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Carolina Skeletons: Based on a True Story
Edgar Award Based on true events, a chilling tale of murder and injustice in the Jim Crow South As a fourteen-year-old black boy living in 1940s South Carolina, Linus Bragg should know better than to follow the two bicycling white girls. But something about Sue Ellen and Cindy Lou compels him. Maybe it’s the way Cindy Lou speaks to him, or how Sue Ellen sits on her bike. Whatever the reason, he follows the girls into the woods. It’s the worst mistake he ever makes. When he comes into the clearing, both girls are dead and young Linus is the natural suspect. Forty years later, a nephew of Linus’s returns to South Carolina, curious about this dark moment in his family’s past. To find the fourth person who visited the clearing that day means reopening a sinister chapter of the small town’s history, which certain evil men had thought closed forever.Carolina Skeletons is based on the 1944 case of George Stinney Jr., who, at the age of fourteen, became the youngest person executed in the United States during the twentieth century. After a hastily scheduled hearing only a few hours long, the jury quickly charged him with a double murder. He was put to death three months later. A haunting journey into America’s shameful past, Carolina Skeletons deftly explores how history’s skeletons rarely stay hidden forever.
334 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
91 people are currently reading
681 people want to read
About the author
David Stout
28 books15 followersDavid Stout (b. 1942) is an accomplished reporter who has been writing mysteries and true crime since the 1980s. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Stout took a job at the New York Times in 1982. He spent nearly twenty-eight years at the newspaper, as a reporter, editor and rewrite man covering national news and sports, and retired in 2009.
Stout began writing his first novel while working at the Times. Based on the true story of a 1940s double-murder for which fourteen year-old George Stinney was controversially executed, Carolina Skeletons (1988) won Stout an Edgar award for best first novel. After two more well-received mysteries, Night Of The Ice Storm (1991) and The Dog Hermit (1993), Stout turned to writing non-fiction. Night Of The Devil (2003) tells the story of famous convict Thomas Trantino, while The Boy In The Box (2008) is an investigation of one of America’s most famous unsolved murders. Since retiring from the Times, Stout has redoubled his work on his next book.
Stout began writing his first novel while working at the Times. Based on the true story of a 1940s double-murder for which fourteen year-old George Stinney was controversially executed, Carolina Skeletons (1988) won Stout an Edgar award for best first novel. After two more well-received mysteries, Night Of The Ice Storm (1991) and The Dog Hermit (1993), Stout turned to writing non-fiction. Night Of The Devil (2003) tells the story of famous convict Thomas Trantino, while The Boy In The Box (2008) is an investigation of one of America’s most famous unsolved murders. Since retiring from the Times, Stout has redoubled his work on his next book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 2, 2017
In June, 1944, in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history, a black, 14-year-old South Carolina boy named George Stinney was convicted of the brutal murder of two young white girls and executed less than two months later, becoming the youngest person legally executed in the 20th century. The primary evidence against Stinney was a questionable confession, and the conviction was eventually vacated in 2014. Years before that, however, author David Stout used the Stinney case as the basis for his 1988 novel, Carolina Skeletons, an often illuminating novel that presents an eye-opening portrait of the changing nature of race relations in the south.
The book is divided into two roughly equal halves. The first covers the arrest, trial, and execution of the fictional Linus Bragg (the Stinney stand-in). The author makes it clear that Bragg wasn’t guilty. However, although the local sheriff, Hiram Stoker, makes sure that Bragg is treated decently and isn’t lynched, he does use his lawman training to coerce a confession from the boy and watches the farce of a trial result in a conviction within ten minutes. The second half of the book takes place in 1988 as Bragg’s nephew James Willop, a bi-racial newspaper reporter who can pass for white, goes back to his hometown to look into the case. By now, Stoker is in a nursing home, and his son, Junior Stoker, is with the state police. What is seemingly the coldest of cold cases heats up when a couple of the people involved in the initial investigation die in mysterious “accidents.”
