And the Sea Will Tell

By: Vincent Bugliosi, Bruce Henderson - contributor

Narrated by: David Colacci

Alone with her new husband on a tiny Pacific atoll, a young woman, combing the beach, finds an odd aluminum container washed up out of the lagoon, and beside it on the sand something glitters: a gold tooth in a scorched human skull. The investigation that follows uncovers an extraordinarily complex and puzzling true-crime story. Only Vincent Bugliosi, who recounted his successful prosecution of mass murderer Charles Manson in the best seller Helter Skelter, was able to draw together the hundreds of conflicting details of the mystery and reconstruct what really happened when four people found hell in a tropical paradise. And the Sea Will Tell reconstructs the events and subsequent trial of a riveting true murder mystery, and probes into the dark heart of a serpentine scenario of death.

©1991 Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce B. Henderson (P)2019 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Grips you by the throat from beginning to end." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

intriguing and unique

A mystery that will truly never be solved. Good insight to the preparation of trial.

Killer true crime, masterclass in defense law

The first half is an edge-of-your-seat true crime tale threaded with beautiful nuance. Even if you know the story, VB develops the players’ characters with enviable skill. Appropriately, as much attention is given the victims as the (admittedly more intriguing and scary) villain and his judgement-deficient girlfriend. I was 100 percent invested by the second half, which provides a painstaking account of the trial. Not every reader will be into this level of detail but I loved it. I feel like I went to a semester of law school a la Elle Woods and had the experience of defending a most interesting case. And the conclusion was delivered with such masterful storytelling that I became emotional. Phenomenal. The author/lawyer might be proud or even arrogant but he has every reason to be.

Fascinating g story, well told, but...

This is a well written and well narrated book about a decades-old double murder on a remote tropical island that I was not familiar with. A fascinating and haunting story, narrative at times a little self serving as the author almost gleefully recounts each courtroom point (some quite minor) and skillful manipulation scored as if this were a tennis match rather than a search for justice. The author repeatedly emphasizes how much he believes in his client's innocence, and claims that fighting for her acquittal WAS seeking justice, and he must have written the book in a way he hoped would influence the reader to his point of view (as he put the defense case together to do this with the jury). But for this reader, at least, the opposite happened, and I was left thinking he is lucky I was not on that jury! For all his confidence that he could with certainty show his defendant had no knowledge of the crime, was a "good" person (REALLY?), and did nothing more egregious than tell some lies (but for "understandable" reasons, as if that excuses them even if you buy the reason), she came across as manipulative, self-serving, and callous. And, for every neat scenario he put forth that showed her as an innocent, somewhat naive but good-hearted girl caught up in a terrible situation, each of which which he claimed was the only reasonable conclusion, I could think of others, in some cases to me much more plausible, but also much darker and clearly indicating her involvement in the crime at some level. Bottom line the book was interesting, engaging and made me curious for more information because of the disconnect for me between the author's opinion and mine.

Great story (first half)

Very interesting first half. The second half is written with such incredible arrogance by the author about his great skills, that it was an incredible turn off. I also was not convinced about his defendant’s innocence and he was really trying to convince us!

very long.

good story and Vincent seems like a great Lawyer. but got repetitive at the end during the trial which i felt unnecessary.

Long but engaging from start to finish

I honestly love Vincent Bugliosi’s writing style and I love his detailed and exacting writing
I can see how some people would get bogged down in
The legal procedure or the wordy passages of background information but I love it.

Ruined by Mr. Colacci's awful voices

A good story that is diminished by Mr. Bugliosi's ego and Mr. Colacci's ridiculous female voices. Does he believe that all women have high pitch kewpie doll voices? Read it straight and it won't distract from the content. Despite Mr. Bugliosi's assertions, I believe that Jennifer is guilty. But as he frequently repeats, he knows best.

Great Writing!!!

I got this because it sounded like an intriguing story.
I realized I had seen the movie a LONG TIME AGO after I started the story. A great look at the legal process. Well written. Well told.

Good book but errored out

I purchased this book because I’m a great fan of Vincent Bugliosi. I was listening along when all of a sudden about two thirds of the way through the book errored out. I sent a report to Audible but never heard anything back so I returned it. I would love to get an error free file.

Interesing story but long

This book would have benefited from an editor. Bugliosi is brilliant but he's so egotistical and self-absorbed that it become annoying after awhile. Not every little detail is as interesting as he thinks it should be. And the narrator's performance was grating. His speaking voice is lovely but i HATE it when the reader changes voices to depict other characters speaking. He does a terrible woman's voice - so bad it made me hate the main female because he made her sound insipid and whiny. His foreign accents are absolutely awful too. Had he just read it in his own voice, I'd have enjoy it 100x more.