Vincent Viafore went out for a day of kayaking with his girlfriend, Angelika Graswald, and never returned home. What first seemed like a tragic accident turned out to be a murder. Diane Fanning is an interesting storyteller who weaves the facts together to cover a story that seemed unbelievable from the start. Thank you to St. Martins True Crime and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in order to provide an unbiased review.

I heard about this story on the news a few years ago, but never really delved into the nitty gritty of it. This book takes you behind the scenes of what happened that day, or what may have happened that day, and is very engrossing.

I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This author was new to me and I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written. A great non=fiction, very descriptive book. The characters were easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone!!

Thank you St Martins Press for a free copy of this book for review. This is an intriguing true crime story that was very well written. Vincent and Angelika head out on the Hudson River for an afternoon of kayaking. Unfortunately the weather becomes stormy as they head back to their car. Vincent's kayak tips over and he is left trying to survive in the icy water. Angelika apparently doesn’t try to save him and phones 911 twenty minutes after the event occurs. Once help arrives there is no sign of Vincent or his kayak. As Angelika describes the events she is not all that upset about Vincent’s apparent death. Over the next few days and weeks Angelika’s behaviour, lack of grief, and actual happiness that Vincent has died cause the police to question her more. Eventually Angelika is arrested. It is heartbreaking to know this a true crime and not fiction. If you are unaware of this case I’ll leave the rest of the book a mystery. I hadn’t heard of this case before so I’m going to check Google and apparently there are some tv programs such as 20/20 that have profiled this story.

I have put this one down. It was not a good fit for me. Can I be honest? That was a complete shock to me. It’s been a very long time since I read true crime and maybe I grew out of it? 🤷🏻‍♀️.
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I love the ID channel...Snapped...I’m all about those thirty minute tv shows. Maybe that’s what happened...I was 25% in and felt like we should be done. It was obvious what happened. I just didn’t have the attention span to sit for 75% more 🤔.
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What I did like:
The writing was informational...but not too much so. The story is interesting and yep, I’m going to google the short version!
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It seemed like the perfect romantic afternoon: a kayaking trip for two on the Hudson River. But it ended in tragedy when beautiful, blonde Angelika Graswald called 911 to report that her fiancé, the handsome and athletic Vincent Viafore, had fallen into the choppy frigid waters. Authorities assumed it was an accident. But when the bereft bride-to-be posted videos of herself doing cartwheels on social media—shortly before Vincent’s body was found—suspicions of murder rose to the surface…





Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience first time reading anything from this author

I have been reading Diane Fanning's books for a long time now and she never disappoints! She gives all the grisly details of the cases and allows readers a look into the affects on murder in a careful way. I really enjoyed this one and am looking forward to more books in the near future.

A day away a day kayaking for Vinnie and Angelika his fiancée.A day that went from happy to tragic Vinnie drowned never came home.Angelika the woman he was planning on marrying.Was arrested .Angelika interrogated by the police shockingly admitted she was not happy in the relationship felt he controlled her and so the horror of what truly occurred starts to appear .Thie story of a cold as ice woman who went to any length even murder to get what she wanted.I remember reading about this in newspaper headlines a sad end to Vinnie life a shocking murder.I found this book unputdownable shocking.heartbreaking. #netgalley #st.martinspress

Diane Fanning is one of the more prolific writers in the true crime genre, and I have read several of her titles, being appropriately creeped out and generally entertained by them all. Usually, I am not familiar with the topics, but I either had read something about this one, or possible listened to a podcast about it. In any case, Death on The River, set on New York’s Hudson River, is the setting for her latest and it was a story that creeped me out somewhat the first time I heard about it and COMPLETELY creeped me out when I read Ms. Fanning’s book about this heartless crime.

There is no mystery in this one. A beautiful blonde name Angelika Graswald and her fiancé, Vincent Viafore, went kayaking on the river, and while it seemed like it should have been a perfect romantic afternoon, only Angelika came back. She had called 911 from her kayak to report Vincent had fallen into the extremely cold and fairly rough waters. A search party came quickly, but what they all assumed was an accident started to look like it maybe was something ese when Angelika posted videos of herself doing cartwheels on social media, after Vince disappeared but shortly before his body was found.

Her story unraveled quickly, as she admitted to police that she felt “trapped” by Vincent and was totally over his demands for a wild lifestyle: he loved nightlife, strip clubs, and threesomes. She says she wanted him dead, but she also said she didn’t kill him. Turned out she was the beneficiary of his life insurance , and she admitted not only removing the plug from Vincent’s kayak, but knocking his paddle away as he struggled to stay afloat after he fell in.

Pretty classic Fanning true crime. Solid, sure to be enjoyed by her fans and pretty much anyone who enjoys true crime. Four stars.