Carolina Skeletons is written in the form of a mystery (it won the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery of the year), with a couple of chapters late in the book told from the point of view of the actual killer. Most people, though, won’t have too much trouble figuring out who the killer is. However, what is most interesting about the book isn’t the solution to the crime, or even the two investigations some 40 years apart, but, rather, what the case and the investigations have to say about race relations in that part of South Carolina over the years. In that regard, there’s a third perspective to keep in mind, that of the reader in 2017, an additional 30 years after the events in the second half of the book.
What stands out the most about the early scenes in Carolina Skeletons is the carefully delineated social structure of the time between blacks and whites that was generally accepted. There is relatively little malicious racial mistreatment depicted, but the casual way in which the n-word is bandied about and the firm beliefs in stereotypes shows just how unequal the segregated South was at the time. Against this backdrop, Sheriff Stoker comes across as the most fascinatingly complex character in the book, a man determined to do right by everyone, at least according to the standards of the time. He’s actually a more compelling character than the book’s ostensible hero, Willop. By contrast, the later scenes show how much in some respects and how little in others the racial attitudes in the South changed in the intervening years. Modern-day readers will have fun comparing the world of 1988 to today as well (Willop has to do all his research the old-fashioned way, by combing through old newspaper clippings and courthouse records).
Author Stout, who is a veteran journalist, has an ear for dialogue and accents and creates some vividly detailed descriptions of life in 1944 in rural South Carolina. He isn’t as effective with either the mystery or thriller elements in the 1988 portions of the story or at the drama about the personal events going on in Willop's life. However, the scenes of everyday life in 1988 he establishes are equally compelling. What Stout excels at is getting inside the heads of his characters and make their thought processes seem very realistic. By following their thought processes, Stout is able to show how the various characters arrive at both right and wrong decisions over the course of the book. Stout certainly doesn’t condone the racial practices and attitudes on display in the book, but he doesn’t blindly condemn them either. Instead, he is far more interested in using the backdrop of the actual case to show how life was in 1944 and 1988, good and bad. Carolina Skeletons paints a vivid picture of a not-too-distant part of our past that is seldom portrayed in quite this manner. These skeletons will be a welcome addition to any reader’s closet.
The book is divided into two roughly equal halves. The first covers the arrest, trial, and execution of the fictional Linus Bragg (the Stinney stand-in). The author makes it clear that Bragg wasn’t guilty. However, although the local sheriff, Hiram Stoker, makes sure that Bragg is treated decently and isn’t lynched, he does use his lawman training to coerce a confession from the boy and watches the farce of a trial result in a conviction within ten minutes. The second half of the book takes place in 1988 as Bragg’s nephew James Willop, a bi-racial newspaper reporter who can pass for white, goes back to his hometown to look into the case. By now, Stoker is in a nursing home, and his son, Junior Stoker, is with the state police. What is seemingly the coldest of cold cases heats up when a couple of the people involved in the initial investigation die in mysterious “accidents.”
Carolina Skeletons is written in the form of a mystery (it won the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery of the year), with a couple of chapters late in the book told from the point of view of the actual killer. Most people, though, won’t have too much trouble figuring out who the killer is. However, what is most interesting about the book isn’t the solution to the crime, or even the two investigations some 40 years apart, but, rather, what the case and the investigations have to say about race relations in that part of South Carolina over the years. In that regard, there’s a third perspective to keep in mind, that of the reader in 2017, an additional 30 years after the events in the second half of the book.
What stands out the most about the early scenes in Carolina Skeletons is the carefully delineated social structure of the time between blacks and whites that was generally accepted. There is relatively little malicious racial mistreatment depicted, but the casual way in which the n-word is bandied about and the firm beliefs in stereotypes shows just how unequal the segregated South was at the time. Against this backdrop, Sheriff Stoker comes across as the most fascinatingly complex character in the book, a man determined to do right by everyone, at least according to the standards of the time. He’s actually a more compelling character than the book’s ostensible hero, Willop. By contrast, the later scenes show how much in some respects and how little in others the racial attitudes in the South changed in the intervening years. Modern-day readers will have fun comparing the world of 1988 to today as well (Willop has to do all his research the old-fashioned way, by combing through old newspaper clippings and courthouse records).
