Guilty Creatures is the classic tale of a love triangle gone wrong. The writing was engrossing and the research was impressive. As the reader delves deeper into the book, a slight bias and reliance on sexist tropes is revealed in the writing. Overall, still and interesting read for true crime fans. Recommend pairing it with Season 4 of the podcast Over My Dead Body (not without its own bias), combining these two pieces of media will give readers a balanced idea of this tragedy.

Not gonna lie: I, like many, learned about the Mike Williams case thanks to Investigation Discovery’s Disappeared. From watching that episode, I gained basic knowledge of the case, but also became a major fangirl when it came to Cheryl Williams, Mike’s mother. No matter how many people told her to drop it, she did everything in her power to keep pushing for justice in her son’s case, even though it cost her access to her granddaughter. And you better believe that when I heard the case had finally been solved, she was the first person I thought about. I am so glad Cheryl Williams lived to see her son get the justice he deserved.

I am a bit disappointed that the book was more about Mike’s killers than her, but I suppose such is life.

Still, if you enjoy true crime and a good potboiler, this book is definitely worth reading.

Guilty Creatures tells the story of the murder of Mike Williams. A crime that took almost 20 years to solve. Mike was part of a foursome that formed in High School which was comprised of he and his best friend, Brian, as well as their former girlfriends (Denise and Kathy) whom they both married. They were inseparable until Mike and Brian went on a duck hunting trip early one morning and Mike never returned. What follows is the story of what happened, what was covered up and how everything eventually came out.

Admittedly, this is the first time I've read a true crime/non-fiction book and I don't know if the genre isn't for me or if it's this book in particular. While there are plenty of elements that should be intriguing (deceit, debauchery, drama, etc.), I just couldn't get entrenched in the story because of the "report" style writing. Frankly, I was bored and just wanted the book to end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy for an honest review.

From the critically acclaimed author of the “enthralling” ( San Francisco Book Review ) An Unexplained Death , a breathless true crime tale of sex, religion, and murder in the deep South.

An interesting read. I don't read a lot of non-fiction or true crime, but this one caught my eye and I'm glad I read it.

The most chilling thing about this true-life story is how evil people hide behind God, the Bible, and being a Christian. This is a sordid tale of lust, greed, drugs, and murder.

Husband Mike goes missing after an early morning duck hunting trip. After his boat, waders, and hunting vest are found, investigators assume he had a mishap in the water and was eventually eaten by alligators. Soon after, his widow marries Mike's best friend, Brian.

Denise was the shrewdest person I've ever read about. She never slipped in her alibi and saw through investigators' attempts to have her confess during phone conversations with Brian's ex-wife. She never dropped the charade of a grieving widow. If not for Mike's mother pushing the police and keeping the disappearance in the spotlight, I'm not sure justice ever would have been served.

I apparently watched this on a true crime show, but don't remember the story. I will, however, remember it after reading this book.

The one thing that would have improved the book is photos. I found myself looking online to see what everyone looked like and to see photos from the investigation.

I'm an avid true crime reader and viewer so I jumped at the chance to read this one and it didn't disappoint. The author was able to tell this story of greed and murder in the south in a small space of time which I found commendable. I never heard of this crime before so I was both intrigued and riveted to the book! Highly recommended.

I’ve never heard of this case so all the information was brand new for me!

I found the case really interesting and it makes you question the motives of people. Yes, money is involved. But surely your conscience doesn’t let you go through with murder.

I found the writing to be easy to follow. It had all the facts to back up without being too heavy. I do wish there were pictures throughout the book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Mikita Brottman and Atria books for the opportunity to read Guilty Creatures. I have written this review voluntarily.

Guilty Creatures suffers from the worst thing a True Crime book can suffer from: being boring. Mikita Brottman fails to deliver a compelling book and I never felt invested or interested in this story at all.

This is a true crime story that was well publicized all over the Country. Because I do not watch this
type of programming, I knew nothing about the lengthy saga.
I found the actual murder to be the least interesting part of this story. The dogged determination of
Brian’s Mom is probably the single most compelling thing to me: Nothing can ever stand between a
Mother and her child.
As the story is told, it is clear that the entire far reaching community had a tight grip on how everyone
was expected to behave, and if we combine that with less than dedicated or aggressive investigation
techniques, the situation makes sense.
The book was well written, but might have had a bit more detail than I needed. However, we each bring
our own experiences to the table and this is a story with which I am familiar. The last third of the book is
well done. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy true murder stories.
My thanks to the Author, Mikita Brottman, her Publisher, Atria ~One Signal, via NetGalley for this
download copy for review purposes.

Interesting read. Well thought out and researched. Would for sure recommend if this topic is intermeeting to you at all.

Two couples in Florida have been best friends for many years from high school to adulthood. Then one husband vanishes while duck hunting, leaving a mystery that took a decade to solve.

True crime is not my typical genre. I found the story interesting, but then underwhelming as it began to unfold. There seem to be parts that were retold in the same way more than once. The writing was done in a way that kept my interest but the story was anticlimatic and left me disappointed and bored about halfway through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC.

This was a fine true crime read - it didn't add anything that one couldn't read in the Wikipedia article, but the writing itself was fine.

