Ginette B. (Niteowl7) reviewed on 3/11/2006 + 242 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

True crime novel about Dorothea Puente who presented a kindly grandmotherly look but who was actually a con artist, thief and serial murderer. One who wasn't fooled by her persona was William P. Wood. He was one of her first prosecutors on other crimes before the murders and knew Dorothea as an accomplished liar. Though she was prohibited from doing so by her parole terms, Dorothea opened a boarding house in Sacramento. She had control of all the tenants' checks which she used for her own pleasure. With the weakest tenants - alcoholics, physically disabled, mentally handicapped - Dorothea found she could make a better profit if some of her tenants died. Though the book lacks some of the suspense of a work of fiction since we know the ending, it is still interesting reading into the mind of a sociopath who, at times, was able to truly act kindly to towards the poor, especially with the Hispanic community who continued to speak well of her despite her crimes. Seven bodies were found in the back yard of the boarding home. This is where I found the book became one where we question our justice system. First of all, throughout all her previous crimes, Dorothea served short sentences and her parole was rarely monitored. In fact, she was able to create the boarding house which was totally against her parole terms. But no one checked on her. Though Dorothea killed 7 people she could only be charged with 3 because of the expense and time involved for her trial. That means 4 tenants would never get justice and the relatives were incensed. After the first body was found, the police felt they couldn't charge Dorothea with anything until they found more bodies. What?! One body wasn't enough? Ok, so maybe the previous tenant or a neighbor put the body in the yard. Except the time of death would be established, etc. She should at least been held on suspicion but instead was allowed to walk away. My point is this book should have been called "Injustice in the Bone Garden" or something like that. Add another crime to Dorothea's collection - injustice against society aided by our laws - and maybe injustice against the loving relatives who lost their loved ones prematurely because of Dorothea's greed.

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