In the sleepy, rural town, the pageantry of the high school homecoming celebration is a vital part of the community's sense of orderliness and well-being. Those values and rituals are slammed into chaos and terror by the cold-blooded murder of one of the school's most respected teachers. The thin, loose threads of the victim's secret life jerk Sheriff Grover Bramlett into a Byzantine web of deceit, forbidden love and fat bank accounts. Bramlett is swept into the maelstrom of fear when a young boy encounters the killer face-to-face in a cemetery.
John Armistead, an ordained minister, is an award-winning author, artist, and journalist. He holds degrees from Mississippi College, the University of Mississippi, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
"I have been writing fiction since high school," said Armistead, "and painting since childhood."
Armistead began formal studio training in Mobile when he was eight years old, working in pastels and oils. He continued art studies through college, and in recent years has participated in master's classes taught by Everett Raymond Kinstler at the Lyme Academy of Fine Art in Old Lyme, Connecticut, the Art Student's League of New York, and the National Academy of Design in New York City. The influence of Kinstler, the country's foremost painter of five U.S. presidents and over 50 cabinet members, is increasingly evident in his work.
Armistead, born in 1941, began publishing short stories and articles during the 1970s, but did not publish his first novel until 1994.
"I have always loved stories," said Armistead. "Like every Southern writer of my generation, I remember sitting on the front porch and hearing my great-aunts and grandmother talk of people and events from long past days. I can also remember beginning to make up my own stories, daydreaming, as it were, when I was in grammar school. That's still the way I make up stories today."
Armistead is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Authors Guild, the National Association of Independent Artists, the Portrait Society of America, and the Harley Owners Group (HOG).
Armistead is the author of three mystery novels and two novels for teen-agers, and hundreds of his paintings hang in museums and homes throughout the country.
He lives with his family in Tupelo, Mississippi.
"There is a quote from Pliny cherished by both artists and writers, 'Nulla dies sine linea,'" said Armistead. "It means, 'Never a day without a line.' That's my credo too. For me, it applies to both writing and art."
Read this in 1997. Don't remember much about it but the same year I read 2 more in the series---those 3 are all that goodreads has as of 7SEP2019. So on the basis that I stucknwithbthe series will them all 4 stars. The series is set in fictional town (Sheffield) in NE Mississippi. I checked the books out from the public library in Sheffield, Alabama.
Maybe undeserving of 5 stars for its place in the annals of literature, but you know what, sometimes a book just entertains you.
This book entertained me. I could smell the magnolias and almost taste the fried catfish. Living abroad, Armistead made me yearn for my Southland, the people, the food, culture... I can't wait to get back to Mississippi.
It's also a very entertaining plot/storyline, with some likable characters. Five stars.
I was entertained. A solid murder mystery. I rarely give out five stars any more. Not because the quality is less but needed something thing for those that knock my socks off with parts that stick forever. Good read.