Not a Very Good Murderer

By: Ronan Farrow

Narrated by: Ronan Farrow

Kidnapping plots, arson, jewel heists, attempted murder–just another day in Paradise...Valley, Arizona.

In this wild, genre-bending audio documentary, New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow dives deep into the strange and storied life of high-society socialite and former Miss Arizona Celia (Cece) Doane.

As a well-to-do ex-beauty queen in the 1970s, Cece had no trouble attracting husbands. She did appear to have some trouble getting rid of them, though. Under seemingly perpetual investigation for attempted murder plots against two of her spouses, she has been a “person of interest” to Arizona law enforcement for decades but never arrested. Did she actually conspire to have her husbands killed? And if so, how has she managed to elude detectives for so many years?

Through countless hours of interviews and painstaking investigative legwork, Farrow examines Cece’s checkered past, exposing a web of half-truths and omissions that shed new light on this shocking and confounding case. But what happens when he realizes that his most important source may also be his most unreliable?

Part true crime thriller, part captivating character study, Not a Very Good Murderer is a fascinating exploration of what it takes to uncover the truth and what it means to keep it buried.

©2025 Ronan Farrow (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

OBSESSED!! So well written and so well performed!

Part documentary part true crime part real housewives and totally fascinating! Highly recommend and please do more of these! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Trying to figure out the point?

I really enjoy Ronan’s interviewing style and his story writing, and I have loved all of his work so far, so I maybe went into this with too high of expectations. While I thought the premise was interesting, by the final episode, I was searching hard for the point of this story and couldn’t really find one? Maybe someone can help me out there. I did not find there to be many redeeming qualities for Cece, and there was no real resolution, just a lot of ramblings of a narcissist. Ronan’s investigative journalism has been so thought provoking and inspiring to me in the past, but this really fell flat for me. Still, I listened to the whole thing because I enjoy Ronan that much.

Interesting and Well-written

The story was intriguing and while short, was an interesting character study. I liked it enough to purchase another of his works

Excellent

Absolutely fascinating. Ronan’s skillful interviews and reporting revealed the deeply complex nature of this person and those around her. There’s no neat ending and that is completely appropriate, but Ronan gleans as much as he can from a very complicated life story and it is an excellent listen. Brilliant.

“Truth is stranger than fiction”? You betcha!

I seldom leave reviews, but this was excellent. Hats off to Ronan Farrow. This was the first piece of his I’ve read in full, but it won’t be the last.

As a 38-year veteran of the upscale resort industry, I’ve dealt with at least a half-dozen CeCe Doanes over the decades, if not more. I’ve known guests who were super-rich, entitled, drunk, drugged-out, mentally ill, or some combination of several of those things.

But while Farrow could have easily portrayed CeCe as a demonic witch (as I suspect she herself expects to be received), I was impressed with the nuanced approach here, which revealed some of her humanity.

I would not want to be in the presence of this woman for more than an hour- her drama would exhaust me. I know the type all too well. But the interview was fascinating, and CeCe was not an entirely unsympathetic character.

Wow, a true crime murder story where nobody actually died? That’s actually rather refreshing, coming off my last two reads, which were bios of John Wayne Gacy and the Hillside Stranglers.

I’m an avid True Crime reader. I like the way this one both fits into and defies that genre, just as the blurb suggests.

My only issue was with the sound quality of some of the dialogue- some of it was a little hard for me to hear clearly. But that’s likely because of limitations with my own hearing, and also due to the conditions the interviews had to be recorded under.

Great production and entertain story

Great and intriguing story and interview. Well done and kept me interested until the end. I appreciate the thoroughness.

That this was true

Well done, reporter captured her essence as well as her family's responses without enabling her or denegrating her.

Excellent - of course!!

when I hear Ronan has something new coming out, it's like a kid waiting for Christmas morning!! Great story, great subjects, serious but fun and insightful! more please!

Love Ronan’s Stories

Ronan offers such great human insight and has such vast patience. I fear most people would have gotten fed up half way through this process, but he perseveres. I suspect he provided the closest thing to therapy this woman will ever experience which is how/why she finally began to reflect and acknowledge some hard truths. I think some people truly lack the understanding of the Johari window of self reflection and awareness and are stuck in their own narcissistic ways and never mature past that.
It’s no surprise that a former beauty queen would have those tendencies.

I do wish two specific things would have been better described. I lack a clear picture of what Ceecee looks like both now and in the past. Sarina mentioned a comment where someone said she looked like a mini Ceecee, so maybe she has blond hair and blue eyes and is thin?

I also would have enjoyed more of a portrait of what Ceecee ‘s family relationships were like. What did she say about her parents relationship and their affection or lack thereof towards her? Did her parents have addiction or abuse issues? What were their politics like?

such an interesting story.

what an interesting story. and great narration. I was very impressed by the author and the care he took to present the facts. I look forward to more. from Ronan.