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Della's Web: A True Story of Marriage and Murder
Cincinnati heart surgeon Darryl Sutorious was spellbound, convinced he'd found the perfect wife. With bewitching hazel eyes and exquisite clothes, Cante Britteon seemed to have stepped straight out of Vogue and into his arms. But their honeymoon didn't last long.
Beneath Dante's china-doll facade lured a secretive, dangerous woman, a man-hater born as Della Faye Hall, whose four previous marriages had been spiced with butcher knives, pistols, vandalized house and lover set on fire, according to the men she ensnared. And by the time Darryl-- haunted by his own impotence-- summoned the strength to demand out of the marriage,
Della Faye was only too happy to oblige: with a bullet to the brain. In this stunning book, New York Times bestselling author Aphrodite Jones traces the intricate web of this fiendishly calculating sexual con artist.
From Della Faye Hall's strange childhood to her violent marriages, from the police investigation to the murder trial, this is the shocking story of a suburban femme fatale, a gold-digger driven by jealousy and greed to torture her husband to death.
Beneath Dante's china-doll facade lured a secretive, dangerous woman, a man-hater born as Della Faye Hall, whose four previous marriages had been spiced with butcher knives, pistols, vandalized house and lover set on fire, according to the men she ensnared. And by the time Darryl-- haunted by his own impotence-- summoned the strength to demand out of the marriage,
Della Faye was only too happy to oblige: with a bullet to the brain. In this stunning book, New York Times bestselling author Aphrodite Jones traces the intricate web of this fiendishly calculating sexual con artist.
From Della Faye Hall's strange childhood to her violent marriages, from the police investigation to the murder trial, this is the shocking story of a suburban femme fatale, a gold-digger driven by jealousy and greed to torture her husband to death.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 30, 2002
477 people are currently reading
773 people want to read
About the author
Aphrodite Jones
24Ìýbooks383ÌýfollowersAphrodite Jones is an award-winning American reporter and author who writes about murder. Her knack for detail allows her to dissect bizarre murder cases and bring readers into the heart of darkness. Now, the author has taken her career to TV as the executive producer and TV host of the ID series, True Crime with Aphrodite Jones, which airs on Investigation Discovery.
Jones is now filming her sixth season, uncovering secrets about riveting cases across America. The series follows Jones, who's written a string of best-selling true crime books, as she unravels new mysteries lurking behind cases that shocked America: O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Phil Spector, and the list goes on.
Jones is now filming her sixth season, uncovering secrets about riveting cases across America. The series follows Jones, who's written a string of best-selling true crime books, as she unravels new mysteries lurking behind cases that shocked America: O.J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Phil Spector, and the list goes on.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
January 1, 2016
Instead of writing a review I think I'll use my updates. They say it all.
"Very confusingly written, lots of jumping around but I want to know more so I will keep at it." 2 comments
12/28/2015
44.0% "Aargh this is so annoying. Nearly half of the book done and the only thing I've read is what others think of Dante. I think I am going to speed read this, something I hardly ever do."
Okay to explain why I did not like this book.
The author thinks her readers are dumb and cannot think for themselves. She is constantly trying to tell us how bad and awful Dante is as if she is talking to a child. The whole book is jumpy and sometimes repeating the same thing over and over.
It was such a choir to read.
"Very confusingly written, lots of jumping around but I want to know more so I will keep at it." 2 comments
12/28/2015
44.0% "Aargh this is so annoying. Nearly half of the book done and the only thing I've read is what others think of Dante. I think I am going to speed read this, something I hardly ever do."
Okay to explain why I did not like this book.
The author thinks her readers are dumb and cannot think for themselves. She is constantly trying to tell us how bad and awful Dante is as if she is talking to a child. The whole book is jumpy and sometimes repeating the same thing over and over.
It was such a choir to read.
August 12, 2015
Interesting story, awful copy editing
If you can make it through the countless typos, this is an interesting profile of an evil woman. Jones did a good job recounting the trial and interviewing some of the many unfortunate enough to cross this murderer's path. But the lack of a copy editor is more than a distraction; it truly detracts from this book. If I was Jones, I'd demand the publisher fix it ASAP.
