About book Bitter Blood: A True Story Of Southern Family Pride, Madness, And Multiple Murder (1989)
DNFI love big books, but at 1072 pages on my laptop, this was a chore to read, and with 100 pages to go I abandoned it.Firstly, the number of people in this book, some of them adding nothing to the story, is mind-boggling, and it was exhausting trying to keep track of everyone. I had to keep a notepad and pen beside me and at one point I honestly contemplated doing a family tree.Marjorie, a church friend of Tom Lynch’s mother, Dolores, makes an appearance in the first 322 pages and then is never heard of again. She plays no part in the murders, and I can’t see the point in including her. Really, you can skip those pages without any detriment to the story, and I wish I had!There was too much background information about every single person mentioned, most of it unnecessary. I didn’t need to know where they went to school, what churches they attended, who their neighbours were, or every employer they’d ever worked for.There were too many insignificant details that added nothing to the story. I found myself skimming paragraph after paragraph.While the story is well written, and obviously well researched, it’s too long. Way too long. It failed to hold my interest and I became bored. But, I bravely soldiered on until I got to the last 150 pages or so. Then, when we finally got to the last murders, which were related in minute detail, we then had to suffer through the post mortem…again in minute detail…of the crime, law enforcement’s actions, who saw what, who did what, who knew what, who said what…and on…and on…and on! I was ready to scream.So, I abandoned the book and googled, wishing I’d had the good sense to do this sooner. I came across an interesting article that has nothing to do with the murders themselves, and puts Tom Lynch, the boys’ father, in a very unfavourable light.Article from the Star News:“Two years after the explosion, Mr Lynch sued Mr Newsom and the estates of Mrs Lynch, her parents and grandmother. He said he should receive the money Mrs Lynch would have inherited from her family, because of her role in the murders and those of her sons.”He had already received a share of the $400,000 estate of his ex-wife, Susan Lynch.Whatever made him believe he was entitled to any money from the estates of his ex-wife’s parents, and her grandmother? Perhaps, if his sons were still alive, but not just to fill his, and his second wife’s, greedy pockets.Any sympathy I had for Tom Lynch disappeared when I read this.
Whoever said "truth is stranger than fiction" must have been talking about this totally unbelievable true crime story. This is a well researched and well written account of this bizarre story about Susie Lynch, who is from a wealthy and well known southern family. After a bitter divorce and custody battle with Tom Lynch, she returns to her home town in North Carolina and becomes romantically involved with her crazy (I mean seriously, stone cold crazy) cousin. Unfortunately, they seem to develop some kind of shared psychosis. The execution style deaths of her ex husband's mother and sister and her own parents and grandmother follow. The story takes a tragic turn when the police finally have enough to arrest the cousin, who is unfortunately armed to the teeth and, as previously mentioned, a total nutcase. This is definitely one of the "classic" true crime books, in my opinion and a very interesting read.Incidentally, I saw this story recently on "Behind Mansion Walls" on ID. Thomas Lynch appeared on the show and still seemed like a totally broken man. I'm sure you never really recover from the kind of experience he had. According to the internet, he is still practicing dentistry in New Mexico and as of 2010 was still married to his second wife, Kathy. I can't find any information on whether they ever had any children together.
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Blood on their handsI read many books in true crime, and I'm usually sad afterwards, but this story made me so angry. My heart goes out to Tom Lynch. I highly doubt Susie was controlled by Fritz, or anyone else, in fact it sounds like she was controlling everyone and everything her entire life. She was nothing but a spoiled, selfish bitch. Shame on her family for sitting back and doing nothing and making excuses for her, while 2 small boys suffered emotional abuse and brainwashing at her hands. And from the sound of it, physical. Her family and her lawyers all have BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS. No one tried to help Tom or his boys. Everyone involved should be ashamed, especially those still making excuses for this sorry excuse for a mother. Hope her and Fritz are enjoying a nice hot eternity together. That being said, the author did an admirable job telling this story. My heart goes out to Tom Lynch, may God bless him, and his precious sons, his mother and sister, and Susies parents and Manna.
—Mary Ballard
Although this is a good book, it is not as good as Bledsoe's book, Before He Wakes: A True Story of Money, Marriage, Sex and Murder, which sucked me in from page one and kept me going even until today. I recommend it every chance I get. This book has a large number of "characters" which need to be kept straight. This one seems to have a tad bit more information/history than what I think benefits the book, but that is just my opinion. If you are looking for a fantastic 5 star read by this author, read the book I listed above. It is haunting how devious and evil a person can be.The author made a comment at the end of the book that a number of his questions regarding this were not answered for him. I have to agree with him. There were a number of questions that I had that weren't answered as well!
—Naomi
