EXCLUSIVE: From Bombshell to Pill-Popping Car-Crash — Marilyn Monroe's Greatest Secrets Exposed as Fans Mark Icon's 63rd Death Anniversary
Marilyn Monroe’s biggest secrets surfaced on the 63rd anniversary of her death.
Sept. 4 2025, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
Marilyn Monroe's darkest secrets – from her spiraling drug use to the conspiracies surrounding her death – are revealed in a new book tracing how Hollywood's brightest starlet became a drug-addicted wreck, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe, by bestselling crime author James Patterson, 77, and British writer Imogen Edwards-Jones, 61, has been published as fans mark 63 years since Monroe's mysterious death in Los Angeles in 1962.
Theories About Her Death
New book exposes Marilyn Monroe's final days of pills, paranoia & despair.
The actress, who was just 36 when she left the world reeling with her passing, remains one of the most mythologized figures of the 20th century, with more than 3,000 books already devoted to her.
A publishing source said: "This book doesn't shy away from showing how Marilyn went from the ultimate s-- symbol to someone utterly undone by fame, pills and toxic relationships. It's a harrowing portrait of self-destruction."
Another insider added: "People will always argue about what really happened the night she died – was it suicide, an accidental overdose, or murder tied to the Kennedys?
"Patterson and Edwards-Jones don't claim to solve it, but they bring readers back into that claustrophobic final chapter of her life."
The book claims Monroe was exploited, typecast & broken by fame.
The book opens with Monroe's body being discovered at her Brentwood home before rewinding to her beginnings as Norma Jeane Mortenson, abandoned by her father and raised in foster homes.
It follows her rapid ascent from nude calendar shoots to starring roles in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Misfits (1961).
But the focus is less on her 29 films than on her personal turmoil – which included three failed marriages, battles with depression and a reliance on barbiturates that spiraled out of control in the months before her death.
Hollywood insiders describe Monroe as both adored and exploited. Studios cast her as the dumb blonde while she yearned for dramatic roles.
"She was typecast as a fantasy object and not taken seriously as an actress," one source said. "That drove her to despair and drugs."
Patterson’s 'The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe' paints a harrowing portrait.
The authors recount the bombshell's tempestuous relationships with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, as well as her alleged affairs with John and Robert Kennedy – affairs that continue to fuel suspicions about her death.
Within hours of her body being found, speculation began the Kennedys may have known more than they admitted. To this day, conspiracy theories suggest she was silenced because of what she knew about the politics clan.
George Cukor, who directed Monroe in Let's Make Love (1960), once said: "There's been an awful lot of crap written about Marilyn."
Yet Patterson's name adds weight to this retelling. Known for his Alex Cross crime novels, he applies a thriller-like pacing to the tale of Monroe's decline, while Edwards-Jones – who made her name exposing excess in industries from hotels to airlines – weaves in the detail.
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63 years later, the truth behind Marilyn’s death remains a hot topic.
Despite Patterson's reputation, the book does not attempt a true-crime reveal.
Instead, it portrays Monroe's final days as an unstoppable descent.
She is shown isolated, surrounded not by friends but by a housekeeper and two doctors who prescribed ever-increasing quantities of pills.
One publishing executive said: "What the book shows is how quickly she went from America's dream girl to someone utterly alone and addicted. That's why the conspiracies endure – because her death feels like the ultimate betrayal of Hollywood's promises."
