Women's Biography - General & Miscellaneous, Criminals - Murderers - Biography, Murderers, Suspects & Victims - Biography

Widow's Web

Name: Widow's Web
Author: Gene Lyons
ISBN: 9781451696066

by Gene Lyons

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Overview

An alluring seductress spins a web of lies, murder, and sexual intrigue, ensnaring reporters, influential men, and finally the entire state of Arkansas. Mary Lee Orsini, welcome to the True Crime Hall of Fame... Prepare to be enthralled and appalled by the woman who kept the state of Arkansas - the people, the press, the police - alternating between sympathy and suspicion in the greatest criminal drama in Southern history. Part "Twin Peaks," part Tennessee Williams, here is the saga of Mary Lee Orsini, the Little Rock Lady Macbeth whose attraction proved fatal for her husband (shot dead in his bed) and almost equally destructive for all the others whose paths she crossed: the defense lawyer who tried to help her and saw his wife murdered in the process; the prosecutor whose political career she ruined; the politically ambitious sheriff she manipulated into taking her side; the reporters she twisted around her perfectly manicured little finger. Mary Lee Orsini will never be forgotten by anyone who reads Gene Lyons's beautifully reported, absolutely absorbing true crime saga. Penetrating, for the first time, the incredible web of half-truths and sexual blackmail used by Orsini to stay - for months and months - a half step ahead of the law, Lyons adds a compelling character to the annals of criminal reporting. This is a story that once started cannot easily be put down.

From an award-winning journalist, the terrific true story of a scandalous sex-and-murder case in Arkansas. They called Mary Lee Orsini Little Rock's Lady Macbeth. Her beauty and cunning proved fatal for her husband . . . and her defense attorney's wife!

Synopsis

Widow's Web is the saga of Mary Lee Orsini, the Little Rock Lady Macbeth whose attraction proved fatal for her husband and almost equally destructive for all the others whose paths she crossed.

Penetrating the incredible web of half-truths and sexual blackmail used by Orsini to stay a half step ahead of the law, author Gene Lyons adds a compelling character to the annals of criminal reporting.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Little Rock, Ark., businessman Ron Orsini was fatally shot on March 12, 1981. His blood-soaked body was found by Mary Lee Orsini, his wife of five years. The police immediately suspected her, for the evidence of a break-in looked feigned and her tears contrived. In this taut and gripping story, former Newsweek reporter Lyons covers the case. Although a grand jury initially did not indict her, in 1983 Mary Lee was convicted of murdering her husband. The conviction was overturned, but she was then convicted of murdering her defense attorney's wife, Alice McArthur. The ``McArthur Case'' emerged as the most notorious murder trial in Arkansas history. Lyons provides ample regional flavor. And he shows how feverishly Mary Lee manipulated her attorney, neighbors, friends, the public and Tommy Robinson, a local Sheriff who is now a member of Congress. Mary Lee is serving a life without parole sentence. Photos not seen by PW. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Aug.)