Publication Date May 20, 2025
Here I go again, with my secret pleasure reading: true crime. Rich Cohen, a well-known author and journalist (columnist for The Wall Street Journal, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone) has written the amazing story of Jennifer Dulos, a wealthy Connecticut woman who dropped her kids off at the New Canaan Country School one morning in 2019 and then just vanished. Since then, the mystery surrounding her disappearance has been the subject of multiple articles, podcasts, posts on social media – people are obsessed. And why not? The story Cohen tells in Murder In The Dollhouse: The Jennifer Dulos Story has it all: money, sex, violence, marriage, divorce, adorable children…
As a rich woman living with her husband Fotis Dulos in an incredibly wealthy suburb, Jennifer had what seemed to be a charmed life. Previously known as an all-white enclave (with prohibitions against Jews, Catholics, and African-Americans), New Canaan had changed by the time the Duloses moved there. As Cohen notes, “...as every American knows, big money soothes even the oldest prejudices.”
Prior to marrying Dulos, Jennifer led what seems to be a shallow life, spending years “shopping” for everything including a husband. Writing about a potential life partner, she ways “ “We are at the same level of attractiveness’…as if she was playing dress-up, seeking a perfect match for her doll in the dollhouse.” Having married Fotis Dulos in her thirties, after a few years they had five children and were working through the details of their divorce. Jennifer was determined to find justice. Her disappearance sparked a huge discussion, practically a cottage industry. Cohen writes about the subject in extensive detail, and provides an incredibly detailed list of sources (in fact, I was only at 75% on my Kindle when the story itself was complete, with the remaining 25% being notes.
Why did this case capture the attention of so many people? “Some tell you it’s the media’s obsession with dead white women…Jennifer was white and her daddy was rich…the story says something about our society, which, though placed on the surface, is roiling beneath; because it expresses a terrifying truth–when a bad person is determined, no amount of money, court orders, or security systems can protect you.”
Spoiler alert: After her disappearance, Dulos’s husband and his girlfriend were arrested. On the day he was to report to court, he killed himself rather than face what awaited him there. His girlfriend was tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, and earlier this year, she was convicted and sentenced to serve 14+ years.
This book is incredibly well done, and is highly recommended for true crime fans, and anyone curious about the rich and how screwed up things can get. With thanks to Farrar, Straus, & Giroux and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for my honest review, this one gets five stars.