Poison Candy: The Murderous Madam: Inside Dalia Dippolito’s Plot to Kill
Readers may be familiar with the various online clips of Dalia Dippolito’s response to the shocking news that her husband of six months, Mike Dippolito, had just been shot dead. In fact, the Boynton Beach Police Department posted the video online the next day. Not only had the police been filming, but the TV show COPS’ cameras were also there. The good news is, it was a sting; the husband was safe, hurried away that morning by cops. The bad news is that the young bride herself hired the hit man and thus was faking her shock and horror. Prosecutor (and coauthor) Parker was brought aboard to sort things out, and she built her case against Dalia by intense scrutiny of her phone records, Craigslist and other online postings, and texts, some of which (e.g., advertising escort services, seducing old lovers) are reproduced in the book. This is an engagingly told, eyebrow-raising story of a nice guy with a bad past; a manipulative, brazen almost-murderess; and thugs, both softhearted and heartless, that is spiced with trial excerpts and the intricacies of Florida’s legal system. --Eloise Kinney