Sleep in Heavenly Peace

By: M. William Phelps

Narrated by: J. Charles

Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Cold Storage....

In May 2003, an Arizona man who'd bought dozens of sealed boxes at an auction of unclaimed property made a horrifying discovery: the bodies of three plastic-wrapped infants, one of which had become mummified over the years. Police traced them to Dianne Odell, 50, a mother of eight children, who admitted the babies were hers but claimed that they'd died of natural causes.

Justice Deferred....

In 1989, police had found the remains of a long-dead infant in a suitcase in the trunk of a car Odell had abandoned. The statute of limitations on manslaughter had saved her then from prosecution. She maintained that the fetus was the product of a rape by her father, and stillborn.

Baby-Killer's Fate....

Odell said her own domineering mother had forced her into teen prostitution and murdered what she viewed as "bastard children". Both parents were dead and unable to contradict her. Would Odell's stories sway the jury and buy her the mercy her babies were never granted? Or would she be forced to face the consequences of bringing innocent lives into the world - only to end them in cold blood.

©2006 M. William Phelps (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Not the best Phelps, but 85% worth a credit

The setup of the books as repeated then/now is usually ok (though it always my favourite style) but this book had some problems with too many “thens” not being presented in order. So first there were this many babies, then there were that many, then fewer again. Difficult to follow and made me more than once make sure I hadn’t skipped a chapter or several.

I feel Phelps may have suggested an intolerance of (with his career it can hardly have been unawareness of) the long-lasting effects if childhood physical and sexual abuse, of the ability of the brain to focus on minutiae yet forget the larger things. That made me more concerned than usual for this kind if book that I wasn’t getting a somewhat fair look at all sides.

Narrator performed the one detective a bit oddball, like he was a low-voiced dunce; didn’t understand that choice.

Ultimately Boring!

I didn't even finish this book. It was completely boring!

Narrator was SO bad

The narration was like it was making fun of the characters. Really really bad.

I few like the book was good but could have been a fair bit shorter with some better editing. Lots of repetition.

Not worth the credit—read it with your eyes or text-to-speech if you can.