If you can make it through the countless typos, this is an interesting profile of an evil woman. Jones did a good job recounting the trial and interviewing some of the many unfortunate enough to cross this murderer's path. But the lack of a copy editor is more than a distraction; it truly detracts from this book. If I was Jones, I'd demand the publisher fix it ASAP.
November 17, 2017
I admire that the author did research before writing this book, but this book was a sloppy and rambling mess. I'm not sure if I'll read another book by Aphrodite Jones since I expected more from her writing especially with such an interesting true life story.
November 11, 2024
I will never try this author again. Interesting crime but honestly, mixed-up, boringly written, terrible book. And long. Find another place, documentary or book to read about these cases. My younger friends and myself might find the times, behaviours and social norms of the time in this book a little, I can’t think now of the word I want, but the world and dating and norms, much different now compared to then. And no smart phones, not even cell phones I remember. Very large with aerials.
March 14, 2018
This was another guilty-pleasure true crime read, so I was well-aware before diving in that it wasn't some piece of highbrow literature.
In short, the narrative could have done with a better editor and the author, who makes a living discussing crime and killers, probably could have chosen a more interesting person to write about.
In short, the narrative could have done with a better editor and the author, who makes a living discussing crime and killers, probably could have chosen a more interesting person to write about.
October 16, 2010
Jones always finds fascinating cases, but the writing is sloppy. Her books lack polish and she rambles.
April 18, 2016
The writing style of this book is not very good. Chapters start and end abruptly, and are far too short. There's no reason to have 90 chapters, especially when the chapter division seem so random. Jones tries to craft a gripping, coherent narrative out of rumor, innuendo, and gossip, but comes up short. She doesn't seem to have the writing chops to pull off a strong story from vagueness. Indeed, the writing actually improves near the end, when Jones finally begins talking about the trial. I believe this probably relates to the availability of court transcripts and Court TV footage to show what people were saying and doing in the courtroom. Jones can describe what she sees and hears, but failed to create anything from the gossip she culled about Della's life. A better structure would have been to start with the trial and use its concrete structure as a bulwark throughout the book to hold up the less specific background of Della's past behavior and relationships. For much of the book, Jones contradicts herself, saying opposite things about a person's opinions and behaviors. She also makes bold claims without specific examples. For instance, talking about Darryl's first marriage, she says his first wife found him, "extremely giving and generous," but in the next sentence said, "except [when] his cruel side would come out," and went on to say he was like, "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" around Jan's mother. So, which was he? And why are there no examples given of any of this behavior? How was he generous? How was he cruel? This kind of thing felt like Jones was trying to stretch the book to far, like a kid writing an essay at the last minute hoping to make the minimum word count. I will say that Jones tried to be thorough; she seems to have gotten in touch with a lot of people and asked about all the angles she could get. However, she tried to force too much unsubstantiated talk into a plot that she just couldn't make flow with any finesse.
January 13, 2023
This book covers the murder of Dr. Darryl Sutorius, a prominent heart surgeon in the Cincinnati area. Dr. Sutorius was found dead by his wife in the basement of their home. Investigators were initially unsure of the cause of death, as it appeared to be a self inflicted gunshot wound at first glance. As the investigation unfolded, they discovered that his wife had been using the name Dante, though her real name was Della Faye, and that she had purchased the gun that killed her husband. Gunshot residue tests also concluded that she is the one who had fired the gun. Interestingly, the more they uncovered about her, the crazier the story gets. I won't spoil the book for anyone who wants to read it, but I will say that she was a SHADY character that lied every time she took a breath.
This case was featured on an episode of Forensic Files, and I got this book when I realized it was mentioned in the episode. If you are a Forensic Files fan, you should make sure you pick up the books that are mentioned. It really gives a deeper dive into the cases mentioned. I have to admit that I am not a super big fan of Aphrodite Jones, however this book was decent. The research was done quite well, and really added a lot to what I learned from the show. I thought that this woman was a sketchy one when I watched the show, but this book goes into far greater detail about her lies and shenanagins than the show did. It wasn't a very long book either, so if you are looking for something in the 300-ish page range, here you go. I also suggest always looking up the people that you read about in true crime books for updates on their current incarceration/parole status, because a lot of these cases are pretty old. Sometimes you learn some interesting things after the fact.
