The Wiregrass: A Tale of Murder and Retribution in the Deep South

A reporter’s dogged quest to solve the murder of two teens uncovers a forgotten corner of the Deep South and the chilling web of police corruption, violence, and miscarried justice beneath its surface. 

“Page-turning, novelistic, brilliantly reported and extremely important to read right now.” –Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

"A captivating, richly reported and deeply humane story of found families, crooked cops, ferocious loyalties and the terrifying velocity of justice slipping away." -Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of El Dorado Drive

In 1999, in the rural Alabama town of Ozark, the bodies of two white teenage girls, J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, were found shot in the trunk of Beasley’s car. The girl were out past curfew and celebrating Beasley's birthday―but from there the story grew tangled, then went dark.

As months, then years, passed without answers, an eccentric cast of townspeople took it upon themselves to chase down leads. In this hardscrabble, farming region at the southern tip of the Bible Belt―a place cut off from freeways and wary of outsiders―everyone knew you couldn't trust the cops. Their investigation was shoddy at best; at worst, it looked a lot like a cover-up.

Twenty years later, the chief of police called his childhood friend, a devout Black man and long-haul trucker named Coley McCraney, into the station. To the shock of the community, and most of all McCraney, he was arrested for the long-ago murder of two girls he didn’t seem to recognize. DNA evidence tied McCraney to the crime scene. But in a region rife with corruption, and haunted by a legacy of racist violence, was there any chance of finding the truth?

The Wiregrass is a twisting, deeply reported true-crime narrative, populated by Bible kids, white supremacists, and amateur sleuths. Unraveling the notorious Beasley-Hawlett cold case, it reveals the stunning, Southern gothic story of a region―and a nation―that cannot outrun the traumas of its past.

Matt Kessler is a writer from Alabama. He has reported justice, race, and equity stories in Mississippi for The Guardian, and environmental stories for The Atlantic. His radio work has been broadcast on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Illinois Public Media. A fellow in the University of Southern California’s PhD in Creative Writing and Literature Program, he lives with his family in Birmingham. This is his first book.