Author Stout, who is a veteran journalist, has an ear for dialogue and accents and creates some vividly detailed descriptions of life in 1944 in rural South Carolina. He isn’t as effective with either the mystery or thriller elements in the 1988 portions of the story or at the drama about the personal events going on in Willop's life. However, the scenes of everyday life in 1988 he establishes are equally compelling. What Stout excels at is getting inside the heads of his characters and make their thought processes seem very realistic. By following their thought processes, Stout is able to show how the various characters arrive at both right and wrong decisions over the course of the book. Stout certainly doesn’t condone the racial practices and attitudes on display in the book, but he doesn’t blindly condemn them either. Instead, he is far more interested in using the backdrop of the actual case to show how life was in 1944 and 1988, good and bad. Carolina Skeletons paints a vivid picture of a not-too-distant part of our past that is seldom portrayed in quite this manner. These skeletons will be a welcome addition to any reader’s closet.
December 6, 2018
This book is a fictionalized account of the story of George Stinney Jr. George Stinney Jr. was a 14 year old African American boy that was executed by the state of South Carolina for the murder of two white girls (11-year-old Betty June Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Emma Thames) in 1944. Carolina Skeletons is the author’s version of how the murders may have happened and how George Stinney Jr., a 95 pound 14 year old, may have been unfairly blamed for murdering the two girls. The names of all the characters are all made up so that the executed boy’s name is Linus Braggs and the two murdered girls were Cindy Lou Ellerby and Sue Ellen Clark.
The book is divided into two main parts: part one deals with 1944—the murders up to Linus Braggs’ execution—and part two deals with 1988—the reinvestigation.
Both parts are interesting for different reasons. Part one is interesting because you have this very odd and atypical murder. Part two is interesting because it unfolds like a well written murder mystery. Everything that was ignored, shunned, or swept under the rug slowly becomes revealed with the tenacious pursuit of an “outsider”. I appreciated the suspense and the slow focusing of the story. What started as a hazy picture became sharper as the book went on. David Stout may have been unburying Carolina skeletons but it could have easily been the skeletons of any Southern town.
The book is divided into two main parts: part one deals with 1944—the murders up to Linus Braggs’ execution—and part two deals with 1988—the reinvestigation.
Both parts are interesting for different reasons. Part one is interesting because you have this very odd and atypical murder. Part two is interesting because it unfolds like a well written murder mystery. Everything that was ignored, shunned, or swept under the rug slowly becomes revealed with the tenacious pursuit of an “outsider”. I appreciated the suspense and the slow focusing of the story. What started as a hazy picture became sharper as the book went on. David Stout may have been unburying Carolina skeletons but it could have easily been the skeletons of any Southern town.
January 27, 2016
Linus Bragg, an undersized and barely educated 14-year-old black boy from a timber mill's shack village follows 2 white girls into the woods, driven by urges he cannot understand. When the 2 girls are found brutally murdered he becomes the prime suspect. Within a matter of months, Linus is convicted, sentenced to death and electrocuted - making him the youngest person ever legally put to death in the United States.
Stout based his tale on the true story of a murder and the punishment that followed it. A few years ago I saw a documentary about George Stinney (the real Linus) and I later watched the movie based on the book by Stout. It's definitely a story that sticks with you for a while.
The story is in two parts. One set in 1944 and the other 40 years later. Linus' mixed race nephew James Willop decides to honour a request by his mother to try to find out what really happened to the 2 murdered girls.
This is not a great detective novel, but it does not try to be. I even tried not to look at it as a murder mystery. The story illustrates the best and worst of America and is presented as a semi-documentary, with most of the characters being presented very stereotypically.
I liked Stout's clean writing style, but it's not enough to carry this novel.
Stout based his tale on the true story of a murder and the punishment that followed it. A few years ago I saw a documentary about George Stinney (the real Linus) and I later watched the movie based on the book by Stout. It's definitely a story that sticks with you for a while.
The story is in two parts. One set in 1944 and the other 40 years later. Linus' mixed race nephew James Willop decides to honour a request by his mother to try to find out what really happened to the 2 murdered girls.
This is not a great detective novel, but it does not try to be. I even tried not to look at it as a murder mystery. The story illustrates the best and worst of America and is presented as a semi-documentary, with most of the characters being presented very stereotypically.
