Respected television news journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell asks a probing, disturbing question: Are killers like Scott Peterson and Andrea Yates all that different from the rest of us?

What kind of monster would do this? When journalists break the story of a child who's been kidnapped, a young woman who's been brutally raped, or a family who's been slaughtered, that's the question most of us ask. Secrets Can Be Murder exposes the hidden motivations behind the most sinister acts of recent times, with a behind-closed-doors look at these sensational crimes that will astound you.

After weighing in on high-profile cases for CNN, Fox News, Court TV, and MSNBC, author Jane Velez-Mitchell helps us understand these infamous crimes by unmasking the deceptions that turned toxic, exploding in rage and violence.

People lie every day to protect secrets, big and small. From desperate Hollywood personalities covering up their eccentric lifestyles to Bible Belt mothers who take the lives of their own children, Secrets Can Be Murder probes twenty-one separate cases. Each illustrates how leading a double life can land you in prison, and how failing to spot liars can get you killed.

Secrets Can Be Murder offers the inside story on each horrific case, unlocking the jaw-dropping secrets of the accused and revealing the common, innocent mistakes of the victims. After all, many of us have gone out alone late at night like Imette St. Guillen, or partied while on vacation like George Smith and Natalee Holloway.

From Dan Horowitz, the high-profile lawyer whose wife was brutally murdered by a teenage neighbor while Horowitz was defending a housewife accused of murder, to Neil Entwistle, the British husband who ran out of funds for an extravagant American lifestyle, Velez-Mitchell shows how each of these crimes has its own secrets to spill.

Many of us possess the same trusting nature as victims and carry around the same secrets as criminals -- whether it's debt, infidelity, or fetishes. With fascinating new insights from investigators and psychologists plus the friends and family of both the victims and the perpetrators, Secrets Can Be Murder illustrates just how little separates our so-called normal lives from that of a sociopath -- and how you can stay out of harm's way.

Sensational crimes have become a national pastime. We're obsessed with O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Robert Blake and the like. Why? Because unlike the private realms of psychiatrist's offices, lawyer's offices, or bedrooms, in a public trial we are allowed to see what's really going on beneath appearances. Secrets spill out about the criminals: secrets like adultery, violence, gambling. Secrets spill out about suspects and friends and family on the periphery of these cases. Think about the Gary Condit and all of his secrets that were exposed during the Chandra Levy investigation. And as these secrets come to the surface, on a very deep level, we recognize what we see. These sensational trials mirror the darkest corners of our interior lives.

In Secrets Can Be Murder, TV news journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell delves into the secrets that led to the sensational crimes by which we've all been fascinated. Through these cases, Velez-Mitchell details how our culture encourages double lives by demanding rigid conformity to pre-fabricated social structures that don't really fit anybody and how America's addiction to "family values" is creating a "pressure cooker family" that's ready to explode.

Jane Velez-Mitchell offers her unique view from inside some of America's most volatile courtrooms. With private photos provided by victim's families and friends, and official court documents, search warrants, and transcripts, Secrets Can Be Murdermoves beyond convenient explanations and easy labels like psychopath and sociopath to find the truth within these terrible crimes.

Recent discoveries and new debates surrounding the cases discussed in the hardcover edition - along with shocking new hidden secrets - are only included in the paperback edition.

"Like a literary pit bull, the author digs deep into each crime...an intriguing book" -- Tucson Citizen