2013 by Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randall Hicks</span> American writer and attorney (born 1956)

Randall Hicks is an American writer and attorney.

Rebecca Morris is a New York Times bestselling true-crime author and a TV, radio and print journalist who lives in Seattle, Washington.

References

  1. Sanders, Eli. "In Tales of True Crime, Ann Rule Taps Our Need to Know Why". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  2. "Nonfiction Book Review: A Rose for Her Grave & Other True Cases by Ann Rule, Author Pocket Books $7.99 (528p) ISBN 978-0-671-79353-1".
  3. "Winners and Nominees 1990s". Bouchercon. September 22, 2015. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  4. Burton, Carson. "Lifetime Sets Two New Films Inspired by Ann Rule Novels (TV News Roundup)". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  5. Liwanag, Yzzy. "'A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story': Time, TV, free live stream". Syracuse. Retrieved February 28, 2023.