Atmospheric “Crooked Letter” at Darvill’s June 13

Maurine Barnett has selected and will steer the discussion for Darvill’s  June book group read: Tom Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Franklin renders luminous prose and a cast of compelling characters in this moody, masterful entry.

The Book Club will meet Monday, June 13, from 5;30  to 7 p.m. at Darvill’s in Eastsound.

This Edgar Award-winning author returns with his most accomplished and resonant novel so far – an atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas “32” Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond.

But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county – and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town.

More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they’ve buried and ignored for decades.

“A ripping good mystery, this novel also has depth and a subtle literary side…. Highly recommended.” Library Journal