Title: Guilty in Mississippi
Author: Percy Lynchard
Publisher: Fulton Books
ISBN: 979-8-88505-982-4
Pages: 323
Genre: Fiction / Novel / Crime-Thriller
Reviewer: Carol Davala

Read Book Review

Author Percy Lynchard’s Guilty In Mississippi is a fascinating debut novel of crime and suspense that takes us into the Southern Mississippi Delta during a time when racial bias stood at the forefront of small town communities.

The story is set in 1969 when a highschool girl is murdered in Boliva County. Soon after, another young woman in the area is killed and evidence reveals a similar MO. Paul Lane, a young lawyer turned investigator for the local district attorney, is tasked with finding the killer. Unfortunately, the local sheriff believes he already knows who the suspected criminal is to be charged with the heinous crimes. Tyrone Braid, a former high school football star, and recent parolee, happens to live in the vicinity of the victims. While evidence is only circumstantial, the sheriff’s intentional release of information to the public revealing the suspect is a black man, is enough to convince the community at large of Braid’s guilt. Meanwhile the local Citizens Council, composed of a “soft” Ku Klux Klan group who deem themselves judge and jury, hire a hitman to take out Braid. As Lane continues to investigate the murders, he must also convince Braid that he needs protection from the offshoot Klan members who feel his death will bring justice for the slain young white women and the community.

As a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law and a Chancery Court Judge in DeSoto County, Lynchard clearly draws upon his own background and intimate knowledge of the law in researching the story’s subject matter. Having grown up in Mississippi during a time of desegregation, Lynchard recalls that racial bias at the time remained ingrained in much of the population. In the narrative he chooses a lengthy near paragraph sentence description to relate the brutality of the “Parchman Farm” prison where the Braid character spent 18 months as an inmate. As a 20-year-old black man, his “Peeping Tom” charge was considered a felony in the state of Mississippi. A white man would have received a much lighter sentence.  When Braid gets paroled, Lynchard aptly makes use of an elder inmate to offer up wise words of warning to the younger, which clearly summarizes the thought in the South of the ’60s. “It don’t take much to be guilty in Mississippi. Since you black you halfway there. You watch yo step every day, you hear? And don’t you never come back here.” While the book is a fictional creation, Lynchard’s memory is impactful to the point where he includes scenes taken from the reality of his youth. Readers should consider the timeframe of this novel, as fortunately the intense prejudice has lessened in more recent decades.

From the book’s opening, Lynchard paints vivid details of the brutal summer climate and fertile landscape of the Mississippi/Tennessee area. Within this flat terrain of farms, fields, and meandering highways, the author tells a story that hooks readers from the moment he focuses on a man in the darkness watching his prey. Here the crime is methodical and precise, and though there is no lingering on the viciousness of the event, it does not deter from the fact that a quiet rural community is now destroyed.

With a bevy of characters on both the right and wrong sides of the law, from those with a moral compass, and those without, Lynchard fills his narrative with well-developed, complex individuals that keep the plot moving at a steady pace. Continuous developments add new twists and turns to the ever-advancing storyline. Whether concerns about who is leaking information to the ominous Citizen’s Council group; or the possibility of a mentally challenged individual known for wandering about town to be a suspect, though with the advantage of being white; to a remorseful father seeking revenge for his daughter’s death; Lynchard keeps us engaged and guessing about the criminal activities that have not only disrupted the town, but have left behind unexpected casualties in the wake of finding the killer.

The book’s final moments reveal a subtle detail that ignites a surprise outcome giving credence to Lynchard’s masterful ability to write a suspenseful thriller that will keep audiences involved and entertained until the end. Guilty in Mississippi Proves a literary enticement that draws readers in to make us feel like welcome visitors to a close-knit, rural community experiencing the ruthlessness of unwelcome turmoil. Here’s hoping for a sequel.