Nightmare in Napa: The Wine Country Murders (48 Hours Mystery) - Books

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description

The Shocking True Story Of Murder In California Wine Country

An award-winning journalist delves behind the scenes of a chilling true crime story aired on TV's 48 Hours Mystery -- and uncovers twisting revelations inside an already shattering case of double homicide.

Halloween night in idyllic Napa, California: two young women roommates -- a transplanted Southern beauty queen and a popular engineering graduate from the Napa area -- are brutally stabbed by an intruder who entered their home through a first-floor window. A third roommate heard the horrific commotion but never saw the killer. News of the tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the peaceful region as well as the nation -- but while investigators pursued every angle from a satanic cult to a disgruntled suitor, the murders of Leslie Mazzara and Adriane Insogna remained unsolved. Until someone came forward with a shocking confession -- someone who was close enough to the women to escape suspicion. Someone who knew the victims all too well.

Complete with up-to-the-minute court action and the stunning crime scene breakthroughs that turned the case around, here is the full story of the Nightmare In Napa.

Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

The story is a real page turner. August 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book immediately drew me in with its gripping and sad storyline.
LaRosa makes you feel like you know these characters personally by the end of the story. Adriana and Leslie were so much more than the media made them out to be. Many crime books tend to tell one side of the story, where as LaRosa presents all sides of the story. Lessons can be learned from this book to leave no angle unturned. This was a story that needed to be told.
It leaves us with the question, How well do we really know our friends?
My heart goes out to the families of the victims.

4 out of 5 stars

Nightmare in Napa February 24, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I just finished "Nightmare". I thought it was a well written book. It told the story of two young women, brutally murdered in their home. The killer, unknown at the time, turns out to be someone close to them. I didn't feel like the author portrayed Ms. Mazzara as a wild child. I had the impression she was a beautiful, spirited, kind, young woman. The author did a good job of conveying to the reader, that these women were an assest to our society and it's a tragedy, they are no longer here. The end, is sad and pathetic. Copple is a lowlife punk and he never gives a reason as to why he felt the need to kill two wonderful people.

2 out of 5 stars

Dull story February 9, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful

Nightmare in Napa was a big disappointment after reading another book in the 48 hours series. The book starts out well enough by describing the victims and their various friends and then the crime itself. However, there is very little mentioned about the investigation until over halfway through the book. There is so much time devoted to the victims that it almost reads like a biography. The problem is that these are not especially interesting people. Eventually, as I continued reading, I was let down by finding out the investigation was dull as well. This story contains about an hours worth of a compelling mystery, which is perfect for the TV show, but not so much for a book.

4 out of 5 stars

A Brutal Murder and The Lives It Affected October 11, 2007
3 out of 9 found this review helpful

I often have a tendency to agree with the reviewers submitted by regular members here who, as relates to NIGHTMARE IN NAPA, have declared it to be a disappointing piece of work. Particularly, I find their reviews this time to on the side of shallow.

Author Paul LaRosa provides a two piece account of true crime in this book. Readers are provided in depth details of the murders of Leslie Mazzara and Adriane Insogna; that is, as in depth as it can be. One must consider that, despite much investigating, even the police were short on leads EXCEPT for those that pertained to Leslie; thus, just as LaRosa provides a great deal about Leslie and her life, this is exactly what the homicide detectives were sorting through during the investigation.

Is it over kill on Leslie? Sure, even I tired of hearing about this "Southern beauty queen" who, truth be known, had won only one pageant. However, it was an accurate account of the workings of the homicide investigation. (I would have liked to see more social photos of Leslie; however, I'm going to assume they were unavailable as the author makes note that Cathy Harrington, Leslie's mother, was unnerved by the portrayal of daughter in the media and, as a result, was probably unwilling to provide such photos since such photos are, generally, provided by family members.)

As an avid reader of true crime, I actually enjoyed the more intense focus on the victims as the focus generally lies on the accused until the Victim Impact Statement made in the end. Readers of NIGHTMARE IN NAPA are given the opportunity to feel the pain and anguish of the survivors, especially Arlene Allen, Adriane Insogna's mother. Allen is an amazing woman, a strong-willed survivor.

I did not feel that this book lacked depth. It may not have provided answers to many of the questions readers would like answered, especially as to "Why?," but, one must bear in mind, those pieces of information are simply not available. Chances are no one will ever know why Eric Copple, the confessed killer, committed this horrendous crime; at least, the truthful version, anyway. Theories are the ONLY means of explaining motive.

If I had one major disappointment in finding something I was looking for with this book, it was that we didn't read more from the sole survivor, Lauren Meanza, and from Copple's wife, Lily, who was also best friends with victim Adriane Insogna. While I can understand Lauren's silence, I have to ponder why Lily, at the very least, didn't attempt to make readers understand why she would continue to remain married to and support a man who so viciously killed her best friend. However, the author cannot be held accountable for anyone's refusal to talk.

When one chooses to read NIGHTMARE IN NAPA, it can't be entered into with the intention of reading your typical true crime; specifically, an overused pattern of rehashing the crime followed by background on the accused then a Courtroom finale. Author Paul LaRosa peruses a different style of writing (see also Tacoma Confidential: A True Story of Murder, Suicide, and a Police Chief's Secret Life (48 Hours Mystery), that is unique and enjoyable to read.

1 out of 5 stars

Inaccurate and Sensationalistic September 30, 2007
11 out of 14 found this review helpful

I live in Napa, and work in an agency directly involved with the investigation and prosecution of the case. This book's main focus is on the lives of the victims and very little on the actual investigation or trial. Mr. LeRosa seems content to sensationalize the victims, especially Leslie Mazzara, with an unfair portrayal of her as a bit of a wild child, who, before the actual killer was caught, might have been the target of the killer as a result of her flirty behavior with men. It is rubbish and cruelly unfair to the memory of Ms. Mazzara. Mr. LeRosa's portrayal of the investigation by Napa Police Department and the prosecution by the District Attorney's Office is both wrong and unfair. It is clear he didn't really research that aspect of the case, so busy was he digging into the pasts of the victims. I was insulted by this book. I'm sure readers not close to the case will find it fascinating, but are many of us locals who reject the book outright.

Good Grape Wine Company