This is the second book of a four part series set in Round Rock, TN. While set in the same town with some of the characters from the first book, Little Joe, it is now some years later. Dr. Kate Marlow is going on trial for murdering her best friend, Lillian. She insists that she didn't do it but has no recollection of the day her friend died because she blacked out.
Seeing the news of the trial on the AP teletype, expat of Round Rock, Shenandoah Coleman, now working as a reporter for a Memphis newspaper, decides to return home to Round Rock to cover the trial and after seeing her old friend Kate, decides to help Dr. Kate by interviewing everybody who knew her to find character witnesses for her.
Along the way, Shenandoah meets up with her old friends and her old foes, she meets new people along the way and makes new friends as well. Including, Bobby, a handsome mechanic who happens to work for Lillian's husband, Army, and they develop a romantic relationship with each other. The fact that Bobby and Army are moonshine runners isn't exactly favorable to Shenandoah but she seems to understand that the activity goes along with all of the other unfavorable activities of the time.
The book covers just about every topic associated with the deep South in the early 50's including racism, sexism, classism, corrupt politics, etc. There is a trial and we get a good picture of just how differently the court systems worked back then. Michael Glasscock made it all very real.
A verdict is rendered. What really happened that day comes to light. There's even an epilogue that details what happened to each of the characters years later.
What I liked about the book was how Shenandoah held her head up high in the faces of those who once looked at her as poor white trash and still see her as that even though she's been a WASP pilot in WW2, college educated and doing well for herself. I also liked how she kept her promise to Dr. Kate and visited her everyday to see how she was doing and to keep her up to date on how her interviews were progressing.
We also get to see the good things too. Like Southern hospitality and how the town protects each other (this is a bad thing too when it turns into people covering for each other). The book is written really well, it's not hard to follow and you can get caught up in it quickly.
What I didn't like was how the trial ended and the reaction to the verdict just seemed to fall flat. I'd expect, in this particular case, that ANY verdict would spark outrage and outcry. But it was just nothing. Even finding out what really happened was just flat. Then out of what seems like nowhere, we are given this shocker of an ending with Bobby, whom Shenandoah has fallen in love with and wants to be with forever. Frankly, I *hated* how Bobby's ending was written. It seemed incredibly unnecessary and I still don't understand why Glasscock decided to go in the direction he did what him.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book. Honesty, I dropped it to 4 stars because of that ending. In fact, I can't think of another book ending that I disliked more. Overall, it's a good book and a good read. I plan to read the next two books in the series.
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