Fetch Your Copy Murder In Mayberry: Greed, Death, And Mayhem In A Small Town Developed By Jack Mary Branson Shared As Kindle

like a novel. I had to keep reminding myself that it was real that these humnan depravities I read about nin novels happen in real life.
I never want to believe this of the human race that there are truly people out there with murder in their hearts.
The book was very well done, it captured the feelings and frustrations of the family well, When smalltown police officers come upon a murder scene in which the victim is a prominent millionaire with multiple blows to the head and nearlystab wounds, they're in unfamiliar territory.
Throw in lies, gossip, greed, international extradition struggles, and a conflicted federal agent, and the result is Murder in Mayberry.
Lifting the veil on a picketfenced, Bible Belt town, this chilling drama reveals a tale of secret lives and drug addiction, and is both an involving true crime story and the story of the authors emotional journey from normal life to life turned upside down.
Personally knowing, or at one time met,of the people connected with this story makes my review difficult, Previously I only knew the details as they filtered long distance through my parents: the occasional mention during a phone call or the newspaper clipping sent by mail.


I've been meaning to buy this book since it came out, and would like to thank my mother for finally gifting it to me this Christmas.


But to the work at hand: once I overlooked the romanticized depiction of my old hometown, the facts of the crime were well reported and from the unique perspective of close family members.
I definitely feel this was a story to be told, unfortunately a lot of things were missing from it and a lot of unnecessary whining about not being informed of ALL things throughout the investigation.


This was the first true crime I've read written by the victims family and I was turned off by just how much of it appeared to be attention seeking.
Very sad. Branson, Mary Kinney and Jack Branson Murder in Mayberry: Greed, Death, and Mayhem in a Small Town
Wellpenned account replete with local color

Although the details in a true crime book are known, I want the potential reader of this review to BEWARE of possible SPOILERS!:

The perp here is Russell Winstead, age about, height six foot one, weight probably aboutpounds.
He has all the makings of a classical sociopath, but as yet nobody knows it because he hasnt really stepped over the line.
Hes charming to women. He has an indulgent father in Earl Winstead, and an even more accommodating rich aunt named Ann Branson, Why he needs to be indulged is because of his gambling addiction, He tried NASCAR racing. He liked the rush but he didnt have the talent, Then he discovered blackjack and saw himself as a professional gambler, He loved playing the role of the high roller, getting comped, having a casino limo pick him up, flashing Bengies all over the place, impressing cocktail waitress, etc.
Only problem was Russell Winstead was a loser,

So one night, the night of January,to be exact, he goes once more to the well that isyearold Ann Branson for another “loan.
” Hes already in debt to her for maybe,and apparently she refuses, In a rage, he chases her down the basement stairs and crushes her skull with a blunt instrument and then goes on to stab her some seventy or so times.


Enter Mary Kinney Branson, wife of Ann Bransons other nephew Jack Branson, then a US Treasure Special Agent, now retired.
Hes about the same height as Russell, but there the similarities end, Where Russell is reckless and uncaring about other people, Jack is careful and very caring, Where Russell fails and needs propping up, Jack succeeds, Where Russell is vain about his looks and worries about a growing bald spot, Jack is modest and his hairline is not receding.
So in a sense this is a story about the contrasting lives of these two men,

Mary Branson tells the story from some distance because she is not a blood relative, and as she says, in Madisonville, Kentucky, “blood matters.
” Note that, as in “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry RFD” there is no actual Mayberry, The “Mayberry” in the title is a state of mind, Call it the mind and the lifestyle of a small town in America,

What sets this true crime story apart from many others I have read is the fact that Mary, through her husband Jack and his connections, and through her being a member of the family and the community, is in an enviable if thats the right word position for getting the true milieu of the story.
Furthermore, since she is a veteran writer of childrens stories, you can be sure that her prose is clear, readable, and without any fourletter words.
What I found most fascinating and what kept me turning the pages were the many lifestyle details that Mary Branson gives of the people involved and the portrait she paints of the small town life and its valuesnot to mention how she also reveals herself, sometimes inadvertently.
Ill just mention the nearly constant eating out at fast food establishments!

