Studies have shown that marriages typically thrive the most in the months after the wedding, a period known as "the honeymoon period." Not these marriages.

Spousal murder is never acceptable, but newlywed murder seems to be on a completely different level. It is unconscionable to think someone could stand in front of his family and friends, pledging to honor and cherish another person for the rest of his life, and then kill his spouse in cold blood just months, weeks, or even days later. It happens more than you'd think - and, contrary to popular belief, it's not always the husband who acts as the aggressor.

In her third true-crime book, best-selling author JJ Slate examines more than 20 true stories of newlywed murders, delving into the pasts of the victims and aggressors, searching for answers to the question everyone is asking: How does this sort of thing happen? These shocking cases of betrayal and murder might just make you think differently about those five sacred words: "till death do us part."