This case was featured on an episode of Forensic Files, and I got this book when I realized it was mentioned in the episode. If you are a Forensic Files fan, you should make sure you pick up the books that are mentioned. It really gives a deeper dive into the cases mentioned. I have to admit that I am not a super big fan of Aphrodite Jones, however this book was decent. The research was done quite well, and really added a lot to what I learned from the show. I thought that this woman was a sketchy one when I watched the show, but this book goes into far greater detail about her lies and shenanagins than the show did. It wasn't a very long book either, so if you are looking for something in the 300-ish page range, here you go. I also suggest always looking up the people that you read about in true crime books for updates on their current incarceration/parole status, because a lot of these cases are pretty old. Sometimes you learn some interesting things after the fact.
May 16, 2017
This book told the story of Della Faye Hall, who changed her name to Dante. She was accused and convicted of killing her doctor husband, Darryl Sutorius in 1996. Looking her up on the internet, she has since died while serving her jail sentence.
This story would actually be good for someone to read if they were studying mental disorders, as Dante is one crazy woman. Reading about her life, the problems seemed to have started when her father died and her mother remarried. Dante dropped out of high school, and her goal in life seemed to be to marry someone who not only could take care of her, but also have unlimited amounts of money. The surprising thing is, she found several men who fell for her tricks and seemed to want to do everything for her, including her last husband, Darryl. But for crazy Dante, money always came first and and hoping to inherit as much money as she could get her hands on, shot Darryl, making it look like a suicide.
This story would actually be good for someone to read if they were studying mental disorders, as Dante is one crazy woman. Reading about her life, the problems seemed to have started when her father died and her mother remarried. Dante dropped out of high school, and her goal in life seemed to be to marry someone who not only could take care of her, but also have unlimited amounts of money. The surprising thing is, she found several men who fell for her tricks and seemed to want to do everything for her, including her last husband, Darryl. But for crazy Dante, money always came first and and hoping to inherit as much money as she could get her hands on, shot Darryl, making it look like a suicide.
February 26, 2018
Not the greatest story ever told
A lot of this book is super redundant and reads just as a Dateline episode might, but in stereo. The story is interesting but just drags on and ON as the same relationship scenarios are bashed out chapter by chapter. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a synopsis: A verifiably insane woman continually seeks out well to do men, feigns pregnancy, sometimes marries them, threatens to kill them and finally succeeds in murdering one of them. FYI - the men here seem to be morons. The end.
A lot of this book is super redundant and reads just as a Dateline episode might, but in stereo. The story is interesting but just drags on and ON as the same relationship scenarios are bashed out chapter by chapter. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a synopsis: A verifiably insane woman continually seeks out well to do men, feigns pregnancy, sometimes marries them, threatens to kill them and finally succeeds in murdering one of them. FYI - the men here seem to be morons. The end.
July 29, 2011
I read this b/c one of the inspectors who works for me was involved in investigating this case. I was not living in Cincinnati during this time period, but all the locations are familiar, places I know of or have been to. Weird. Hard to believe she caught so many men in her web--if even half the stories are true, she's completely insane and downright creepy. Glad she is in prison!
August 2, 2019
It reads like a cheesy Lifetime movie. I lost interest a few pages in and by the time her husband actually dies (at least the first one) less than 100 pages in, I was suffering too much to continue. Final page: 81
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2020
WOW
The true story of a complete psychopath, narccisistic gas lighter. It is very scary that so many people fell for her, even after they experienced her deceit and wrath. This book actually opened my eyes to a few induviduals that may have crossed my Path.
The true story of a complete psychopath, narccisistic gas lighter. It is very scary that so many people fell for her, even after they experienced her deceit and wrath. This book actually opened my eyes to a few induviduals that may have crossed my Path.
November 25, 2020
A True Black Widow
An interesting biography of a true black widow. The author paints a picture if a dangerous narcissist who’s dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality attracts men, who soon find out just how dangerous she is. Like most true crime novels, I felt that t.he book dragged in the middle. Overall, an easy read.
An interesting biography of a true black widow. The author paints a picture if a dangerous narcissist who’s dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality attracts men, who soon find out just how dangerous she is. Like most true crime novels, I felt that t.he book dragged in the middle. Overall, an easy read.
