Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was an excellent true crime read! The story was well researched and had me seething with anger for Jennifer and her plight. I would highly recommend for any true crime fans to get a copy of this book today!

“Murder in the Dollhouse” by Rich Cohen is an informative and gripping account of the life and mysterious disappearance of Jennifer Dulos. Born into a wealthy, privileged family, Jennifer lived a life of luxury, traveling on private jets and enjoying the comforts that money could buy. Despite this, she longed for a family of her own. At 35, she met Fotis Dulos at an airport, and they quickly married after Fotis divorced his wife. Together, they had five children, including two sets of twins.

However, their marriage quickly became toxic. Fotis was abusive, and their relationship grew increasingly unstable. Eventually, Jennifer decided to divorce him, leading to a lengthy and bitter legal battle. In 2019, Jennifer disappeared without a trace, and her body was never found. Fotis was later charged with her murder but died by suicide in 2020 from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Cohen’s book delves into the complex dynamics of Jennifer and Fotis’s marriage and raises the haunting question: Did Fotis murder Jennifer before taking his own life, leaving their five children orphaned? With its deep exploration of Jennifer’s life and the events surrounding her disappearance, Murder in the Dollhouse is a compelling and tragic look at a case that remains unsolved.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for this advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

4.5
I requested this on a whim and though true crime books are not always a sure thing, I expect a certain amount of quality from FSG, and I liked the vintage feel of the cover!
I wasn’t familiar with this case – the disappearance and presumed murder of Jennifer Dulos, after dropping her five children off at school in her affluent and ostensibly safe neighbourhood, but the basic details sounded more familiar as I read.
I was hooked immediately! The author clearly did extensive research, and as a result the first chapter gives a detailed look at Jennifer and her background – it’s refreshing to read about the woman at the centre of everything as a real person with interests, goals and flaws rather than a brief overview. Not only was there a lot of information, but it was presented in a way that I could easily forget I was reading a work of non-fiction, so drawn as I was into Jennifer’s life and youth in NYC.
Given the nature of the crime (a disappearance and apparent murder, lacking any definitive proof) most of the book details Jennifer, her husband and their contentious ongoing divorce. The author has interviewed various people and consulted sources, such as legal records, that document the facts and as a result seems to give a very credible account of what happened – at least leading up to Jennifer’s disappearance.
There are a couple of points where a bit of sensationalism creeps in – imagining Jennifer’s last moments and thoughts, whereas stating that the last interaction of the children and their father (about which there is no mystery) is too private. I agree, it is private, but I also think Jennifer deserves enough dignity not to have her final moments invented.
In summary, a well-written and thorough look at the case that I found difficult to put down!
Thanks, NetGally and FSG.

Wow I really enjoyed this book it was a good short read following Jennifer’s life and the details on her disappearance, it deep dives into behind closed doors and the ugly truth and secrets that was unfolded, if you want a book that will take you into a deep dive spiral this book is for you.

A chilling portrait of a narcissistic psychopath and his naïve victim. While Jennifer Dulos’s shallowness and privilege initially make it a bit hard to relate to her (the "Dollhouse" in the title is an apt metaphor), by the end of the book you will be seething with rage at Fotis Dulos and yearning for justice for Jennifer. An excellent book that was very difficult to put down.

From New York Times bestselling author Rich Cohen, an enthralling and deeply investigated book about Jennifer Dulos, a suburban mother who disappeared one morning after dropping her kids at school.

The daughter of Hilliard and Gloria Farber, Jennifer was born in New York in 1968 into a world of privilege and vast wealth. She attended Saint Ann's, an elite private school in Brooklyn, and went on to graduate from Brown, one of the top Ivy League colleges. One of Jennifer’s greatest aspirations in life was finding the perfect husband and becoming a mother.

Although she was courted by many men, it wasn’t until Jennifer was thirty-five and traveling through Aspen airport when she reconnected with Fotis Dulos, a Greek-American she’d crossed paths with years earlier at Brown. Their relationship started on sour note when Jennifer found out Fotis had a wife, however they stayed together and when his divorce was finalized, they married and had five kids.

While Jennifer focused on motherhood, her husband was building a business financed by her parents. Jennifer’s friends expressed concerns about her husband’s violent outbursts and their fears that he only married her for the money. After years of mental anguish, Jennifer filed for divorce and fought for custody of the kids. A nasty court battle ensued, costing the couple a fortune, money Jennifer had but Fotis did not. He risked losing his business and the pleasures to which he’d grown accustomed.

