Book Picks: Unraveling greed, a welfare scandal and literary landmines
THERE IS HAPPINESS
by Brad Watson
“Here is a generous portion of the work of a swiftly passing lifetime. Bountiful is the deserving page,” Joy Williams writes in her introduction to this astonishing selection of Brad Watson’s published and unpublished stories.
THE QUEEN CITY DETECTIVE AGENCY
by Snowden Wright
Following an unforgettable cast of characters and a jaded female P.I. enmeshed in a criminal conspiracy in 1980s Meridian, Mississippi, The Queen City Detective Agency is a riveting, razor-sharp Southern noir that unravels the greed, corruption, and racism at the heart of the American Dream.
MISSISSIPPI SWINDLE: BRETT FAVRE AND THE WELFARE SCANDAL THAT SHOCKED AMERICA
by Shad White
Mississippi state auditor and University of Mississippi graduate, Shad White recounts in detail the investigation into the largest public corruption scandal in the state’s history.
GHOSTWRITER:SHAKESPEARE, LITERARY LANDMINES, AND AN ECCENTRIC PATRON’S ROYAL OBSESSION
by Lawrence Wells
Part literary mystery, part an examination of what constitutes fiction versus reality, Ghostwriter is based on the true story of author Larry Wells, longtime Oxford resident, who was hired by the University of Mississippi in 1987 to ghostwrite a novel for a wealthy, eccentric donor.
THE MAJESTIC LEO MARBLE
by R.J. Lee
R.J. Lee native Natchezian and current Oxonian has taken a break from his Bridge of Death mystery series for this stand-alone novel. Leo Marble quickens in the womb during a Broadway show, but his life is lived in the Deep South in conservative Mississippi and laid-back New Orleans. He eventually emerges from the closet to become a journalist and advocate for gay rights and visibility.
FOLLOW THE STARS HOME
by Diane McPhail
A captivating reimagining of the intrepid woman who – 8 months pregnant and with a toddler in tow – braved violent earthquakes and treacherous waters on the first steamboat voyage to conquer the Mississippi River and redefine America. Diane McPhail, University of Mississippi graduate has penned a captivating and exciting new novel based on Lydia Latrobe Roosevelt’s 1811 journey.
BROILER
by Eli Cranor
From the nationally bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of Don’t Know Tough and Ozark Dogs comes another edge-of-your-seat noir thriller that exposes the dark, bloody heart of life on the margins in the American South and the bleak underside of a bygone American Dream.
