Friday, January 6, 2012

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin


Silas "32" Jones is the constable of a tiny town in rural Mississippi. His childhood friend, Larry Ott, still lives in the house he grew up in and "operates" his father's automotive business - a business that hasn't had a customer in years, as Larry has long lived under suspicion in the disappearance of a local girl when he was a teenager.

When a similar crime takes place, Larry is at the center of suspicion when he himself is the victim of a violent crime. Silas reluctantly gets involved, knowing that Larry is innocent of the crime. As Silas digs deeper into the crime wave hitting his tiny community, he starts letting go of his own secrets - secrets that provide important details in the girl's disappearance so many years ago.

Franklin has written a quiet and thoughtful southern novel that studies friendship, secrets and justice. The majority of the characters are not all that likable overall, which made for a rather slow read for me. However, the interest in the crimes and hope for reconciliation kept me reading until the end.

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