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The Moaning Bench
The year is 1980 and Atlanta is in the grips of a cunning serial killer. Some elusive ghost is snatching black children off the streets and murdering them. Tension ratchets up another notch when the popular minister and civil rights leader, Reverend Jimmy Lee Hightower, is killed. His son, Rufus, who had publicly threatened Hightower, is found at the scene. But the murder weapon is missing and Rufus isn't talking.
Detective Cleveland Mock, recently booted from the Missing and Murdered Children's task force investigating the child killings, is spiraling downward: Talking to his dead wife, isolated from his fellow cops, eager to get back on the task force. Instead, he gets the Hightower murder. Mock immediately faces intense political pressure to make a quick arrest and restore calm in the troubled city.
Some believe Hightower was killed by the Ku Klux Klan because of his civil rights work. But Mock thinks Rufus is covering for someone in the minister's most intimate inner circle. His search for answers takes him to Hightower's small hometown in rural Georgia. There, he joins forces with Sheriff Ed Meaney, who has his own agenda, and Mama Kalie, an ageless, mysterious psychic who had predicted Hightower's murder decades earlier.
They try to figure out who among those closest to Reverend Hightower wanted him dead:
His beautiful widow, Liz, who seems all-too-eager for a new romance and who has Mock off balance from the jump?
His other son, Corey, a charismatic playboy preacher with an eye for the ladies and a dark side?
Corey's neglected wife, the lovely and high-strung Laura, who was sneaking around with Reverend Hightower in the weeks before his murder?
Sam Chase, the local businessman who harbored a deep-seated hatred of Jimmy Lee Hightower?
Or William Stone, the victim's political godfather who has operated in the shadows of Georgia politics for decades with his henchman, the murderous giant Tiny Weaver?
As Mock races against the clock to find a murderer, he uncovers a viper's nest of long-buried secrets that someone will kill and kill again to keep buried. The flawed detective will find himself challenged like never before en route to a face-to-face rendezvous with a killer unlike any he has ever known.
Nathan McCall, author of the classic memoir "Makes Me Wanna Holler" and "Them: A Novel," says of the debut novel: "This is exquisite storytelling, a real page-turner, spun in the Southern literary tradition of the great Ernest Gaines. With 'The Moaning Bench,' Larry Copeland has announced himself as a fresh new voice on the fiction scene."
Detective Cleveland Mock, recently booted from the Missing and Murdered Children's task force investigating the child killings, is spiraling downward: Talking to his dead wife, isolated from his fellow cops, eager to get back on the task force. Instead, he gets the Hightower murder. Mock immediately faces intense political pressure to make a quick arrest and restore calm in the troubled city.
Some believe Hightower was killed by the Ku Klux Klan because of his civil rights work. But Mock thinks Rufus is covering for someone in the minister's most intimate inner circle. His search for answers takes him to Hightower's small hometown in rural Georgia. There, he joins forces with Sheriff Ed Meaney, who has his own agenda, and Mama Kalie, an ageless, mysterious psychic who had predicted Hightower's murder decades earlier.
They try to figure out who among those closest to Reverend Hightower wanted him dead:
His beautiful widow, Liz, who seems all-too-eager for a new romance and who has Mock off balance from the jump?
His other son, Corey, a charismatic playboy preacher with an eye for the ladies and a dark side?
Corey's neglected wife, the lovely and high-strung Laura, who was sneaking around with Reverend Hightower in the weeks before his murder?
Sam Chase, the local businessman who harbored a deep-seated hatred of Jimmy Lee Hightower?
Or William Stone, the victim's political godfather who has operated in the shadows of Georgia politics for decades with his henchman, the murderous giant Tiny Weaver?
As Mock races against the clock to find a murderer, he uncovers a viper's nest of long-buried secrets that someone will kill and kill again to keep buried. The flawed detective will find himself challenged like never before en route to a face-to-face rendezvous with a killer unlike any he has ever known.
Nathan McCall, author of the classic memoir "Makes Me Wanna Holler" and "Them: A Novel," says of the debut novel: "This is exquisite storytelling, a real page-turner, spun in the Southern literary tradition of the great Ernest Gaines. With 'The Moaning Bench,' Larry Copeland has announced himself as a fresh new voice on the fiction scene."
384 pages, Hardcover
Published January 27, 2017
4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 9, 2018
I met Larry Copeland at the Dahlonega Literary Festival. My fellow book club members and I talked with him and learned about him and his book. We thanked him and walked away. His book was brought up among us and we decided it sounded pretty good. I wanted to read this book and probably recommend it for a 2019 read for our book club. Well, I went back and got the book and I’m happy I did. Knowing his background and my background, this book tells a story that I could imagine having a lot of truths. I don’t know, cause I didn’t live it. Detective Monk, he is quite the character. I like him! He has a good story to tell. This story has love, cruelty, spirits, uncertainty, lies, regret, deceit, twists and turns, and I think you’ll want to keep reading to see what happens next. I know I did. Are these typical Southern families and characters? Seems like a strong possibility to me. I think you should check them out.
Just because you don’t know an author, don’t ignore them, give them a chance. You may be in for a real treat. I can’t tell you how many authors first books I’ve read. I love to meet new authors and see what entertainment they have in store for me.
Just because you don’t know an author, don’t ignore them, give them a chance. You may be in for a real treat. I can’t tell you how many authors first books I’ve read. I love to meet new authors and see what entertainment they have in store for me.
May 18, 2025
Great storyline with Cleveland Mock. The author, Larry Copeland provided an intriguing character as a detective. This first novel was a great start with great dialogue and storytelling from the past by the characters. Looking forward the next novel with Cleveland Mock.
July 6, 2018
In Need of Editor
Copeland's tale of murder and family destruction is at times compelling and interesting. The lack of editing and expansion of dialogue as well as its uneven use of flashbacks pulls the reader out of the story more often than not. There are also moments that are lost or hard to follow because actions are not explained clearly enough. It breaks my heart because I liked Cleveland Mock and his world. He deserves a story that was given more attention. I hope Mama Kalie's girl, Bella, gets a better chance.
Copeland's tale of murder and family destruction is at times compelling and interesting. The lack of editing and expansion of dialogue as well as its uneven use of flashbacks pulls the reader out of the story more often than not. There are also moments that are lost or hard to follow because actions are not explained clearly enough. It breaks my heart because I liked Cleveland Mock and his world. He deserves a story that was given more attention. I hope Mama Kalie's girl, Bella, gets a better chance.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews