Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
Synopsis
You can bury the past but it always seems to come back, one way or another . . .
A gripping Southern Gothic murder mystery, winner of the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year
Amos, Mississippi, is a quiet town, Silas Jones its sole law enforcement officer. The last excitement in Amos was nearly twenty years ago, when a teenage girl disappeared on a date with Larry Ott, Silas’s one-time boyhood friend. The law couldn’t prove Larry guilty, but the town’s residents have shunned him ever since.
Then someone tries to kill the reclusive Ott, another young woman goes missing, and the town’s drug dealer is murdered. Driven by deep-seated guilt, Silas throws himself into investigating the crimes. Woven through the tautly written mystery is the unspoken secret that hangs over the lives of two men – one black, one white.
Melancholic and beautifully written, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a masterful novel oozing with deep Southern menace.
'Superb' – The Times
'A beautifully crafted thriller' – Financial Times
'A great novel by a great novelist' – Dennis Lehane, bestselling author of Mystic River
Details
Reviews
“This award winning crime novel that invited comparisons with To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of white and black boyhood friends in rural Mississippi, separated by an apparent crime that changes their lives. A beautifully crafted thriller that explores the nature of friendship and bigotry.”Financial Times - Books of the Year, Financial Times - Books of the Year
“Elegantly plotted, deftly characterised, superbly written, not a word out of place.”Guardian, Guardian
“This harrowing tale, told with ease and control, tracks back and forth across the adult lives and harsh schooldays of two Southern boys . . . Among the tensions in the book are humiliating childhood incidents and countervailing adult insights slow learning of and from early crimes and misdemeanours? It's a literary crime-mystery for dark evenings.”Irish Times, Irish Times
“This book will have you enthralled for it is more than just another crime novel. Written in two timeframes, it explores the relationship between two young boys, the nature of suspicion and the solving of a mystery... The characters are engaging and there is just enough menace in the writing to keep you turning the pages.”Press Association, Press Association
