This book is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have read. This book is moreso about Jennifer and the life she lived and who she was before Fotis. With its very sensitive topic, Murder in the Dollhouse is respectful of Jennifer and asks people to remember her for who she was, not how she died and who k*lled her. It broke my heart getting to see more than what the media shows because she should have lived. . It broke my heart that she didn't truly get justice. My heart breaks for her family. I haven't read any true crime because sometimes tv shows/books just exist to make money and that makes me feel icky reading them.. On the flip side, I feel as if Rich Cohen told everyone who Jennifer was, more than her death, more than her abusive husband, more than the horrific things that happened to her.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this to review. My review is all my own thoughts and rating.

This story, which ends at 75% in the Kindle edition, was more about Jennifer Dulos’ life than her death. That was understandable, too, since her body was never found and her homicidal husband killed himself before going to trial. Why would such a popular woman from such a wealthy family, with all the freedom in the world, end up marrying an emotionally abusive man and staying with him long after she should have left him?

That is one of the main questions Rich Cohen is trying to answer in this book, by examining her childhood and adulthood. He proposes various theories as to why Jennifer Dulos, who always said she absolutely had to have a husband and children one day, waited until she was 35 to marry, and ended up marrying a very wrong man. She had so many other choices and opportunities to marry, but nothing seemed right until she had a chance encounter with a married college acquaintance named Fotis Dulos at an airport.

He divorced his wife and marriage to Jennifer Farber quickly followed. Mr. Cohen wisely pointed out that often men who want a quick wedding have something to hide, such as mental illness. When she saw what a user and emotionally abuser he was, why did Ms. Dulos stay and keep having children? She had two sets of twins and one additional daughter. Did she stay for the sake of the children? Did she stay because she thought she had made her bed and had to lie in it, as someone who knew her suggested?

When she finally filed for divorce, why did she become a willing participant in one of the most contentious and longest running divorce cases in the state? Is it possible that someone with mental problems married someone else with mental problems, as so often happens in life? No, Rich Cohen is not saying that in his book. He is not trying to make the victim guilty or badmouthing her in any way. I am suggesting it because that seems like a real possibility, but I'm definitely not suggesting it to make her "guilty" of her own death.

The book presents all the evidence law enforcement officers had against Fotis Dulos, and it was pretty solid evidence despite the fact they could not find a body. Guilty individuals often kill themselves, too, which is what Mr. Dulos did by carbon monoxide poisoning. The five children Ms. Dulos wanted so much were left orphaned, and their maternal grandmother got immediate custody of them after her daughter disappeared.

Their maternal grandfather was dead, and one of Jennifer Dulos’ friend said she would have never been killed if her wealthy, protective father had been alive. He payrolled Fotis Dulos’ construction business it is said only to give his daughter and grandchildren the life he though they should live. He put up with his son-in-law’s antics and disrespect for his daughter’s sake. It is believed he could have gotten her out of the marriage easily by paying off Fotis Dulos.

Why didn’t she let him try before he died? Why did she stay with her husband and then stay in a never-ending divorce battle, that caused great emotional distress to their children? Their father had even forced the five children to train to become waterski champions even if they did not want to, or were tired of spending all day practicing. That training started at an incredibly early age, too, and could have resulted in bad injuries. There were obviously six victims in the Dulos family and one psychopathic killer .