“All happy families are alike,” wrote Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina, and “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The unique unhappiness of the Blackstone family began in March 2015, when Wendy Blackstone was found dead, along with her three rescue dogs, in her Los Angeles garage. Blind and partially deaf, Wendy lived with her sister, Jill, who was a producer for The Jerry Springer Show and Divorce Court. Jill claimed it was accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, but the police soon discovered a slew of evidence that said otherwise. Jill was sentenced to eight years in state prison after entering a no-contest plea deal, leaving much of the story shrouded in mystery. The Emmy-award-winning journalist Barbara Schroeder investigates the amorphous case, unearthing a tale of epic family dysfunction. —Paulina Prosnitz