Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (2010)

Very well written. I love an author who makes you feel the locations in the book. Only in the south does feel and smell and taste put you in place. ( )

As fine as Dennis Lehane's Mystic River, set in the South. I could not stop thinking about the book for days afterwards, and can't wait for his next. ( )

I enjoyed this novel, but it didn't get to the literary heights that I had hoped for. The good points: it has a character I truly identify with (Larry), a decent enough mystery for a couple hundred pages, and a pretty good dynamic between Silas and Larry. I also enjoyed the theme of loneliness that resonated in Larry's story; the scene where Larry departs from the haunted house alone, realizing that once again he's been rejected for being different was particularly well written.

But a lot of the book was just too on the nose. In particular, the exploration of race in this novel was without any subtlety whatsoever. Too much of the story made me feel like the author was trying too hard to imagine what Mississippi in the late 1970s and early 1980s was like and instead of being transported there I felt like I was in a bit of a caricature. I don't know, perhaps race relations are exactly as they were depicted here, but to me it didn't feel like Mr. Franklin really went out of his way to put an interesting spin on it beyond the fact that white kids couldn't be friends with black kids and this will in turn create tension, frustration, and guilt among all the parties who try to break this barrier. I also felt like the ending of the mystery was more or less telegraphed - it was reasonably clear what happened long before the characters could figure it out, and while this is certainly not fatal in my view, the solution wasn't brought up until well into the novel and was obvious immediately upon this introduction.

Finally, and this is a minor criticism, but the prose didn't sweep me up except in some very small sections. Perhaps I've been spoiled by my recent forays, but with this premise, with the characters, with the themes...I was just hoping to be carried away by some beautiful writing. Mr Franklin has some obvious talent, and I may check out some more of his work, but I have to admit to being a little disappointed by this. ( )

Withholding my rating until after book club. ( )

Gorgeous writing, and a page-turner. ( )