cover image Too Good to Be True

Too Good to Be True

Janet Parker Beck. New Horizon Press, $21.95 (200pp) ISBN 978-0-88282-066-8

Denise Redlick, daughter of a close-knit San Francisco Bay Area family, fell in love with Craig Anderson, a charming, successful young entrepreneur. But as their relationship progressed to wedding plans, he became possessive and pathologically jealous. She broke off the engagement, then in November 1985 disappeared. Although there was no body, her family and friends were sure she had been murdered. They convinced the police that the logical suspect was ex-fiance Anderson, who was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life. Two years after Denise's disappearance, her body was found in a gully. San Mateo (California) Times reporter Beck, who covered the case, recaps it expertly, especially in detailing the ways in which relations among family and friends were altered by the murder. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Jan.)