I liked Stout's clean writing style, but it's not enough to carry this novel.
April 14, 2025
What a great read I haven’t read a good story like this in a while! I hate how a young kid died for something he didn’t do. But at the end getting the truth and justice made it all the better. No longer does his family have to wonder. Sad back then the blacks were treated the way they were. Linus never got a fair trial as if the whites would have. Poor boy was only agreeing cause he looked at the whites girl. They took advantage of that and got a false confession. It was sad to know how wallops family died and how. Was glad he finally got the truth. Def gonna watch the movie!!!
September 7, 2019
Reads more like a YA sort mystery than a piece of true crime. That’s on me for not carefully reading the description, but as a fiction piece it didn’t hold up either. The perspective of the 14 yr old Linus Bragg (based on George Stinney) and his fear shaken drugged thoughts that comprised the first half of the novel was understandable, and the story does pick up in the second half with the nephew 40 years later. But the book felt at many points, far too simplistic for the subject matter, namely the real life murders of two underage white girls, and a 14 year old African American boy convicted, tried and executed (most likely innocent too) for the crime. The disconnect between what I feel is like a teen Encyclopedia Brown style writing and a horrific true crime tale of racism and murder doesn’t fit well with me.
May 15, 2017
Excellent novel
The novel was engaging and well written. The characters were beautifully developed , I cared about them. The story was gripping, taking a turn I never expected. It captured an aspect of the southern white/black experience I never appreciated: how horrible evil can be perpetrated by good, well-meaning peoplw
The novel was engaging and well written. The characters were beautifully developed , I cared about them. The story was gripping, taking a turn I never expected. It captured an aspect of the southern white/black experience I never appreciated: how horrible evil can be perpetrated by good, well-meaning peoplw
October 23, 2020
A frustrating novel. The first half, set in 1944, is a novelization of the George Stinney case. George Stinney was a 14-year old black child who was wrongly sentenced to death and executed in South Carolina in 1944 after his jury deliberated for 10 minutes. This section is heartbreaking and vivid. The second half, set in 1988, tells the story of this boy's uncle, a reporter, who decides to unearth the truth of the case. The premise for the second half was promising, but the execution is terrible. It's full of unbelievable revelations (why was Tyrone helping TJ?), long-winded descriptions, and irrelevant and banal details (why do we need to know everything Willop has for dinner?). The first half is good enough that I felt compelled to finish the book, even though the second half gets so bad that by the time I got to the last few chapters I seriously considered not finishing it even though I only had a few pages left. I forced myself to finish it just to find out what happens, but of course, in addition to being eye-rollingly sappy, the ending makes no sense (TJ can barely walk but he murders two people?).
This book would have been immensely better if the author had just left the first half of the book alone.
This book would have been immensely better if the author had just left the first half of the book alone.
November 16, 2025
A solid 4 stars for this book.
Carolina Skeletons is based on the real life wrong conviction and execution of 14 year old George Stinney in 1944. (More information:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...) While this book is fictional, there is clearly no doubt what this is based on, I know this was published in the 80s, but I think it's still relevant today. But be prepared, this is a very dark book that discusses child death and strong racist language.
Linus Bragg (based on George Stinney) has been charge with the murder of two young white girls in South Carolina, which is clearly a problem. He would soon be executed for the crime in the Jim Crow south....and that is seemingly the end of the story. Until about 30 years later when Bragg's nephew comes back to town in order to find the truth on the behest of his late mother--who was Linus Bragg's sister. Linus's sister never believed he actually did it and this small South Carolina is hiding some secrets.
Carolina Skeletons is based on the real life wrong conviction and execution of 14 year old George Stinney in 1944. (More information:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...) While this book is fictional, there is clearly no doubt what this is based on, I know this was published in the 80s, but I think it's still relevant today. But be prepared, this is a very dark book that discusses child death and strong racist language.
