Murder on Parrish Road

Must Read -- 5 Stars
Readers are invited to wade through complicated characters to peel the layers of a mystery that against the odds undoes a complex coverup.

Synopsis
East Texas. Summer, 1985.
When the body of a young Black woman is discovered near a remote boat ramp outside the quiet town of Lakeview, Buffalo County law enforcement is thrust into one of the most explosive murder investigations in the county’s history.
Veteran investigator Lieutenant John Crockett has seen violence before — in Vietnam, on the streets, and in the dark corners of East Texas crime — but something about this case feels different from the start.
The victim has no identification.
The crime scene raises more questions than answers.
And beneath the surface of the investigation lies a tangled web of racial tension, political corruption, secret affairs, small-town loyalties, and dangerous ambitions.
As Crockett and his partner Billy Bob Peveto dig deeper into the murder, they uncover connections reaching far beyond a simple homicide. Powerful local figures, hidden agendas, and old East Texas secrets begin colliding in ways that threaten careers, reputations, and lives.
Set against the heat, politics, and backroads of rural East Texas, Murder on Parrish Road is a gripping Southern crime thriller filled with authentic law enforcement detail, richly drawn characters, and the slow-burning tension of classic small-town noir.

Small-town mystery novels with a sense of atmospheric tension are a favorite of mine. The late Larry V. Franklin delivers one of the best I have read in years. I am glad his daughter, Amy, finished this tale told in his distinguished manner. From the opening pages, the novel provides a "hook" into Buffalo County and invites readers to wade through a wake of complicated characters to peel back the layers of a mystery that lays out a compelling literary journey.

Readers of Joe R. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series or Attica Locke's Highway 59 series will see similarities in the way he captures East Texas's complex social and political landscape.

Sheriff Samuel Walker, who is in his first term, feels immense pressure from the white community and Black leaders to quickly solve the murder of a black woman, Mary Jo Greene. At the same time, he wants to prove the department treats crimes against Black victims with the same urgency as others. A further complication is a grand jury probe into the department’s missing informant funds, which the Walker sees as setup by his rivals—Chief Deputy Howard Newton, District Attorney Steve Hartsford, and District Judge James Monroe Steinmann—to force him out of office. Walker is forced to frequently shift from a homicide probe to whether he will "have a badge by the end of the month".

"Will" Steinmann is a college dropout whose father figured to improve him by making him a confidential police informant. That leads to ties to the Howlers motorcycle gang that supplied him with drugs and guns. The novel combines politics, racial prejudice, drug deals and cover-ups into a full-blown murderous partnership.

The primary murder suspect, William "Will" Steinmann's father, the judge, uses his family's political weight to derail the investigation. The pressure builds with each chapter until readers wonder whether the sheriff can achieve his goals.

Walker's lieutenant, John Crockett, a dogged investigator believes that the father's power will require an "airtight case" just to get the matter before a grand jury. He suspects the judge, district attorney and Newton want Walker removed to hide the truth about the investigation and allow a free pass to organized crime in the county.

Readers will be more than satisfied by the ending. Sorry, no spoilers, but the path to justice is fraught with twists and turns. The motives for the characters actions are a surprise