The Black Widower: A Beautiful Doctor, Her Seemingly Perfect Husband and a Chilling Death Mass Market Paperback – August 1, 2017

I was looking forward to reading this book plus seeing the 8 pages of photos it was said to have. I searched the entire book to see them but there are no photos in my book. Very upset as I paid over $20 for this book!

Harold Henthorn had planned a romantic getaway for his wife for their 12th anniversary. First, he took her to the hotel that inspired the book, 'The Shining', and then there was to be a hike through the Rocky mountains. In the evening, they had reservations at an expensive restaurant.But that afternoon, tragedy struck, with Toni falling off a cliff. It took Harold almost an hour to climb down to his wife. She had landed on a rocky outcropping, so he dragged her to a flat area where he could tend her, leaving a bloody trail over the rocks.Finally, after his climb down the mountain, Harold called 911, but because he was in a wilderness area, they transferred the call to the rangers. The entire of Harold's call to the ranger is in the book and it will convince you that under no circumstances do you want to have a medical emergency in the wilderness. It took a long time for Harold even to describe the area here his wife lay bleeding, Eventually the ranger had sussed the area well enough that he told Harold that it would likely take an hour to get anyone there to help him. It was late in the afternoon, and, already, the unconscious Toni was breathing shallowly.Everything took longer than expected. Soon it was 7:30, very dark, and Harold burned some moss so that rescuers could find him. All this time, he was on his phone, talking to the ranger, to 911. even to the police department. He knew CPR, and said he tried to use it on his unconscious wife.By 8 PM, when the rescuers finally arrived, Toni was dead.But from the first, the ranger was suspicious of Harold, who seemed abnormally calm. Harold claimed to have performed CPR, but there was no lipstick transferred from Toni to Harold. Also, Harold insisted Toni fell from 30-40 feet. But when the ranger investigated the area in daylight, the evidence pointed to a fall from a much higher area, making her fall a frightening 100 feet. Furthermore, and most tellingly, when the ranger searched Harold's Jeep, he found a map with the area of the cliff from which Toni fell marked with an X in pink highlighter. Confronted by the evidence, Harold had no explanation to offer.Had he pushed her? Toni hardly seemed an easy woman to fool. She was 50, fit, and smart, an ophthalmologist with a thriving practice. She met her husband Harold on a Christian dating site, and was delighted that his job was as a consultant for non-profit charities.Half of this book deals with the court case. And it's not an easy case to prove. They couldn't find any witnesses to Toni's death, and yet, point by point, the lawyers build a solid case that Harold did murder her. The case also went into great detail about the death of Sharon Lynn, Harold's first wife, who mysteriously died after a Jeep fell on her. Fans of CSI will really enjoy the explanations of how they deduced the Jeep could not have fallen on Lynn the way Harold claimed.

You can't go wrong with Fleeman! What more is there to say?The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because it's difficult to understand how the one woman "fell" to her death when you see the included photos, and I prefer a bit more dialogue in the trial section. Fleeman summarizes and this book was really short due to the length of the length of the defense case - so he COULD have given us a bit more "meat" somewhere.I also would have liked to have seen him delve into Howard's mind a bit. The need to control everything and the quick to marry features of his personality are signs of an abuser and I'm curious what else may have really been going on. I don't think a deep enough dive was done.Was a psychologist consulted for this book? It doesn't appear so because there's nothing here that delves into his psyche. That's why a lot of us like true crime - to find out what's in their head. That was lacking here.I'd LOVE an update on Haley someday, to know if she ever win her freedom from having to see him. In cases like this, why should children be forced into that?

Parts of this book I really liked but there were several aspects of it that kept me from giving it 5 stars. Often as I read the book the sentences were just plan confusing. I found myself having to read and then reread and sometimes reread again in order to understand what was being said. The syntax often seemed "off"in some way. The author kept switching back and forth between the two crimes the book centers on. The editing of the book was poorly done as I found many mistakes in it. I think the crimes were horrific and the stories of these two women and their families definitely needed to be told. I applaud the author for his attempt to lay it all out but it was just confusing at times. The story is a fascinating one and my heart goes out to all those involved and in the end, Harold got what he deserved. It was a good effort to tell this story but it wasn't great.

This was a very well written book about a fascinating and horrible murder(s). The author, Michael Fleeman, obviously did his research; much more was covered than I originally read in the papers. The writing style was well-paced, factual and never melodramatic. He did a great job of making you feel for all the people affected by this horrible psychopath. The ending testimonies by some of the victims' families is very moving. If you like true crime, I recommend this book.

Fleeman’s book is riveting, intelligent and meticulously researched. It delves into the chilling life of Harold Henthorn, who has a penchant for killing his wives in unfortunate and mysterious “accidents” in order to collect substantial life insurance payouts. The book reveals just how calculating, cavalier and predatory that narcissistic, personality-disordered people can be. A fascinating, but disturbing tale about the dangers that can lurk in seemingly ordinary circumstances and relationships that once appeared idyllic.

Much better than I thought it would be. I thought that it would be written in a typically tabloid style. The author goes into detail about the crime, the meticulous investigation, the victims, and their families. The problem is with Harold Henthorn. He's a sociopath who reveals virtually nothing about himself. This isn't a deficiency in Michael Fleeman's writing.

Kinda dull , long chapters but overall okay book

The book is based upon a lot of research about the circumstances of the murder of a nice talented woman doctor and the dark past of the murderer. It kept my interest till the end!

Hard work. Just about readable