Book Review: While Innocents Slept

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

While Innocents Slept     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Adrian Havill
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Medical   Noir   Child Abuse
St. Martin’s, Jan 2001, $23.95, 272 pp.

His friends and family felt bad for Garrett and Missy Wilson when both their infants died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in the 1980s. In 1993, Garrett divorced Missy. Later he married Vicky and had a little girl Marysa with her. In 1998, Maryland police arrest Garrett for smothering his son Garrett Michael to death in 1987. The death of his daughter Brandi Jean remains suspicious. A jury deliberating in less than two hours returned a guilty verdict on Garrett.

However, is he guilty of murder for insurance or is he the victim of a zealot police officer and a scorned former wife?

Adrian Havill provides one heck of a true-life crime tale by having access to more than just both sides of the story. The author also obtains the latest medical information on SIDS that adds to the terror of this real life murder mystery. WHILE INNOCENTS SLEPT is a shocker not because Garrett did or did not kill his two children, but because of the realization that a statistically significant number of SIDS casualties are homicide victims. Not for the faint of heart, fans will find this scary true-life mystery to be one of the best the genre offers.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner