Edgar Award Winner: The "gripping" true story of a beautiful Texas socialite, her ambitious husband, and a string of mysterious deaths (Los Angeles Times). Joan Robinson Hill was a world-class equestrian, a glamorous member of Houston high society, and the wife of Dr. John Hill, a handsome and successful plastic surgeon. Her father, Ash Robinson, was a charismatic oil tycoon obsessed with making his daughter's every dream come true. Rich, attractive, and reckless, Joan was one of the most celebrated women in a town infatuated with money, power, and fame. Then one morning in 1969, she fell mysteriously ill. The sordid events that followed comprise "what may be the most compelling and complex case in crime annals" (Ann Rule, bestselling author of The Stranger Beside Me). From the elegant mansions of River Oaks, one of America's most exclusive neighborhoods, to a seedy underworld of prostitution and murder-for-hire, New York Times-bestselling author Thomas Thompson tracks down every bizarre motive and enigmatic clue to weave a fascinating tale of lust and vengeance.