Linus Bragg (based on George Stinney) has been charge with the murder of two young white girls in South Carolina, which is clearly a problem. He would soon be executed for the crime in the Jim Crow south....and that is seemingly the end of the story. Until about 30 years later when Bragg's nephew comes back to town in order to find the truth on the behest of his late mother--who was Linus Bragg's sister. Linus's sister never believed he actually did it and this small South Carolina is hiding some secrets.
November 29, 2018
Good story, but...
I feel like this book could have been much more. It seemed to jump around somewhat and I wanted the characters & story to be fleshed out a bit. I liked it. Definitely not a wasted read, but it was lacking.
I feel like this book could have been much more. It seemed to jump around somewhat and I wanted the characters & story to be fleshed out a bit. I liked it. Definitely not a wasted read, but it was lacking.
October 25, 2018
David Stout won an Edgar for Best First Novel in 1989 for this book. An excellent insight into the 1940s in South Carolina. Plus a very good mystery.
October 3, 2020
Hangs together nicely
Well written story with believable characters and background historical angels to make it seem this could well have happened. Good read.
Well written story with believable characters and background historical angels to make it seem this could well have happened. Good read.
January 17, 2021
Fantastic novel.
April 3, 2021
A must read for anyone interested in true crimes and social injustices of past. So timely today too. Reads like a darn good historical novel.
July 3, 2021
The characters cross the generation gap. And, Stout does as great a job writing characters who are young as he does the older characters.
June 8, 2023
a very sad and unpleasant story
July 14, 2025
The historical fiction aspect is great and the concept of revisiting the heinous crime is a good one, I just don’t think the latter fiction is as strong and confident as the first half.
October 13, 2021
The first half of the story was good, hard to read because of the actual history it’s based around. But the second half, not so great. It got to be real disappointing and really felt like two separate books that were tied together with a weak plot twist. This is the rare time when the book’s blurb sucked me into reading the book and it was a major let down.
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March 11, 2017Sad story
This story kept my attention from beginning to end. What a sad story. It's a terrible shame it's true. Unimaginable sadness f or all involved.
This story kept my attention from beginning to end. What a sad story. It's a terrible shame it's true. Unimaginable sadness f or all involved.
April 4, 2023
I don’t know how this book ended up on my radar now, but something in January reminded me of the 1991 TV movie I watched based on this book. For the record, a 9 year old should not have watched that movie.
This book follows James Willop who has gone back to his mother’s hometown to try to investigate a 40 year old crime. Willop’s uncle, a 14 year old African-American named Linus Bragg, was executed at the age of 14 for the murders of two young white girls. A crime Linus did not commit. The first half of the book covers the crime and the trial, and subsequent execution, while the second is Willop’s research into what happened to his uncle. It’s a brutal story, made even sadder by the knowledge that it is based on a true story.
It could have been a five-star book but the story gets a little convoluted toward the end.
This book follows James Willop who has gone back to his mother’s hometown to try to investigate a 40 year old crime. Willop’s uncle, a 14 year old African-American named Linus Bragg, was executed at the age of 14 for the murders of two young white girls. A crime Linus did not commit. The first half of the book covers the crime and the trial, and subsequent execution, while the second is Willop’s research into what happened to his uncle. It’s a brutal story, made even sadder by the knowledge that it is based on a true story.
It could have been a five-star book but the story gets a little convoluted toward the end.
August 27, 2014
I thought this novel was brilliant. It captured the realism of how black people were treated in the nineteen forties and the scars it left behind forty years later. But more than that, it was the basis of a true story and Stout recreated the tragedy that happened to a young George Stinney Junior.
The characters were well executed,they were consistent and realistic, I thought. They were diverse and varied in manner. Sometimes the characters of books can morph into one big character where they think and feel alike. Not in this novel. Linus was the awkward teenage boy, scared to do something wrong and in the wrong place at the wrong time, his uncle; scarred by demons of his past that have affected his family is a very interesting character, he acts brave but admits he's shaking, he wants to know the truth but unsure of himself. The sheriff and his son are quite similar and while the sheriff was a good guy - he made a huge mistake. Cody was not a likeable man nor was T.J.
The novel truly was a mystery novel with the right amount of tension and intrigue. I was constantly guessing and putting the book down for a moment to understand what a new piece of information meant. It was captivating.
