THE FABRIC OF GUILT

Circumstantial evidence, the gossamer tie that binds, is the fulcrum for these true crime composites. And the author has managed to slap ""bizarre"" or ""fiendish"" on most of them as he provides the details with all the relish of a bloodsucker in a nudist colony. Speaking of blood, it was John Haigh who treated himself to a glass before dumping his victims in an acid vat. He was operating under the delusion that no corpse meant no conviction. The unlikeable Mr. Scott tried incinerating the sociable Mrs. Scott in the same vein. Then there is the new infamous Dr. Carl Coppolino. . . about whom better books will probably be written. A large number of the stories deal with children. . . kidnapping, murder. The two highlights (depending on how you look at it) here are the tales of murders by mothers. . . one a modern day Lucretia Borgia, the other a sexual pervert. Inexcusably written and for whom? . . .