On the morning of May 24, 2019, Jennifer left her New Canaan home to take her kids to school. She has been missing, presumed dead, ever since. In Murder in the Dollhouse, Cohen pieces together facts from Jennifer’s early life, marriage and divorce, and draws a devastating narrative of her murder at the hands of her husband.

Once I started this, I could not put it down. As Cohen writes, “This is a story of love and hate, money, debt, and status but it’s also about the lives of people you only think you know.”

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Murder in the Dollhouse, written by a past acquaintance of Jennifer Dulos, summarizes Jennifer's life from beginning to unfortunate end. A great, detailed picture of who Jennifer was is presented through the opening chapters of the novel. The second half of the book focuses on Jennifer's adult life and the unfortunate circumstances that ultimately led to her demise.

The author does an excellent job providing the full, honest life story for all involved. I really enjoyed the book although it was difficult to get through some parts, knowing what happens. The book paints Jennifer in the positive light she deserves.

Fantastic read on a case I knew very little about. It was very detailed and it was able to make me feel like I knew Jennifer on a personal level. As a mom who’s going through a divorce, reading about her last few months and the fear she was going through broke my heart. Knowing her body is still out there is a horrible thing for her 5 children to have to deal with every day. 10/10

Murder in the Dollhouse has all the aspects of a TV movie. There’s the beautiful heiress, the ambitious real estate developer, a contentious divorce, a supportive mistress, a custody battle over five young children and then a horrible crime. However, this isn’t a TV movie. It’s all true.

Author Rich Cohen describes Jennifer Farber’s early life as a reason why she would marry Fotis Dulos, a handsome but untrustworthy developer whose career as an estate builder was always dependent on her father’s money. Although she was a talented writer, she longed for a home and children and, still single in her mid thirties, overlooking his weaknesses, chose Fotis to be her husband and the father of her children. She learned quickly that she had made a terrible mistake. Jennifer was trapped by “coercive control”, a form of abuse well described in Murder in the Dollhouse. Fotis needed her money even though he was living with his South American lover Michelle Troconis. He knew that Jennifer controlled their children’s $10 million trust funds and he also knew that, should Jennifer disappear before the the divorce was final, he would have access to that money. This led to an ill conceived plan, with clues carefully followed by the police, to murder Jennifer and hide her body. While her body was never found, a series of security and traffic camera photos and a search through trash cans, sewers and garbage dumps delivered evidence that certainly would convict Fotis and his accomplice Michelle of murder. Fotis committed suicide to avoid prosecution leaving Michelle to face trial. She was convicted and is presently appealing her case.

The Dulos tragedy was a huge story in Connecticut where I have family. It showed that all Jennifer’s millions, her security cameras, her bodyguards and restraining orders could not protect her from a killer. She didn’t know it then, but her life was over when Fotis realized he needed access to this childrens’ trusts. There are no answers here. However, the Connecticut Legislature has passed Jennifer’s Law, to a make coercive control a crime under that State’s domestic violence laws.

You may think you know this story, told so many times on television news and drama. In Murder in the Dollhouse, Rich Cohen makes Jennifer come alive. We feel her pain and grieve her loss. He also brings Fotis Dulos to life. This is a difficult accomplishment because Fotis was a sociopathic narcissist (my definition). This is a compelling, well researched work. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Rich Cohen for this ARC.

Murder in the dollhouse by Rich Cohen is the True Story and the life of Jennifer Dulo's. Jennifer was married to Focus Dulo's and disappeared with no trace of a body to this day. This book is professionally written and a highly informative read. The book goes through Jennifer’s life from an early age as a Jennifer comes from a very privilege family and her father paid for everything his daughter ever wanted. Jennifer would not and did not work, she traveled in private jets and limousine's and lived the life of the rich. She never wanted for anything but like anybody she wanted a husband and family. Her biological clock would have been ticking when she met a Collage acquaintance at an airport called Fotis Dulo’s. Jennifer was now 35.
Fotis was married at the time but quickly divorced and married Jennifer. Jennifer then had two sets of twins and another child, but her life was spiraling out of control as Fotis was emotionally abusive and both Jennifer and Fotis were very unstable, so this was a very unstable and toxic relationship from the very start.
Jennifer eventually decides to divorce Fotis and ends up in one of the longest battles in the States as she finds herself and Fotis embroiled in the court system. The author lays their lives of everyone in this book and leaves the readers wondering were Jennifers body is as Fotis kills himself by Carbon Monoxide poisoning leaving five children orphaned. Did Jennifer’s father enable Fotis Dulo’s as he bankroll his construction business and put up with his son in law for his daughter and grandchildren and will they ever find his daughter's body. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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 .