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Murder in Little Egypt (Onyx)
by Darcy O'Brien
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Onyx (1990-02-06)
ISBN: 0451401670
EAN: 9780451401670
Dewey Decimal #: 364.152309773992
Binding/Media: Paperback - 1 pages
SKU: P0040-0451401670
Condition: Used: Very Good
Comments: Tight spine, clean pages.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The unimaginable crime of filicide takes on the cast of tragic inevitability in this haunting true tale of violence, greed, revenge, and death. Fusing the narrative power of an award-winning novelist and the detailed research of an experienced investigator, Darcy O’Brien unfolds the story of Dr. John Dale Cavaness, the southern Illinois physician and surgeon who in December 1984 was charged with the murder of his son Sean. Outraged by the arrest of the skilled medical practitioner who selflessly attended to their needs, the people of Little Egypt rose to his defense. In the trial, however, a radically different, disquieting portrait of Dr. Cavaness would emerge. For throughout the three decades that he enjoyed the admiration and respect of his community, Cavaness was privately terrorizing his family, abusing his employees, and making disastrous financial investments as well as brawling and womanizing. What was not revealed in the trial, however, was that seven years earlier, in a homicide that had never been solved, the body of Cavaness’s firstborn son, Mark, had been found shot dead in the woods of Little Egypt. In addition to a compelling chronicle that uncovers the truth behind two ghastly crimes and lays bare the Jekyll–Hyde psyche of their perpetrator, Murder in Little Egypt brings into stark midwestern light the hidden, gothic underside of an America bred on violence and bathed in blood. "Stunning material,"—Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney "A meticulous account ... an implicit indictment of a culture that condones and encourages violent behavior in men."—The New York Times Book Review
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Customer Reviews
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Excellent True Crime Book!!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-07-09
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I could not put this book down. The story was almost unbelievable. The author was able to obtain detailed information about the killer, Dr. Dale, and how he interacted with family, friends, enemies, and employees. He didn't just provide a synopsis of the crimes, O'Brien followed the life of the doctor and how he hurt many people. This man was an arrogant bully and thought his sons were expendable.
The people that work in the medical profession (especially doctors) are intelligent people who have studied many years to get where they are. As a result, the common folk (like me) hold them in high esteem. But along the way, sometimes these people become narcissistic. In any event, I loved the chapter where he was busted. Although I follow a lot of crimes, I missed this story along the way, but I read a reviewer's comments and decided to purchase the book. I'm glad I had the chance to read it. I highly recommend it. Sometimes when I read a book, I find myself skimming over details that I don't feel add to the story. I didn't do that here. I read every word of this absorbing book.
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A book that is hard to put down.
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-29
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
My family is from Eldorado, so I remember when the events were unfolding. The accuracy of how people live in the area was accurate. The amazing thing was my grandmother used to live across the street from Dr. Cavaness and he was her doctor for a period of time. He was also my mothers doctor for a while also. I got a first hand account from his patients what kind of doctor he was, and it wasn't positive. This was not the norm from what I've heard up to this point. I found the book hard to put down because it was so interesting.
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Great Story Told Well
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-11
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I just finished reading this book for the second time. The first time was at least 10 years ago at the library. O'Brien tells the tale of this psychopathic physician in brilliant detail. He creates a great sense of being among the xenophobic small town "Egypt" people. The tremendous suffering visited upon his family is also portrayed amazingly well.
I have read many true crime books, but few have instilled as amazingly a sense of being there as this one. The Doctor's alcoholism was described powerfully, but not in a "holier than thou" fashion. It seems that his pathology was not ultimately rooted in this disease, but it exacerbated it, much like gasoline thrown on a fire!
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Killing 2 of Your Grown Children? Unfathomable!
Rating  (4)
Date: 2009-12-02
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Murder In Little Egypt details the crimes of Dr. John Dale Cavaness; a man most loved and respected in Eldorado and other small towns that comprise southern Illinois' Little Egypt.
Dr. Cavaness did what was expected of him by his parents: go to college, marry a good girl, and then have children.
Except that Cavaness seemed to have no desire to be settled down with a wife, and much less desire to be a father.
He was more interested in womanizing, drinking, gambling, and trying his hand at farming.
The townsfolk may have loved him, but bottom line was that Doc Cavaness was a failure; at business, at relationships, at parenting.
Could such inner turmoil of recognizing his own failings coming to pass in two of his sons be a reason to murder them?
Would $140,000 in life insurance benefits would be the true motivator or just icing on the cake?
Darcy O'Brien is an AWESOME true crime author; something of which I have only recently become aware.
Containing the key facts of the prosecution's case, interviews with remaining family members Marian Green, Kevin and his wife Charli Ann, friends of Dale Cavaness, and many others, created a detailed account of a horrific crime that leaves readers wondering just how a parent could kill their own adult child -much less, children - in cold-blood.
From beginning to end, the story told in Murder In Little Egypt is fascinating, well-written, and addicting.
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more fiction than fact
Rating  (1)
Date: 2009-09-03
1 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
the story is so-so, but embelishment is the writer's tool of choice. the picture of southern il as a dangerous place, to be feared, filled by backward, simple people is false, as are many of the other "facts". it may make a dull story more interesting, but if you want to write fiction, surely it could be better. i should know, i live in the town.
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