Thank you to Netgallery and publisher for the ARC of this book!

I'm surprised this case wasn't talked about more. I had never heard anything about it (one of the reasons I requested it). But to have a murder or suspected murder go unsolved for decades in which most people already thought it had to do with the wife seems crazy to me.

The lives of Mike, Denise, Brian, and Kathy (4 best friends) was changed by sex, lies, and cheating. It was a little hard to get into (as I'm not religious or know much about the Baptist faith), but the author did a great job of giving background descriptions of their lives and faith.
These 4 friends seemed to have a great relationship/friendship with each other, until Denise and Brian acted on their feelings for one another. This led to even more lies and eventually Mike's murder. They were able to keep their secret for so long, until Denise wanted a divorce after marrying Brian. This changed the dynamic as Brian couldn't handle another divorce. But yet, the reason for the murder was because Denise thought divorce was too great of a sin. I find this ironic as I figured murder would be a bigger sin. Although she didn't murder Mike herself, she had plenty to do with it.
I was glad I read it, but believe Brian should have been charged also. Although he was granted immunity because he was already facing charges for kidnapping Denise, which was the turning point for him. I believe if he hadn't had a breakdown about the divorce they would have both gone to their graves with the secret of Mike's murder.

Interesting true crime that I was not familiar with but definitely reads more like a court transcript or textbook, didn't really grab my attention.

"Guilty Creatures" masterfully unravels the perplexing true crime tale of Mike and Denise Williams, once part of a seemingly unbreakable Baptist friendship. Brottman skillfully navigates the suspenseful events surrounding Mike's mysterious disappearance while duck hunting. The unexpected twist involving Brian and Denise's romance adds a layer of intrigue, sparking speculation about their involvement in Mike's fate. With a well-crafted narrative, the book keeps readers hooked until the shocking truth emerges many years later. Gripping and unimaginable, "Guilty Creatures" is a compelling exploration of betrayal, secrets, and the dark undercurrents beneath seemingly perfect Southern lives.

Im a huge true crime fan. So I was surprised I hadn't heard of this case before. It's a wild tale of betrayal, religions, adultery that ends in cold blooded murder.

This book was written so detailed, and the author clearly did a metric ton of research, it just lacked the flow of true crime that usually sucks me in. In my non-author opinion, it just read more like a prose-y textbook than true crime nonfiction. I think others will really like it though! It definitely made me want to research the case more.

Thank you to Net Galley & the publisher for this arc!

Oh the things you’ll do for love, or well in this case, lust and religion. I enjoyed how we were given full knowledge of the suspects day to day lives. The author took the time to give us all the details so we knew them genuinely as people and not solely judge them for their crimes. In some parts I felt the reading was a little dense and read off like a case study rather than a true crime story BUT it was still entertaining. There was plenty of well written drama to keep the pace and the pages turning!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. Guilty Creatures is one of the most well-written true crime books I've read. The true life story of a murder, religion and sex is sordid to the very core but written factually and with consideration given to the family of the victim. Mike Williams was a well-loved, hard-working Baptist man, married to Denise, who he had been dating since high school. His friend, Brian Winchester was married to Kathy and the two couples were long term friends. Denise and Brian were unhappy in their marriages and devise a plan to murder Mike and they succeed. However it takes authorities 17 years to find the truth and convict the two deceitful, "Christian" lovers, who married after Mike's gruesome death. I live in Florida and had heard of the case over the years. The belief was that Mike drowned on a fishing trip and that his body was consumed by alligators in Lake Seminole. Nothing could be further from the truth but the unsavory truth is both shocking and sad. A great read for those who enjoy true crime and for those who follow "Florida Man" stories. As the old saying goes "Truth is stranger than fiction."

I'm always fascinated by the crimes committed by "normal" everyday people. They're a stark contrast to serial offenders, but somehow less comprehensible. Like, if you're gonna do something as drastic as murder, just go for it & commit all the way? When there are elements of a criminal's story that hit close to home, morbid curiosity comes out to play, and that's where Guilty Creatures excels. I was raised in the Southern Evangelical world (and have since left) so Denise and Brian's Baptist beliefs felt very familiar. While I don't think I would jump from divorce to murder as the next-best option, I have seen the stigma of divorce carry social consequences that can rip your community away in a millisecond. Mikita did an excellent job of driving home the fragility of relationships forged in a religious community that isolates you so that when you leave or are cast out, you are unnervingly alone, which heavily influenced how Brian and Denise's story played out,

Mikita's style of storytelling draws you in like she's telling you a secret only you two know, keeping the pages turning even when it's past your bedtime and you're nodding off. The way she weaves together the various narratives that make up Guilty Creatures is wonderfully done, revealing bits of information in moments where they'll have the strongest impact rather than telling the story chronologically, and I feel like that's an element most books in the True Crime genre often miss. The way Guilty Creatures is written feels a bit like Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark, minus the memoir elements that tied Michelle to the Golden State Killer.

I will definitely be adding Mikita's other books to my TBR.

I requested this book because I don’t remember hearing about this particular case. It was an interesting case and the author did good with it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books, Atria/One Signal Publishers for this ARC. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~