Carolina Skeletons: A Novel Based on the Execution of America's Youngest Murderer

Stout, David

ISBN 10: 089296264X / ISBN 13: 9780892962648

Published by Mysterious Press, New York, 1988

Winner of the 1989 Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. Top of spine of text block has slight "push," but otherwise is tight with no loose or dog-eared pages. The dust jacket shows only a minute closed tear at the top of the spine but with no other wear or tears. Inscription reads: "To David, David Stout." Dust jacket protected in clear mylar wrapper; bubble wrapped, boxed, and shipped with USPS Tracking (USA only). Seller Inventory # 002491

Synopsis:

Forty-four years after the fact, James Willop heads for South Carolina to determine if his uncle, fourteen in 1944, committed the murder of two small white girls for which he was executed

Reviews: When two young white girls are killed in the small South Carolina town of Alcolu in 1944, the hunt for their murderer turns almost immediately to the flimsy shacks that house the "colored" mill workers. Based on an actual event, this novel faithfully renders its place and time. The thick Southern heat, and the absolute, unequal balance between whites who mark the social boundary lines and blacks who stay within them in order to survive, make it possible to believe that the few words spoken by Linus Bragg, the scared-silent, 14-year-old black boy who is executed for the crime, could be fatally twisted to mean more than the child who spoke them had ever intended. Forty-four years later, James Willop, an unemployed New Jersey newsman, goes to Alcolu to dig for the truth behind his Uncle Linus's death. He finds the town superficially changed, but when two more murders occur Willop has reason to fear that the same deadly racist tensions running beneath the surface could drag him under as well. Stout, an editor at the New York Times, has produced an accomplished, sadly evocative novel, only slightly marred by loose ends and a somewhat blustery tone in its second half.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Carolina Skeletons: A Novel Based on the ...
Publisher: Mysterious Press, New York
Publication Date: 1988
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
Signed: Inscribed on Half-Title Page
Edition: First Edition; First Printing.