True crime writer Jackson Kinley is coming home to Sequoyah, Georgia to grieve for an old friend. Jackson's boyhood friend, Ray Tindall, was the sheriff of Sequoyah at the time of his sudden death. Now with his passing, Jackson has returned and subsequently finds himself being drawn into an investigation of the town's most enduring legend: a thirty-seven-year-old unsolved murder.
In the summer of 1954, sixteen-year-old Ellie Dinker disappeared on a winding mountain road, leaving behind a bloody green dress swaying in the breeze. Charles Overton was sentenced to die for the murder of young Ellie, even though her body was never found. But the prosecution had all the ammunition it needed: that blood-stained dress and a jury out for vengeance...
Sheriff Tindall's death has left many questions: Why had he suddenly reopened the Overton case...and then, without explanation, shut it down? What was he looking for? And what did he find that he couldn't bear to reveal?
Determined to discover the truth of that long-ago mystery, Jackson Kinley embarks on a chilling odyssey that will send him hurtling back into the lost, terrifying canyons of his own buried childhood...as he unearths evidence of an unspeakable crime - and the shocking blood secret somebody killed to keep.
I may have several books by this author on my bookshelf already, although to my knowledge Evidence of Blood is the first one that I've actually read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - overall, it was well-written and compelling - although I did find the story a little slow to get into in the beginning. The plot also was slightly more convoluted than I was expecting; it took me some time to work out and to fully understand the solution to the mystery.
However, that could be just be my personal experience while reading this book. Occasionally, I find that using 'armchair detection' doesn't come easily to me! Anyway, I give this book a definite A! and am looking forward to reading more from Thomas H. Cook in the future.
In the summer of 1954, sixteen-year-old Ellie Dinker disappeared on a winding mountain road, leaving behind a bloody green dress swaying in the breeze. Charles Overton was sentenced to die for the murder of young Ellie, even though her body was never found. But the prosecution had all the ammunition it needed: that blood-stained dress and a jury out for vengeance...
Sheriff Tindall's death has left many questions: Why had he suddenly reopened the Overton case...and then, without explanation, shut it down? What was he looking for? And what did he find that he couldn't bear to reveal?
Determined to discover the truth of that long-ago mystery, Jackson Kinley embarks on a chilling odyssey that will send him hurtling back into the lost, terrifying canyons of his own buried childhood...as he unearths evidence of an unspeakable crime - and the shocking blood secret somebody killed to keep.
I may have several books by this author on my bookshelf already, although to my knowledge Evidence of Blood is the first one that I've actually read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - overall, it was well-written and compelling - although I did find the story a little slow to get into in the beginning. The plot also was slightly more convoluted than I was expecting; it took me some time to work out and to fully understand the solution to the mystery.
However, that could be just be my personal experience while reading this book. Occasionally, I find that using 'armchair detection' doesn't come easily to me! Anyway, I give this book a definite A! and am looking forward to reading more from Thomas H. Cook in the future.
True crime writer Jackson Kinley returns to his boyhood home in rural Georgia for the funeral of his friend, Sheriff Ray Tindall. Ray had been re-investigating the 1954 murder case of a 16-year-old girl whose body was never found. Her dress, covered in her blood, was virtually the only evidence presented at trial. Nevertheless, a jury found a man guilty, and he was executed. Kinley begins his own investigation, reading the trial transcript and interviewing surviving witnesses. His investigation uncovers numerous secrets before he discovers what really happened forty years ago. Cook's storytelling is for the most part rather unemotional, almost matter a fact. Yet the story is so compelling that I could not put it down until the last surprising secret was revealed.
From the back cover: Forty years ago Charles Overton was sentenced to die for the murder of a young woman even though her body was never found.... Now true-crime writer Jackson Kinley is coming home to grieve for an old friend. But Sheriff Ray Tindall's death has left many questions: Why had he re-opened the Overton case and without explanation, shut it down again? The search for answers leads Kinley into a small-town web of corruption, secrecy, and lies and finally into the darkest corners of the human heart...
Forty years ago in Sequoyah, Georgia, Charles Overton was sentenced to die for the murder of a young woman, even though her body was never found. But the prosecution had all the ammunition it needed: a blood-stained dress and a jury out for vengeance... Now true-crime writer Jackson Kinley is coming home to grieve for an old friend. But Sequoyah sheriff Ray Tindal's death has left many questions: Why had he reopened the Overton case...and then, without explanation, shut it down? What was he looking for? And what did he find that he couldn't bear to reveal? The search for answers leds Kinley into a small-town web of corruption, secrecy and lies-and finally into the darkest corners of the human heart, where the terrible truth lies...in the evidence of blood
