Worth More Dead Than Alive and Other True Cases by Ann Rule

by Sherry Chapman

First published in May/June, 2007, Volume 4, Issue 2, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

Worth More Dead Than Alive and Other True Cases by Ann Rule, Pocket Books, 2005.
432 pages. ISBN-10: 074344874X.

Ann Rule is the best writer in her genre today. She is also one of the most prolific writers, if not ranking first. 

Worth More Dead and Other True Cases is her 10th book where she combined shorter pieces with the main attraction, and they are as good in content as the featured case.

Worth More Dead surprised me. It seemed to lack the faster tempo of other Rule books, and the subject chosen just did not seem all that interesting. We have a rotten guy who gets away with crimes until years later, when police finally have the evidence they need to indict him. The best part of this story is the bad guy’s personality. He had no regard for his own children, lied when he felt like it, and was dangerously loose in public. In actuality this guy was nothing more than a pimple on the ass of society, and it took a long time to pop him.

It took so long for him to finally get caught for an old crime, I found myself losing interest and would, uncharacteristically with an Ann Rule book, not feel the need to pick it back up every chance I could. It was almost, but not quite, boring. 

Ms. Rule has had a habit in her works to stop her intriguing stories to fit in lengthy bios of the detectives and police working the case. It felt like required reading in English class. I appreciated the men and women behind the scenes, but letting us know they had a daughter named Sally and their favorite holiday was Groundhog Day had me grinding my teeth to get back to the good stuff. I’m happy to see that with the last several books she has not been doing that, and it makes for a much more tight and dramatic read.

The other four, shorter, cases in the book were great. The first, “It’s Really Weird Looking at My Own Grave,” is about a killer who is also a serial rapist. The few women who got away from him tell their chilling stories.

“Old Man’s Darling” was hard to put down. It concerned a pretty, young woman who was in love with a very old man—and the consequences that took place when he dumped her.

“All for Nothing” tells of a very educated middle-aged man whose girlfriend simply falls out of love with him. For this, it is hard to believe what he did. 

Lastly, “A Desperate Housewife” concerns a lovely lady whose marriage was never good from the start. They remained married for several years, had two children, but nothing changed. On the night she told friends and co-workers she was going to ask her husband for a divorce, she disappeared. (You’ll have to find her by reading the book.)

Despite years of writing about many cases, Ann Rule still feels for the victims. Despite her overwhelming career success, when she is interviewed on television she comes across as what I think she is—a decent human being. I think her heart goes into each case she covers, and it’s felt.