by John Glatt
First published 2000
Julie Scully meets George Skiadopoulos aboard a cruise ship in November 1997. The thirty-one-year-old swimsuit model falls for the charming twenty-four-year-old Greek sailor, and their secret romance blooms across continents. Julie abandons her wealthy ex-husband and three-year-old daughter, carrying her $600,000 divorce settlement to start fresh in Greece. But George's jealous nature soon transforms their paradise into a prison. When Julie grows tired of his controlling behavior and decides to return to America with her money, George refuses to let her go. He lures her to an isolated location and strangles her. Desperate to hide his crime, he burns her body and attempts to force the remains into a suitcase. When that fails, he decapitates her and throws her head into the Aegean Sea. John Glatt reconstructs this headline-grabbing murder case, revealing how passion became obsession and love turned deadly.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, obsession
Setting: America, Aegean Sea, Greece
Period: 1997
264 pages · Mass Market Paperback · St. Martin's True Crime
Content warnings: murder, violence