Savannah, a Dysfunctional Family, and Crime Solving
Whenever I think of Savannah, Georgia, I picture Forrest Gump sitting on a bench waiting for the bus among a row of stately trees and beautiful homes talking to whomever sits next to him. It's charming. George Dawes Green describes a similar Savannah in The Kingdoms of Savannah but goes far beyond its beauty and quiet gentility to display a seamier side that jars the reader. He brings historic Savannah into the modern world with crime, homelessness, and family drama infesting its underbelly. It’s an eye opener of a literary thriller.
The book begins with with senseless crimes against two of the city’s growing homeless community. Luke is stabbed to death at his encampment and Stony is kidnapped but the police put little effort into solving either. However, that changes with pressure from Luke and Stony’s friends Jaq Walker, a Black film documentarian, and her uncle, Ransom, an outlier of the powerful white Musgrove extended family. And finally family matriarch Morgana Musgrove, the operator of a detective agency left to her by her late husband, gets involved after receiving a suspiciously large retainer to investigate. In need of the funds she brings all her children and granddaughter, Jaq, into the case to help save Stony and figure out why Luke was killed. As with many stories involving an historic town’s elite greed, treachery and backstabbing play a major role in uncovering the guilty.
If you enjoy mysteries with a cultural twist The Kingdoms of Savannah is a welcome read. The author is at the top of his game with this gem of a thriller.
The book begins with with senseless crimes against two of the city’s growing homeless community. Luke is stabbed to death at his encampment and Stony is kidnapped but the police put little effort into solving either. However, that changes with pressure from Luke and Stony’s friends Jaq Walker, a Black film documentarian, and her uncle, Ransom, an outlier of the powerful white Musgrove extended family. And finally family matriarch Morgana Musgrove, the operator of a detective agency left to her by her late husband, gets involved after receiving a suspiciously large retainer to investigate. In need of the funds she brings all her children and granddaughter, Jaq, into the case to help save Stony and figure out why Luke was killed. As with many stories involving an historic town’s elite greed, treachery and backstabbing play a major role in uncovering the guilty.
If you enjoy mysteries with a cultural twist The Kingdoms of Savannah is a welcome read. The author is at the top of his game with this gem of a thriller.