The only issue with this book, I think, was the rather abrupt ending. We did find out what happened though it was mostly speculative and there wasn't a large piece of justice served for the misconduct of Linus Bragg's death, but I suppose that's realistic.
A very good read, one I recommend to mystery readers everywhere.
The characters were well executed,they were consistent and realistic, I thought. They were diverse and varied in manner. Sometimes the characters of books can morph into one big character where they think and feel alike. Not in this novel. Linus was the awkward teenage boy, scared to do something wrong and in the wrong place at the wrong time, his uncle; scarred by demons of his past that have affected his family is a very interesting character, he acts brave but admits he's shaking, he wants to know the truth but unsure of himself. The sheriff and his son are quite similar and while the sheriff was a good guy - he made a huge mistake. Cody was not a likeable man nor was T.J.
The novel truly was a mystery novel with the right amount of tension and intrigue. I was constantly guessing and putting the book down for a moment to understand what a new piece of information meant. It was captivating.
The only issue with this book, I think, was the rather abrupt ending. We did find out what happened though it was mostly speculative and there wasn't a large piece of justice served for the misconduct of Linus Bragg's death, but I suppose that's realistic.
A very good read, one I recommend to mystery readers everywhere.
January 30, 2017
Part 1: Amazing! Historically accurate. Great writing. Just wonderful!
Part 2: Not quite as accurate. I could tell that the author was from the north and had little to no respect for the south. (FYI - Any reference to the movie Deliverance is a dead give away.) Things took a little turn for paranoid. I could understand how James would be afraid but his actions definitely made him look guilty.
Overall, the book was decent. Since I read that this is a first time author, I'm saying "good job." Things will evolve and become easier from him from this point on. I just wouldn't suggest he write much more about the south.
Part 2: Not quite as accurate. I could tell that the author was from the north and had little to no respect for the south. (FYI - Any reference to the movie Deliverance is a dead give away.) Things took a little turn for paranoid. I could understand how James would be afraid but his actions definitely made him look guilty.
Overall, the book was decent. Since I read that this is a first time author, I'm saying "good job." Things will evolve and become easier from him from this point on. I just wouldn't suggest he write much more about the south.
June 17, 2015
It's the 1940s in the southern US state of Carolina and two little girls have been horribly murdered. Obviously it had to be the 14 year old black kid who did it. The narrative weaves between the time of the murder, the arrest and execution of the teen accused and the modern day when the teen's nephew comes to the area to investigate what happened. This was an absorbing tale of prejudice and murder and it had me gripped from beginning to end.
July 6, 2015
This book is based on a 1944 rape case of George Stinney Jr.,a fourteen year old who became the youngest person executed in the United States during the twentieth century. After a trial of only a few hours he was found guilty of double murder and was sent to the electric chair three months later. An excellent tale of how a relative returns to South Carolina years later to find out the real story.
February 11, 2012
I don't think this book really picked up until the second half. The storyline is kind of interesting though kind of predictable. I was much more interested in finishing it once I made it through to the second book. Overall it was just ok.
February 11, 2013
I found this book incredibly, amazingly long winded and tedious. It got marginally better in the second half but it never grabbed me. I know that I forced myself to continue reading it and finish it, but I just can't recall the outcome. Which should say everything.
February 3, 2020
Good crime story
Reads fast. The characters are crisp and the author's vivid depiction helps bring the true crime story to life. The book also does a fair job of tackling race relations in the south and how far we've come or not gotten to from 1944 to today.
Reads fast. The characters are crisp and the author's vivid depiction helps bring the true crime story to life. The book also does a fair job of tackling race relations in the south and how far we've come or not gotten to from 1944 to today.
August 3, 2008
Good, I liked the way no one is completely evil; just living the way they were raised; victims of their history
June 19, 2009
This is a great book! It was recommended to me by a instructor while I was in the police academy. It's a hard book to come by, but if you are able to buy it; do so.
June 6, 2011
A mystery within a mystery--set in both the Old South of 1944 and the New South of 1988. Based on the real execution of a young black boy in South Carolina.
June 29, 2013
Well written. But the ending was horribly contrived.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews