Jean Marie Stanberry

Heartless: a Star is Dead Jean Marie Stanberry

Publisher Marketing: When aging Hollywood movie star Sabine Rousseau is found murdered in her Chicago area home, it is obvious to Detective Doug Bellamy and his partner Chris Salazar that this was not merely a random murder. Sabine has been stabbed multiple times and the one variable that makes this murder unique, is the that the killer has actually opened her chest cavity, removed her heart and took it with them, either as a trophy or as a message to whomever found the body that they considered Sabine to be "heartless." Sabine's entire family is obviously damaged, but it is her very bizarre youngest daughter, who sets off the "whack job" alarm for Bellamy and his partner. Her lies and misleading stories immediately make her their primary suspect. Later, when Bellamy takes the investigation in a different direction, it seems like the case and his own life, are soon falling apart. When speculation contradicts the only hard evidence they have in the case, the chief suspects that Bellamy is falling apart and takes him off the case. It is only after previously ignored evidence is found, that the case begins to move in a different direction and the realization that the killer may have not claimed their last victim yet, incites a nationwide manhunt for a very dangerous killer.