She Wanted It All by Kathryn Casey

Trophy wife Celeste Beard wasn't satisfied with a luxurious lifestyle and her rich Austin media mogul husband's devotion so she took his life
The wife:
She wanted everything, but her husband stood in the way.
The lesbian lover:
A love-struck, middle-aged woman with a history of mental illness, she would do anything to set Celeste free.
The beauty salon receptionist:
Celeste hired her to tie up the loose ends,in a second conspiracy to commit murder.

The ultimate debate when trying to find out why some people end up becoming criminals is "nature versus nurture".In Celeste Beard's case we might never find out.She was adopted and her adoptive mother was mentally unstable.This unstable woman managed to adopt four children (including Celeste) despite having serious psychological problems.She terrorised these children.One time she told Cole(Celeste's brother) that his mother had been a prostitute who gave him up because she did not love him,and then added "I don't love you either."

Kathryn Casey recounts Celeste Beard's childhood in detail and the reader is left in no doubt that the "nurture" theory is definitely applicable here.The "nature" theory might also have played a role but that cannot be confirmed.Possibly a prevalence of both theories leave a person with a higher than average chance of becoming a criminal.I have ordered a book "Base Instincts" which explores and researches why some people end up killing.I will post a review on that in May sometime.

Then,just to make things complicated,Celeste Beard had twin daughters who she treated in the same erratic manner that she had been brought up with.And yet one daughter managed to see through all the histrionics and the other was manipulated endlessly by Celeste.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.Starting from the beginning of this book the story of Celeste Beard covers physical,mental and sexual abuse of a minor,promiscuity,lesbianism,murder for hire,murder,another murder for hire.You name it,it is Celeste Beard's life story.Despite the intricacies of this story,Kathryn Casey succeeds at bringing all these details together in a book which was surprisingly easy to follow.This is something which I have come to expect from books by Kathryn Casey.However complicated the story,it will always flow effortlessly if she wrote it.

At the end of the book Kathryn Casey speaks to Celeste Beard and this final chapter just confirmed for me what I had picked up throughout the book.This was just the final nail in the coffin.I would absolutely recommend reading this book.

If you would like to find out more about this book then South African readers should go to Kalahari Books and if you want to read some more reviews on this book then the Amazon link below will provide that
She Wanted It All: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and a Texas Millionaire
Here is another review of She Wanted It All by one of my book blogger friends Bella at Bella Is Reading.Please have a look.

I read this book in November 2007 and it has 448 pages and 8 pages of photographs.Really personal photographs.Steve Beard really was a nice person.The photo of him in hospital is really sad for me.This Celeste Beard was absolutely heartless and she is one person who I truly believe had ice running through her veins.If you don't believe me consider this.She had a painting done of herself and her two daughters and Steve's face was painted in a tiny corner by the fountain.This,she said to her daughters,was so they could paint his face out when he died.Steve Beard was a dedicated and loving husband to his first wife Elise.