Book Review: If You Really Loved Me

From the publisher: David Brown was an entrepreneurial computer whiz, making his first million before age thirty-two. His life seemed perfect. But tragedy struck when his beautiful young wife was shot to death as she slept. Worse, David’s teenaged daughter, Cinnamon, confessed to killing her stepmother. The young girl was sentenced to twenty-four years to life but in the wake of her conviction, two determined lawmen began their own investigation. Soon, the private, twisted world of David Brown was revealed with horrifying clarity, revealing a trail of perverse love, twisted secrets, and evil mind games.

I was introduced to the story of Cinnamon Brown at the young age of ten when my grandmother was watching Love, Lies and Murder on television while I was visiting her house. It was a miniseries starring Clancy Brown, Sheryl Lee, and Moira Kelly, about a man who manipulated his young daughter into murdering his wife. I had no idea at the time that the miniseries was based on a true story. Still, the miniseries stayed with me over the years, occasionally surfacing in my memory. However, I could never recall too much about it other than the daughter’s name, Cinnamon, which was unusual.

For whatever reason, I thought about the miniseries again late last year and finally decided to Google it, wanting to remember its name. What I found was that Cinnamon’s story had been based on the book If You Really Loved Me by the Queen of True Crime, Ann Rule. Cinnamon Brown was a real person. Now, considering I am fascinated by true crime, one would have thought I would have known this, but alas…. in any case, I got the book immediately and began to read.

Ann Rule did not disappoint. I was immediately drawn into the story of David Brown, his daughter, Cinnamon, his young wife, Linda Bailey, and her younger sister, Patti. Linda Bailey (23) was shot to death as she slept, and all the evidence pointed to her stepdaughter, 15-year-old Cinnamon. It was an open-and-shut case. But one investigator could not let it go. Something about Cinammon’s case bothered him, so he began to dig. What he discovered was a twisted tale of lies, gaslighting, and manipulation on the part of David Brown.

As I read, I was blown away by what a terrible father David was, and an even worse human being. It was frustrating to see how often the women in his life fell for his lies and how they were willing to do anything to gain David’s approval and love. How this man managed to get five women to marry him, I’ll never know. But, despite my constant outbursts of incredulation and exasperation. Ann Rule does a fantastic job setting the scene, introducing the players, and untangling this mess of a family on the road to justice.

While David had many victims, it’s Cinnamon that you truly feel empathy for. The poor girl had been railroaded by David for so long, used and treated like dirt, and then tossed aside when she served her purpose. I have a lot of admiration for her for finally opening her eyes and standing up to her father in order to do the right thing.

I do not want to give too much away about Cinnamon Brown’s story, but I highly recommend If You Really LovedMe. There are a few sections that I found myself skimming over, as some of it felt redundant, but for the most part, this book is a captivating read.