Careless Whispers

The 1982 rapes and grisly murders of three teenagerstwo girls and a boyin Waco, Tex., and the investigation carried on for the most part by Truman Simons, a dogged and compassionate patrol sergeant, are recalled through hundreds of interviews with witnesses, prison inmates, law enforcement and court officers, and members of the victims' families. In a suspenseful reconstruction, Stowers (The Rainbow Waits, etc.) skillfully disentangles the numerous skeins of an intricate web of circumstances to resolve the bizarre crimes, and sketches the characters involved in the murders and trials. Some of the evidence is supplied by a psychic and by the demented chief perpetrator's irresistible need to hint and even brag about his exploits. Both of the principal defendants, now on death row, await the outcome of appeals. Photos not seen by PW. (October 31)