Grievances

by Mark Ethridge

For more than twenty years, the murder of a thirteen-year-year-old boy during racial unrest in rural South Carolina has gone unpunished, unsolved, even uninvestigated. But that changes when Charlotte Times reporter Matt Harper sits down with a fellow who shows up in the newsroom, a guy with a grievance. As he struggles with his journalistic legacy, Harper comes to understand why the investigation must be pursued and why he must be the one to do it―despite the opposition of his publisher, violent threats from mysterious forces who do not want the story told, and the fact that his father is dying. Set in the rich scenery of a Savannah River town that time and justice have forgotten, Grievances is a story of newspapers, murder, and of redemption―for a small Southern town and for Matt Harper.

Genres: Fiction

280 pages, Hardcover

First published April 16, 2006

Reviews

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I recognized the author's name from my short stint working at the Charlotte Observer. Not to damn it with faint praise, but it's the best book I've read in a while that involves my former profession. It made me remember why I got into the news business, and the story wasn't bad, though a little predictable. The writing was clean/unobtrusive.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fun to read a book when you actually know the author! I really enjoyed this story of a reporter investigating the 20 year old unsolved murder of an 13-year-old African-American boy in a small town in South Carolina.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a day when I had a lot of time to kill, flying. Perfect for travel/beach reading. It kept me guessing a little, but not thinking too hard!

[Amy (Bossy Bookworm)]

Charlotte author, former editor of the Observer; this one was well received

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book ever! And yes, this is unfair of me to say.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book, and I'll want to read whatever his next book is.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't know if I loved this because the author's sister is my old friend, or because my journalist father is battling cancer, or because I am a dyed in the wool liberal living in South Carolina.