Day of fury

On May 20, 1988, a psychotic woman rampaged through Chicago's northern suburb of Winnetka, leaving poisoned food and drink at a number of homes, starting a fire that almost killed a mother and two of her children, and spraying gunfire through an elementary school classroom, causing the death of a child and wounding several others. After shooting one more person, she committed suicide. The story of the growing psychosis of Laurie Dann was superbly told in Murder of Innocence by Joel Kaplan, George Papajohn and Eric Zoun, and this book--by the former New York correspondent of the Observer of London--complements the earlier work most effectively. Egginton chronicles the short- and long-term results of the tragedy for those directly involved--children, parents, police officers, clergy and educators--and for the upper-middle-class town of Winnetka, which had thought itself protected against violence. Photos not seen by PW.