“It was, in short, the O. J. Simpson trial of its era. Rarely had circumstances converged to produce such a sensational story, one that, as the Houston Chronicle put it, was teeming with ‘love, heat, greed, savage passion, intrigue, incest and perversion.'” In other words, it’s the ideal story to read to get ready for the holiday week. Skip Hollandsworth in Texas Monthly: The Notorious Mrs. Mossler. I know what you’re thinking: Wouldn’t an ideal pre-holiday story have to include a chimpanzee? Of course. “There was no mother in River Oaks quite like Candace. She turned the mansion’s ballroom into a giant playroom. She had her chauffeur take the children to drive-in movies, to a bowling alley, to the family’s ranch, and to their Galveston beach house. She and Jacques arranged for a baseball field to be built on a lot across from their home, and one of Jacques’s employees taught the children to play sports. Once, Candace even had a chimpanzee named Jock-O brought to the mansion to play with the kids … As the fifties came to a close, Candace seemed to have it all. Then, in late 1961, Candace got a phone call from Elizabeth ‘Babe’ Powers, her older sister. Babe said she needed help. Her twenty-year-old son, Mel, had been thrown in jail.”

+ Need something else to chat about over Thanksgiving dinner while you’re avoiding religion, politics, and the Rittenhouse verdict? A California couple who swindled millions in COVID relief funds cut off their electronic bracelets and fled, leaving their 3 teenage children behind.