This novel is set in the 1970's when a mysterious man captivates and terrorized a small community. This individual is an elegant and charismatic priest when rumours are forming that he is preaching on Sunday and killing on Monday. While this is happening in Alabama, one of American's most beloved writers is about to be swiped up and dragged into the strange and captivating story of Reverend Willie J. Maxwell.
When the modern day classic of To Kill a Mockingbird, is formulating her next story and is unsure of the subject for this. The perfect idea was dropped in her lap and this involved no other than Reverend Willie j. Maxwell. She hears the story of a preacher who is rumour to killing 5 members of his own family and the way that he has been able to collect sizeable amount of money as a result of life insurance policies that he has taken out in the victim's name. This tale as elements of dark magic - including voodoo - which the preacher using to his advantage and helps him evade being held responsible for the deaths.
Once Harper Lee has heard this she knows that she is set to return to her home town Alexander City, Alabama. She spends several months fitting into the community and getting to know the individuals again - people she remembers from her childhood - and this result in her to be able to pull together the pieces of the puzzle. Once she has collected these puzzle pieces she is able to give this horrific tale the time and attention that it needs. However she does not completed the book and she drops the story with no explanation - Why?
This is when the author of this book picks up the scent and follows the chain of evidence so that he can finish the work that Harper Lee has started. To do this he has to follow the breadcrumbs of the previous investigation and this novel is a reflection of one of his idles Harper Lee.
This novel includes some of the key players in the morbid and astonishing tale and describes the way that these characters have characteristics of the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird. He finds that there is evidence that she has writing something on the story however she up and leaves without finishing the story.
His writing style is perfect for this novel as he uses description throughout the to help build the story and helps you to see both his and Harper Lee's investigation but he does go off tangent. While he is in the town that the surreal story is based there is another murder which has resulted in the killer gaining insurance payout and then you find that there is crime happening in the same manner. I like the way this book reads as is very similar to the writing style of Harper Lee. However this is not one of my favourite novels. I would recommend this to a reader who likes Harper Lees but there is so many other authors i would pick first for this type of book. I find that the author rambles and goes of off track when writing this book and this is the main reason that i didn't enjoy the book from chapter 20. Unfortunately this is one of the books that i have to put on dislike pile in my reading in 2020.
