This sharp sliver of true crime spotlights Ann Woodward.

Montillo... makes her case plainly but persuasively.

Montillo, a research librarian and author of several works of nonfiction, makes her case plainly but persuasively.

Deft... observing that in many ways Woodward and Capote were cut from the same cloth, outsiders smitten with high society, and first-class re-inventors of their own lives..

Deliberate Cruelty uses straightforward language to get at an enticing plot and colorful characters.

Montillo’s deeply researched exposé of the untimely downfall of glittering icons haunted by fundamental insecurities and entrenched demons is a dishy true-crime, literary critique mash-up..

Juicy..

Engrossing.

The author's fascination with Woodward and Capote is evident in her elegantly novelistic retelling of their lives and the strange connections and parallels that linked them.