I really enjoyed this murder mystery. It had enough surprises to keep me interested. The characters are well developed and so interesting that I loved and despised each one as I should. But it’s not just a good mystery. It’s also a tribute to those who fought against and survived slavery. It’s a portrait of the horror of slavery and people like Colonel Lamar who strove to make slavery a part of our country’s future as well as our past. It’s a reminder that we have not completely broken from the prejudices that allowed slavery in the first part and a reminder to continue that fight. It’s a shaming of the Deep South, places like Savannah where slavery continues to be swept under the rug and the history glossed over. I loved the authors explanations of events and people at the end of the book and I am encouraged to do more research to discover the hidden stories behind the stories.