Oakley, an author who teaches engineering at Oakland U., tells the story of Carole Alden, an artist and mother who shot and killed her third husband, then called the police claiming it had been self-defense. Drawing from police records, trial testimony, interviews, and letters from Alden about the events, she describes how Alden was obsessed with caring for animals but neglected her children, accused her first husband of abuse so she could keep their children, portrayed her third husband as an abusive monster, and manipulated the kindness of others by playing on their sympathies. Along the way are discussions of concepts like codependency, battered woman syndrome, empathy, and compulsion to care. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)