The Edge of Innocence: The Trial of Casper Bennett

Named 2018 Book of the Year by International Rubery Book Award.

The Edge of Innocence is a work of historical fiction based on the 1964 murder trial of Casper Bennett, a man accused of drowning his wife in a bathtub of scalding water in Lorain, Ohio.

Bennett's sensational trial pitted an aggressive, mercurial county prosecutor against the author's father, a civil trial attorney who had never before defended anyone for murder. The book not only recreates the tension and excitement of this courtroom battle, but also highlights the uncertain edge that often divides guilt from innocence.

The author was ten years old when he answered the phone late at night when Bennett called his father from jail, seeking his legal representation. Forty years later and long after his father's death, the author found the Bennett file in the bottom of his mother's closet. From the moment he began reading the papers, the long-forgotten drama cast a spell on him. As he uncovered more and more of the facts, the story he had known as a child disappeared, replaced by one far different.

The Edge of Innocence takes the reader through the criminal justice system and ultimately to the trial where the reader, like a juror, must sift through competing claims and conflicting evidence.

Full of twists and turns and colorful characters, The Edge of Innocence is all the more entertaining because it tells a true story.



Readers are RAVING about this compelling True Crime Legal Drama:


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This is a gem of a book. I liked the narrative style of this true crime story, and enjoyed reading about the interesting backgrounds of the principal characters. I woke at 5:30 this morning to devour the last 120 pages, absorbed in the twists and turns of the trial and its aftermath.” –Goodreads Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This courtroom drama bristles with all the intensity of a tennis match as the two sides in a murder trial fight to score points and win each game, set, and, ultimately, the match. David Miraldi's historical novel… pulls the reader in immediately with its realistic dialogue and fully drawn characters… David Miraldi draws on all his courtroom experience to make the fine points of criminal law add to the drama and drive the story along. The narrative tension never lets up, and the denouement holds many surprises for the reader.” –Goodreads Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Wow…This book is incredibly well written with a smooth, even pace. The personalities of key people in the book are fully fleshed out and aspects of law are explained clearly in a conversational tone. And, yes. I was surprised at the end -- twice. I recommend this book wholeheartedly…” –Goodreads Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “There is a force of intellect behind [this book], which is appealing… Miraldi, who is himself an attorney, tells it with an insider’s understanding of that world, and he seems to be a natural storyteller. It also gives an appealing view of America at a certain point in history: the sense of community; the significant contribution of immigration; the inevitable demise of that world when confronted with technology, a loss of innocence and cynicism. It’s a very impressive book.” –Goodreads Reviewer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I was immediately drawn in by the author's style and command of the subject, making it easy to follow the twists and turns of the story. I really enjoyed the pacing and the clear, crisp, creative prose that Mr. Miraldi wrapped around the facts of this very interesting case, and found it hard to put down before getting to the end… An excellent book that I heartily recommend!” –Goodreads Reviewer