Roots of Murder: A Novel of Suspense by R. Jean ReidMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
My link to the internet hasn't been good so I might rewrite the below at some point when I have a better connection. Spend more than 3 minutes on it.
Long and short: Good solid mystery set in Mississippi. The owner of a small town newspaper, a woman and the lead character, is still in mourning after her husband was killed by a drunk driver. The story follows her on her 'officially there' first issue, then I believe for 3 to 4 weeks. Several issues of interest: the girlfriend (or wife?) of the man who killed Nell's husband (Nell being the as yet unnamed by me main character) keeps calling Nell begging for Nell to not press charges because . . . . it's too hard to have him go to jail - plus the brothers miss their little brother and . . . might do something (threat followed through).
Meanwhile there's a mayor's race - current incompentent mayor running against two no-chance candidates - one because he wants to go back to the good old days of slavery and stuff (Everett) and is therefore too extreme, while the other one is . . . black. So obviously Marcus, the black candidate, has no chance. Then a man from a prominent family throws his name into the ring, late but still - he is from a prominent family. So now it's neck-and-neck for the mayor race. The book is less about that race than about the newspaper covering it and uncovering things from long ago.
The main story-line, though, involve the uncovering of bones that show obvious evidence of murder. There is a good chance that this long ago murder might have an impact on the mayor race - since the bones had been on the current mayor's former land (donated to become a park with the prevision that it would not be developed). The long shot can't win candidate, Marcus, tips Nell off on who the bones might belong to - though somewhat indirectly by pushing a specific name in front of her - that specific name knew of corrupt land deals that moved 20% of the black owned land to white owners from around the late 1950s to late 1960s (or there abouts). Is the land corruption that occurred roughly at the same time as the murder have any actual connection with each other? That's one of those mystery things that's tracked in the book.
I rather liked most of the characters. Very well rounded, deep critters. My main problem with the book lies in something Nell did during the story. 1) she drank a lot (in and of itself . . meh; 2) her husband was killed by a drunk driver (view spoiler)
Rating: 4.54
February 9 2017
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