“This sensational small town crime thriller is a perfect beach read.” –Best ThrillersIt’s an unseasonably hot April night in 1965. The social revolutions rocking America have mostly bypassed Burr, a tiny rural community in western Oklahoma. Like much of the state, Burr remains as it’s always been: Religious. Conservative. And 100% white. When an unknown young African-American woman is found … 100% white. When an unknown young African-American woman is found murdered on the railroad tracks outside town, most of Burr would rather look the other way. The town’s police chief, troubled local hero and ex-Marine Emmett Hardy, doesn’t have that luxury. A lover of books and jazz in the land of football and country & western, Emmett is an outsider in a place he knows like the back of his hand. In his search for the killer, he’s forced to slice through layers of hate and hypocrisy to confront the ethical rot at the town’s core, while being haunted by the vision of a life and love that might have been.
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Dialogue and thoughts are expressed in midwestern context. As a former Kansan, the story felt like a trip back home to revisit my roots. Great characters, some you would welcome as friends, others not so much. Fun read.
Well written,kept my attention.
A solid mystery, this book provides an excellent insight into race relations in rural Oklahoma in the 1960s. The apathy of police to a negro woman’s brutal murder forces a local cop to investigate when no one else will. The obvious suspect, a bigot, is not the killer. Good all-night read.
Great west Texas crime story. It seemed real
Great book. Poor editing.
Great writing, almost as if the author was talking to me & I wasn’t reading. Funny sometimes, witty, interesting. I’m amazed by people who are so talented as to write books.
Recommend anything author writes. Never disappointed. Can’t put it down. Love It.
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading another from this author. My only caveat is that it really needed a lot of concentrated line editing. Dropped words, double words, etc., were distracting.
The main character in this story was imperfect but dedicated to doing his job well (when he was sober). The cast of characters seemed real with their own set of problems and it was interesting to see how the mystery was solved. I was also cheering for the small town low enforcement folks to bring the culprit to justice before the state or federal professionals could do so. I thought it was a good read.
This is a wonderful book and I could not put it down. I hope for more from this great author.
Very descriptive book…..the setting in Oklahoma and the characters. The law officer, Emmett, is typical of an officer in Oklahoma in that time period. The characters, their emotions, etc was very entertaining.
Not interesting so quit after 2 chapters
This was a good easy read. The plot was simple and easy to follow, but I was still surprised at the outcome. However enjoyable, a major flaw were all the proofing errors. I found many double words, missing words and word transpositions. The errors were so numerous that I lost track of how many.
This book was so different than i am used to! Very real characters with faults and all! Enjoyed it very much.