Cry Me A River

[10], 258, [4] pages. Signed by the author on the title page. In a novel about murder and its consequences in a small Southern town, a local policeman uses his understanding of the dark passions that sometimes guide the human heart to investigate the brutal slaying of his colleague. "Cry Me A River" is a part of Pearson's Ray Tatum Mysteries series. Thomas Reid Pearson (born 1956) is an American writer. He worked as a carpenter and a housepainter while he began writing his first two novels, A Short History of a Small Place and Off for the Sweet Hereafter. Neither was published until 1985, when he moved to New York City, where both books were issued by Linden Press. His novels are set in the South, in the imaginary small town of Neely, near WinstonSalem, or, in his recent novels, in the Appalachian areas of Virginia. His writing captures a uniquely Southern social order, outlook, and voice and has been compared to the work of Mark Twain and William Faulkner. A Short History of a Small Place, Off for the Sweet Hereafter, The Last of How It Was, Cry Me a River, Polar and Blue Ridge were New York Times Notable Books. Pearson collaborated with John Grisham on early drafts of the screenplays for The Rainmaker (1997) and Runaway Jury (1998), films based on two of Grisham's novels. Under the pen name Rick Gavin, Pearson wrote a series of three crime novels, set in the Mississippi Delta, featuring repo man Nick Reid and his best friend, Desmond. Derived from a Kirkus review: Pearson's latest comedy of bad manners confirms his status as a master storyteller. It's a southern tale of `bloodlust and high humor, romance and betrayal' that everywhere attests to its creator's expansive and magnanimous vision. Something of a murder mystery, this raucously funny novel is more focused than the usual Pearson narrative. But even this intrigue allows for his characteristic digressions, his elegant variations, and his ability to transform the vulgar into the sublime. Told by a amiable young police officer, this `tale of woe' concerns the death of a fellow cop. And as its solution reveals itself, it also exposes `a community of passionate people who sometimes slaughtered each other for love.' At the center of this small town's murderous spree is a comely woman who uses men for sport. A married cop, a local lowlife, and a spoiled rich kid all come to ruin, thanks to this mysterious vixen, who favored her men with Polaroid souvenirs. Along the way to the bloody denouement, we learn about the various other passions that lurk within this small southern community: the wife who gutted her womanizing husband like a pig; the local drunk who fancies himself a defiler of royalty; the dumpy middle-aged adulterers who run off together; the eccentric brothers who fight over tastes in film romance; the two slutty sisters who service men orally while they're driving; and the suspected moonshiners who are actually secret homosexual lovers. It's a sorry world of flatulent dogs, lonely old women, and uncontrollable body functions. And Pearson loves it allthe lurid and salacious, the peculiar follies of basically good folk. The hilarious coda finds the entire story reenacted for `reality tv,' that curious `place where life and tv meet.' The genius is in the tellinggenerous in spirit, deft in design. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated].…