To Die for: The Shocking True Story of Serial Killer Dana Sue Gray

Dana was not only a serial killer, she was a vicious one at that. Her first victim, an elderly woman she knew, was strangled to the point her neck was nearly severed from her body, and she was knifed as well. After each murder, Dana would take the credit cards of the victims and prance off to a mall to spend money. As if she were celebrating. The author delves into Dana's past and finds many revealing points. Dana's mother, a California beauty queen, had three children with three different men. When Dana's mother was told she had cancer, she believed her religion, Scientology, would help. And she was too vain to have a mastectomy, so she died when Dana was young. Dana had uncontrollable rages at times, and her first husband was afraid of her by the time they divorced. The author paints a portrait of a woman with no self control, utterly unable to feel sympathy for other human beings. Absorbing reading.

As a fan of true crime books and having just spent 3 weeks on jury duty at a murder trial, I grabbed this book after reading the back cover and discovering Dana Sue Gray had killed in similar ways as the trial I was viewing. This lady is one of the rare documented cases of women serial killers and I had goose bumps as I read about each horrendous murder. Unlike some nonfiction crime books, this book was a page turner from start to finish. The book details how Dana would steal her victims credit cards and go on shopping trips after her dirty deeds. It also tells how Dana constantly lied to detectives when she was finally picked up for her killing spree after her own step-mother grassed on her! If you're the type of person who enjoys reading a book from cover to cover in one sitting, then this book is for you.

I was one of the jail deputies that was in charge of "babysitting" Dana while she was incarcerated in the County Jail. This book protrayed Dana very accurately!! Dana is extremely egotistical! She had most of the other inmates terrified of her, or completely under her control. Dana displayed the same attitude in the jail that is described here in this book. The ending of this book does kind of just "drop" off without much explanation. It leaves me with a lot of questions as I was no longer working in the jail by the time Dana decided to plead guilty. Knowing Dana, I still find it unbelieveable that she did in fact plead guilty, and it would be nice to have this decision better explained in the book. Overall, I was very impressed with this book!

The first time in a long time that I read a true crime story where I had to remind myself that it wasn't fiction. Astonishing to read about a woman commiting murder in ways that violent men have. Strangling strangers for their credit cards...

Having read thousands of true crime books over the years I can truly say when an extrodinary one comes along. To Die For is one of them. I was fascinated by the life of Dana Sue Gray, convicted serial killer. Author Kathy Braidhill skillfully takes you to the brutal murder scenes, then takes you back in the killers life to help try and explain why this once pretty nurse ended up killing to steal her victims credit cards and go on wild shopping sprees. Very well written, I could not put it down!