A Little Death In Dixie

Although early on, one knows the true identity of the "bad" guy, it keeps one in suspense as to the how/why of the murder/missing person AND will the truth ever come out. It would seem that every mystery has to have the lead detective fall for a major-player female/male victim or relative of a victim. Have authors ever considered NOT having that happen???? haven't read too many that don't.... Too many Barbies and Kens in this genre, but I still read it! LOL!

Southern Gothic murder mystery, full of suspense and surprises. A great read! The good guys aren't entirely good, and the bad guys... well, they aren't very good at all. But for much of the book, it may be hard to tell which is which. The final denouement plays fair with all the clues given, and is true to the personalities, weaknesses, and strengths of the characters. And the characters -- wow! Interesting, distinctive, richly-layered with complex pasts and warped or sheltered views of the present. The setting is so vividly portrayed it made me wish for a Memphis breeze to cool things down.

Lisa Turner is a fantastic addition to today's writing scene! I can't wait for sequels!

First Line: The elderly black man lay crumpled and dead in the marigolds bordering his clapboard house.

Well-known Memphis socialite Sophia Dupree is missing. At first thought to be on just another one of her drunken binges, the longer she's gone the more people wonder if she's learned a new trick-- or if something serious has happened to her. Detective Billy Able is on the case, and with the help of Lou Nevers, the partner he's always hero worshipped, Billy believes they'll get the answers they need. But Lou goes off the rails, and Billy finds himself with the most unlikely of partners: Mercy Snow, the estranged sister of the missing Sophia.

As Billy steps up his investigation, he finds himself underneath a huge overturned can of worms. show more Each worm seems to be a long-buried secret, a deadly plan set in action, corrupt motivations, thoughts and deeds. Billy soon wonders if he's ever really known the truth-- and will he learn all the truth before it's too late?

Starting with the dead man in the marigolds, A Little Death in Dixie grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. The life story of the dead man's wife, Mrs. Lady Tuggle, broke my heart and planted the seed in my mind that I was reading a very special debut novel.

The book has strong elements of Southern Gothic that are very well done. (The epitome of Southern Gothic, for me, has always been William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily.") For the most part, the bad guys aren't hidden, and the reader's job is not to guess their identities, but to piece everything together to get a complete picture of the bad guys' agendas. Let me tell you, those agendas are enough to curl your hair... or straighten it as the case may be.

I was completely hooked by Billy and Mercy, and I wouldn't mind reading about them again. Lisa Turner is an author to watch. show less

Welcome to the dark side of Memphis, home of the blues. Some of our players: a young cop, flawed but mostly honest; an Atlanta bakery owner who's come home to Memphis for a visit to her very dysfunctional family; a veteran cop gone over the edge; an alcoholic socialite who is just plain gone. Then there's a powerful man who craves more power -- and to dominate everyone and everything in his path. Throw in alternating doses of power plays, corruption, greed, and decadence, and you have the ingredients for a fine new Southern Gothic novel.

I find Turner's prose pretty straightforward (with an occasional gem of a phrase that makes me smile) and her plot anything but. (I mean that in a good way.) She dishes out pieces of the puzzle in such a show more way that just when I think I'm getting the picture (or that perhaps she's revealed too much too soon), she throws in something that doesn't seem to fit and I'm back to guessing what's really going on. Then, not too far from the end, she adds one more dreadfully ugly piece that doesn't exactly come out of nowhere, but requires a serious re-visioning of the "big picture."

I enjoyed this novel. I won't say I found it impossible to put down, but I did find it very hard to stay away from it for long, even in a very busy week. show less

This book was not what I expected. It was much better! I found myself wondering what was going to happen while I was forced to go to work. Chapter two was hard for me and without spoiling anything, I was worried it was an indication of how the rest of the book would be. This book was quite a bit heaver than I thought it would be based on the book's description. It was sort of CSI-ish without jamming police procedure down my throat. I actually found myself enjoying it which says alot because I usually have a hard time with police suspense. I loved the fact that the characters were flawed. And not just the bad guys. Even the good guys aren't perfect. I find it hard to enjoy reading books where the characters are too perfect. If I had to show more pick out a negative for this book, it would be that the bad guys are truely dispicable and disgusting and this is revealed pretty early on in the book. So you're reading about these horrible things throughout the whole book. However, it's not too big of a negative because it only makes you root for the good guys even more! I thought the ending was very plausible and it unraveled in a fashion that didn't leave me disapointed. I was a fan of this book and I plan to pass it on to friends who enjoy this genre. I also plan on adding Lisa Turner to my list of author's whose books I pick up when they are released! show less

Detective Billy Able of the Memphis P. D. is having a bad day. First he is called to a homicide, where his partner and mentor, Lou Nevers, a legend in the department, must talk down a woman who, having just killed her husband with a skillet, now threatens herself and the police with a pistol. Before this scene can be cleared, Able and Nevers are called off to investigate a missing person case. Sophia Dupree, a socialite notorious for her drunken exploits, has disappeared, and Judge Lamar “Buck” Overton, a powerful circuit court judge and Sophia’s future stepfather, insists that Lou Nevers take charge of the case. Given Sophia’s history of substance abuse and wild escapades, the expectations are that this disappearance is the show more latest episode. When Nevers loses all control at the scene, however, and disappears himself, Able suspects this is no routine case. When Billy next sees his partner, Nevers is dead in his pickup, half-submerged in a rain-swollen river. Homicide, suicide, or the ‘natural causes’ death written up by the medical examiner, himself a long-time friend of Nevers? Billy Able doesn’t know, but is determined to find out, bringing the reader along he tries to navigate a maze of lies, scandals, and tragedy to reach a horrifying truth.

In this debut novel Ms. Turner has written a well-plotted story, full of characters the reader will like or hate, but is not likely to regard with indifference. Her knowledge of the ways of Southern culture, and the hidden vices and scandals that color it so often, help make the characters live, without getting too close to caricature. The reader has a fair chance to solve the central mystery, and the conclusion is satisfying enough. The one small cavil I had with the book is the way the missing socialite’s fate is handled. It did seem a bit of a let down. That aside, though, A LITTLE DEATH IN DIXIE indicates a new talent in the field, and I hope to see more from Ms. Turner. show less

As soon as I read the first few pages I knew I was in for a great read. Turner's prose flows from paragraph to paragraph and never leaves the reader with any hesitation about continuing to read the story. The story of Detective Billy Able and the crime he solves is great, but the true enjoyment for me came from the strong character development and the wonderful descriptions of Memphis,Tennesee, where the story takes place. I have only been there once before reading this book but now I feel like I have revisited it. The story kept me gripped through the final chapter, where the truth finally comes out about what had really happened. A tremendous first novel and I look forward to Lisa Turner's next book.