Heres an example of Mary Branson at her most vivid: The trial has begun and shes watching.
She writes, “Once, Id walked into our family room to find our threeyearold grandson, Taylor, holding his eyelids open as he watched a cartoon on television.
I asked what he was doing and he said, Im keeping my eyes from blinking, This is my favorite part of the cartoon, and I dont want to miss even one second, ”

Mary explains, “Thats how I felt as David the prosecutor: presented the prosecutions case, After being information starved for so many years, I was scooping up every crumb that came my way, ” p.

Like her husband Jack, Mary looks before she leaps and she doesnt make rash statements, Consider the case of Ann Bransons housekeeper, Judy, as an example of the care that Mary has taken in weaving this story.


Judy believed that one of two persons other than Russell committed the crime, She insisted on that from the beginning, even going so far as to make some very questionable testimony at the trial, seemingly in an effort to protect Russell.
Was she too, like some other women in the story, charmed by Russell Mary Branson does not say, What she does instead is report the questionable testimony, and note that through it all Judy remained friends with Russells father, Earl, who incidentally or not so incidentally was the executor of Ann Bransons estate.


Heres another example: on pageMary Branson notes that local cop Captain Randy Hargis was initially in charge of the investigation, and had been a “longtime friend of Russell.
The two had played softball together and ridden fourwheelers, ” Then she adds:

“Hargis testified that his primary reason for inviting Ben Wolcott to join the investigation was to give the Madisonville Police Department access to the Kentucky State Police crime lab and other resources.
”

Mary Branson is not saying directly that Hargis wouldnt or couldnt be objective in handling the case or that hes lying.
She is merely pointing out softly the potential conflict of interest,

Heres some local color near the end: “Thirty miles away in Madisonville, the verdict was announced on the radio a little before:a.
m. Someone whod just heard the verdict stepped inside a local bank and called out: “Guilty! Everyone knew immediately what he meant.
Customers and employees applauded. ”


a review by Dennis Littrell This book was interesting to me because I was at the trial of this case.
The book was too slanted because it was written by a family member and told in her perspective, and

the author's writing skills were a little lacking in my opinion.
A good example of why it is probably not a good idea for a person to write a book describing the murder of a family member, even if I might add, the author isn't a blood relative of the victim.
For some reason this is a big deal, as is the fact that her husband is the favorite nephew, something the reader is reminded of throughout the book.
So, the favorite nephew, "more like a son than a nephew," is a federal agent, You might think he would understand crimes aren't usually solved and the trial held in the same amount of time as a crime on the CSI or Law amp Order series.
While described as loving, caring, and determined to get justice, being the favorite and all, he instead comes across as an overbearing, impatient, perhaps even arrogant big city fed who certainly knows more at least according to his wife than the state and local cops.

Some things I would like to know, The town is described as being like Mayberry but we don't really learn much about the dynamics of the town other than that the author doesn't think much of the local police force.
If it is "Mayberry," it obviously has a seamy side I never saw on the Andy Griffith show, What has happened to the coal mines she refers to briefly Why are there so many casino's Spending some time placing the events in the context of the town rather than constantly reminding us of her feelings and emotions would have made this more interesting.

Finished today. I did think it was an interesting read but not extraordinary, Not worth the raving reviews I read on amazon, com to be honest. Writing was okay, the story not so much, Except if you are in the middle of it of course,

One thing that annoyed me, There werepeople that gave tips to the whereabouts of the killer, The author only praised one of them because this person had said to give his or her reward money to charity.
The author thought he/she was a hero, Well I do not agree, The otheralso picked up the phone, You do not know how they live, if they were poor and maybe the one who she thought to be a hero, was rich In my eyes allwere hero's.
not just the one who did not want/need the reward,

Another thing I noticed the tone of the author towards Earl got meaner and meaner during the book lol.
Even that he took just one zip of water meant he was acting, and this is justexample
I do not know how many times I've read that Jack, the author's husband was definitely the victim's favorite cousin.

Those are the things why I prefer my true crime books not to be written by family though, .