May 29, 2017
I personally don t care for the authors. style of writing. she jumps around and fails to engage the reader.
I prefer Ann Rule style of writing. this author jumps around and fails to engage the reader
ok Story5............ ..
I prefer Ann Rule style of writing. this author jumps around and fails to engage the reader
ok Story5............ ..
January 13, 2018
Very poorly & confusingly written. The story was interesting & I always finish books or I would have just stopped 3/4 of the way through. I didn’t know who was talking, what year it was, & there was no timeline.
May 17, 2020
Apparently if you’re a short, pretty woman who talks in a childlike manner, numerous men will continually forgive you for false accusations, stealing, almost burning them alive, and more. It’s really pathetic.
July 29, 2020
I enjoyed the story. In sequence of the story was easy to follow; the story began with the Situation of Darryl Sutorious, Dalla, family, friends, and the 911 call. Then it follows with specific information about the two of them; finally ending with the court hearing.
September 12, 2020
Pretty good read
The story was an interesting tale of a woman's life and what she may have done. The writing was engaging and the story unfolded fluidly. I recommend reading it for yourself!
The story was an interesting tale of a woman's life and what she may have done. The writing was engaging and the story unfolded fluidly. I recommend reading it for yourself!
October 19, 2020
Outstanding!
Despite the large cast of participants, the author kept all the strings clear and connected. Thanks for a fascinating journey into to truly evil mind. I do wish there had been photos at the end.
Despite the large cast of participants, the author kept all the strings clear and connected. Thanks for a fascinating journey into to truly evil mind. I do wish there had been photos at the end.
October 20, 2020
1-Star Written Badly, But A 5-Star Story! Why Gave It 3-Stars! Educated Professional Males Best THINK Pertaining CHARACTER Of A Women, Question, Check People Out, And What A Mess This Gal Made Of People Lives!
March 24, 2021
Total Page Turner
I could not put this book down. The author did an outstanding job of weaving a story of a very complex, selfish woman that stopped at nothing to get what she wanted.
I could not put this book down. The author did an outstanding job of weaving a story of a very complex, selfish woman that stopped at nothing to get what she wanted.
July 5, 2021
True Crime Thriller
Awesome book that was well written and detailed throughout. The author provides excellent background about Fella and proved to the reader what a narcissistic women she is. I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommend it to all true crime readers.
Awesome book that was well written and detailed throughout. The author provides excellent background about Fella and proved to the reader what a narcissistic women she is. I couldn't put this book down. Highly recommend it to all true crime readers.
November 11, 2022
Della's Webb
This is a great true crime novel and the first I have read by this author. I will be looking for more by her. Well written and very well told. The flow and development are fantastic.
This is a great true crime novel and the first I have read by this author. I will be looking for more by her. Well written and very well told. The flow and development are fantastic.
December 7, 2023
S. Smith
I had never read a book by this author before Della's Web....... I finished the ebook primarily because I paid for it. I'm glad Della was given a sentence for many years for her crime(s).And I don't like to waste money, leaving an ebook unfinished.
I had never read a book by this author before Della's Web....... I finished the ebook primarily because I paid for it. I'm glad Della was given a sentence for many years for her crime(s).And I don't like to waste money, leaving an ebook unfinished.
January 12, 2024
One of the best true crime books I have read. I had previously read the author’s book on MJ and found it to be one of the rare ones - no bias against the legendary King of Pop.
This book is well written and managed to hold my attention for most part. Recommended to fans of True crime genre.
This book is well written and managed to hold my attention for most part. Recommended to fans of True crime genre.
December 6, 2024
DELLA'S WEB by Aphrodite Jones is a page-turner. It does repeat facts a bit too many times lending it to be somewhat repetitive. However, I do recommend this book if you are interested in true crimes.
December 14, 2024
It hurt me to give this a three. The story and time that went into the book is deserving, but not the clunky God awful mess of editorial errors or the chapters that end abruptly. Yikes, ask for a refund, Aphrodite!! I know I want one and I got this at a yard sale!
October 4, 2017
Wow. This is one of those books that once you get into it, you just can't stop reading it. You just want to know what happens next and what's coming. And Della is a real psycho!
February 22, 2018
Couldn’t finish. Worst writing ever!!!
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