Reviews

Dale Cavaness, a family practitioner, was worshipped in the small town region of southern Illinois known as Little Egypt. But the doctor was also a Mr. Hyde who terrorized his family, was convicted of drunk driving and reckless homicide, and was indicted for deceptive medical practice. Still, the shooting death of his son, Mark, in 1977, was seen as a tragic accident--until Cavaness was convicted of the 1984 murder of another son, Sean. The motive for these heinous crimes was insurance money. With the cooperation of surviving family members, O'Brien, who last wrote about the Los Angeles ``Hillside Stranglers'' in Two of a Kind ( LJ 9/1/85), has fashioned a chilling account of the psychopath as physician. Recommended.-- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California, Davis

The southern triangle of Illinois has been known as Egypt or Little Egypt since 1832, when northern Illinoisans journeyed there to buy corn after a difficult winter. In this riveting historical true-crime acount, we read about John Dale Cavaness, who grew up there and returned to practice medicine when he completed his training. With his second wife he had four sons and became one of the most beloved men in the area, often treating patients without charge. But at home he was tyrannical, beating his wife and eventually leaving her for his mistress, and criticizing his sons. University of Tulsa English professor O'Brien ( The Silver Spooner ) shows how this complex human being disintegrated, turning to drink and drugs and squandering his considerable income on chimerical schemes, until he killed two of his sons, presumably to collect the insurance. Convicted and sentenced to death, Cavaness committed suicide in prison. Literary Guild alternate. (Feb.)