In 1995, the body of Bruce Hall was discovered by Janice, his wife of three months, lying dead near their campsite on Colorado's Snipe Mountain. An experienced hunter, Janice was taking her husband on his first trip to shoot deer and elk. Bruce had been shot three times and died from a bullet that went straight through his chest. Daniels, a district attorney in western Colorado and an expert on fossilized wood (Petrified Wood) investigated the case for four years. He concluded that Janice, with or without the help of her ex-husband, who was hunting in the same area, killed Bruce in order to inherit an estate valued at half a million dollars. Daniels recounts here the many interviews he and his team conducted and the forensic and ballistic discoveries they made that led him to successfully prosecute Janice for first-degree murder, although all of the evidence was circumstantial and the murder weapon was never found. Unfortunately, the author's writing and characterization skills do not match the suspense of this true crime story. Daniels paints Bruce as a good-natured victim while describing Janice as manipulative and disturbed, but neither character comes alive. The enormous amount of sometimes confusing detail Daniels presents did convince the jury of Janice's guilt, but does little to enliven this tawdry tale. (Oct.)
Forecast:With a 15,000 first printing, this is a big book for New Horizon. A feature on ABC's Primetime will affect sales, but word of mouth may not.
