Dead Red Roses is the incredible but true story of a very rare occurrence—the serial killer couple. Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez were credited with as many as 20 murders for which they were both electrocuted in Sing Sing in 1951. The pair—posing as brother and sister—launched an unprecedented crime spree when they lured naïve women through “Lonely Hearts” ads to deceive and defraud them.
Their trial was one of the most sensational of the era, filling newspaper columns with lurid tales of sexual perversity and unnatural obsessions. Reporters were relentless in describing Martha as a sexual deviant, and the public couldn’t get enough of the story or the couple that seemed to swing between proclaiming their innocence and celebrating their shared infamy and sexual appetites.
The story is meticulously researched and well-resourced with major newspaper reports of the time for what was then described as “the crime of the century.” This approach includes multiple perspectives—conversations among the key characters, narrative storytelling, and contemporary reports from journalists, court transcripts, psychiatrists, and detectives from the day.
Mary F. –
“Two lost souls who somehow find each other to create incredible chaos and horrendous acts. Almost hard to believe but there it is in black and white and with photos. Stunning story.”
Jesse K. –
“A real life tale far more fascinating and with more twists than Hollywood could ever have imagined. Hard to grasp that it is true at times.”
Matthew R. –
“An absolutely incredible story that obviously reflects a tremendous amount of research. This will no doubt be among the best true crime stories of the year and beyond.”
Annie L. –
“From chapter to chapter to chapter this story just gets more amazing. There are such parallels between online dating today and the lonely hearts ads of yesterday that this book almost feels contemporary.”
Julie R. –
“A compelling and completely unpredictable page-turner of a true story behind an infamous, but virtually unknown, murderous couple. Incredible!”
Stephan P. –
“It’s easy to see how this true story of deceit and murder inspired a half-dozen feature films. It’s a blockbuster of a story.”
Jonathan U. –
“It’s easy to see how five feature films were made on the Fernandez-Beck crime spree, but hard to understand why no one has covered the story until this. What a fantastic job of research and writing.”