TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal
Ann Rule
Free Press
True Crime
ISBN-10: 0743238524
ISBN-13: 9780743238526

As one of America’s most respected authors of true-crime sagas, Ann Rule has the luxury of picking the cases she will transform into bestselling epics. Her reputation has placed her in the enviable position of having people contact her to suggest real-life murders that warrant the Ann Rule treatment. Such was the case with Jenn Corbin, who appeared to take her own life in her suburban Atlanta home late in 2004. To make her death even more tragic, her lifeless body was discovered by her seven-year old son Dalton, who ran to a neighbor’s house announcing, “My daddy shot my mommy --- I need you to call 911.” The police investigation pointed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound as the cause of death.

To their community of Buford, Georgia, Jenn Corbin and her dentist husband, Bart, seemed to be the idyllic couple --- the parents of two boys, Bart was building his dental practice and Jenn was a preschool teacher --- but appearances can often be deceiving. Bart Corbin was a man who was far different in private than in public. In addition to his controlling personality, he was also a womanizer. This combination was too much for Jenn to bear, and shortly before her death, they separated. Divorce was imminent.

Experienced law enforcement officers acknowledge that homicides must be solved quickly, within hours or days. They also will admit that spouses are generally prime suspects when their partner is murdered. The Corbin death had all the markings of a suicide, and the case appeared to be headed to the cold case files of the Gwinnett County Police Department. But hard work and luck are often far superior law enforcement tools than DNA or fingerprints.

Authorities learned about another woman, Dolly Hearn, who had been involved with Bart Corbin years before and had met her death in circumstances remarkably similar to Jenn. One suicide can perhaps be explained, but the odds of two women, romantically linked to the same man, taking their own lives were as remote as one person being struck by lightning on two separate occasions. However, knowing that crimes have occurred and proving them beyond a reasonable doubt are far different animals. TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE is the mesmerizing tale of how law enforcement coordinated information from two deaths separated by nearly a decade to convict Bart Corbin of murder.

Americans love their crime. From “Law & Order” to countless courtroom shows and  our near-obsession with the real-life crimes of O. J. Simpson, Scott Peterson and others, we are fascinated with the workings of the legal system. Ann Rule is one of the elite true-crime writers, producing books that cause people to wonder if they are reading fact or fiction. From Ted Bundy to the Green River Killer who stalked and murdered for decades to Dr. Bart Corbin, Rule paints a picture of crime that readers will be unable to put down. Page after page yields the story of an incredible absorbing crime that almost went unsolved.

TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE is the quintessential true-crime story. Prepare yourself for a few late nights of reading.

   --- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

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