Tonight at 9 p.m., Lifetime airs for the first time Murder on Pleasant Drive, which stars Kelli Williams (of the Practice), Adam Arkin and Amy Madigan. The movie is based on the book My Sister Is Missing: Bringing a Killer to Justice by Sherrie Gladden-Davis and Brad Crawford (Emmis Books, $14.99, 1578602017).
Lifetime describe the movie as "the story of Deanna Wehling (Williams), a single working mother, whose vivacious mother, Fran, marries a charming man she barely knows named John Smith (Arkin). Shortly after the newlyweds move to New Jersey, Fran mysteriously disappears. Deanna, determined to find her mother, enlists the help of her Aunt Sherrie (Madigan) and the two women repeatedly question John about Fran's disappearance. Although John's contradictory explanations raise their suspicions, the police tell them that without a body, there is no hard evidence of a crime. Ultimately, Deanna and Sherrie join forces with the police and uncover some disturbing facts about John, including the grim revelation that his first wife also suspiciously disappeared 25 years earlier. With this new discovery, the two women become convinced that John murdered Fran and decide they will stop at nothing to find out what happened to her."
Gladden-Davis is a retired cost accounting executive who lives with her husband near Indianapolis, Ind., where she devotes much of her time to her grandchildren. She speaks to victims' families and others on the importance of family participation in missing-persons investigations. This is her first book.
Brad Crawford has worked as a magazine editor, book acquisitions editor, agency copywriter and copy editor. He is the author of Compass American Guides: Ohio (Fodor's), a freelance writer and editor for books and magazines and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lifetime describe the movie as "the story of Deanna Wehling (Williams), a single working mother, whose vivacious mother, Fran, marries a charming man she barely knows named John Smith (Arkin). Shortly after the newlyweds move to New Jersey, Fran mysteriously disappears. Deanna, determined to find her mother, enlists the help of her Aunt Sherrie (Madigan) and the two women repeatedly question John about Fran's disappearance. Although John's contradictory explanations raise their suspicions, the police tell them that without a body, there is no hard evidence of a crime. Ultimately, Deanna and Sherrie join forces with the police and uncover some disturbing facts about John, including the grim revelation that his first wife also suspiciously disappeared 25 years earlier. With this new discovery, the two women become convinced that John murdered Fran and decide they will stop at nothing to find out what happened to her."
Gladden-Davis is a retired cost accounting executive who lives with her husband near Indianapolis, Ind., where she devotes much of her time to her grandchildren. She speaks to victims' families and others on the importance of family participation in missing-persons investigations. This is her first book.
Brad Crawford has worked as a magazine editor, book acquisitions editor, agency copywriter and copy editor. He is the author of Compass American Guides: Ohio (Fodor's), a freelance writer and editor for books and magazines and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.