True Crime – my guilty pleasure. Well-written true crime — too rare but oh so enjoyable. Frequently when reading true crime, the characters and outcome are familiar (think Laci, O.J., Menendez brothers). I admit I was not aware of At Any Cost, the story of Shele Danishefsky and her younger husband Rod Covlin, but the cover alone (“A wife’s murder…a father’s betrayal…and a ten-year search for justice”) had me hooked. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley, I received a copy in exchange for this honest review.

Shele Danishefsky had it all: wealth beauty, and intelligence. She had a knack for numbers, and was wildly successful on Wall Street. Married to Rod Covlin, her joy was her family, even though her considerably younger husband seemed like such a loser, unable to find/hold a job despite his Ivy League education. Finally driven to divorce him after fulfillment at her fingertips. Having conquered Wall Street, she was eager to build a family with her much younger husband, promising Ivy League graduate Rod Covlin. But when his hidden vices including high stakes backgammon (who even knew this was a thing?) blossomed into grounds for divorce, the battle was on. Shele set up a meeting with her attorney to to exclude Rod from her will but, sadly, she never made it to that meeting. Found dead in the bathtub in their Manhattan apartment, Shele’s Orthodox Jewish family quickly buried her, with no autopsy. Rod battled with her family over custody and then, possibly the worst thing was when Rod tried to pin the murder on their DAUGHTER!

It’s a well-written account of a despicable man’s actions and the decade-long search for justice for Shele. Reads like fiction, definitely top-notch true crime. Four stars. Wavered between four and five…it really is good!