What kind of monster would do this? When journalists break the story of a child who's been kidnapped, a young woman who's been brutally raped, or a family who's been slaughtered, that's the question most of us ask. Secrets Can Be Murder exposes the hidden motivations behind the most sinister acts of recent times, with a behind-closed-doors look at these sensational crimes that will astound you.

After weighing in on high-profile cases for CNN, Fox News, Court TV, and MSNBC, author Jane Velez-Mitchell helps us understand these infamous crimes by unmasking the deceptions that turned toxic, exploding in rage and violence.

People lie every day to protect secrets, big and small. From desperate Hollywood personalities covering up their eccentric lifestyles to Bible Belt mothers who take the lives of their own children, Secrets Can Be Murder probes twenty-one separate cases. Each illustrates how leading a double life can land you in prison, and how failing to spot liars can get you killed.

Secrets Can Be Murder offers the inside story on each horrific case, unlocking the jaw-dropping secrets of the accused and revealing the common, innocent mistakes of the victims. After all, many of us have gone out alone late at night like Imette St. Guillen, or partied while on vacation like George Smith and Natalee Holloway.

From Dan Horowitz, the high-profile lawyer whose wife was brutally murdered by a teenage neighbor while Horowitz was defending a housewife accused of murder, to Neil Entwistle, the British husband who ran out of funds for an extravagant American lifestyle, Velez-Mitchell shows how each of these crimes has its own secrets to spill.

Many of us possess the same trusting nature as victims and carry around the same secrets as criminals — whether it's debt, infidelity, or fetishes. With fascinating new insights from investigators and psychologists plus the friends and family of both the victims and the perpetrators, Secrets Can Be Murder illustrates just how little separates our so-called normal lives from that of a sociopath — and how you can stay out of harm's way.

-- Cynthia Kersey, author of Unstoppable Women

-- Dr. Henry C. Lee, distinguished professor of forensic science, University of New Haven

-- Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Cruel Sacrifice

-- Wendy J. Murphy, J.D., author of And Justice for Some

-- Lisa Bloom, Court TV news anchor

-- Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ.com and legal reporter for The People's Court

Foreword by Nancy Grace

Introduction

1. Women as Prey

2. Desperate Hollywood

3. The Texas Children Massacre

4. Expensive Secrets

5. Savage Suburb

6. The Blood-Spatter Boys

7. Mothers Without Borders

8. Rawhide

9. Dirty Tricks

10. Teenacide

11. Angels of Justice

12. Sex Education

13. The Point of No Return

Author's Note

Victim's Rights Websites

Bibliography and Source List

Acknowledgments