by Don Davis

If you're suspected of murdering someone close to you, and you don't have much evidence to support your version of events, your fate may depend critically on what you do after the murder. Darlie Routier, accused of murdering her two young sons, did almost everything wrong. She was inconsistent when talking to the 911 operator, she didn't try to stop her sons' bleeding, and a week after the deaths, she laughed and kidded around with Silly String at a birthday party held in honor of the older boy at his grave. Even the playing of her son's favorite song, 'Gangsta's Paradise,' was held against her. Hush Little Babies is true crime in the tradition of Texans who 'live large' in a material sense, but author Don Davis doesn't allow the flamboyant aspects of the Routiers' lifestyle to distract him from presenting the disturbing loose ends in the prosecution's case. He is a conscientious writer: before he expresses an opinion, he allows readers to draw their own conclusions. In the end, it's a sad, puzzling tale.