Tidewater Blood
by William Hoffman
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Set in Virginia in the 1980s, TIDEWATER BLOOD opens at the annual LeBlanc family celebration. Rich, pretentious, and proud, the LeBlancs operate a prosperous plantation and celebrate their heritage each year in grand old Southern fashion on the mansion's portico. But this year, the front of the mansion explodes and everyone on the portico is instantly killed. As the dust settles, all fingers point to embittered brother and ex-con Charles LeBlanc, who lives as a hermit outside town. When it show more seems he's going down on a murder rap, Charley flees to begin his own investigation. Charley must win the trust of one person after another—from his frat-boy lawyer to an old backwoods woman harboring a special hatred of the LeBlancs. Charley solves the crime moments before he faces imprisonment, but not before he learns long-hidden secrets about that illustrious LeBlanc blood. Crisp and cinematic, TIDEWATER BLOOD is a riveting and tightly constructed thriller. "A first rate, page-turning thriller."—George Garrett; "Limpid and swift-moving, with a full complement of understated surprises: an exemplary presentation of the innocent man on the run for readers who want more texture then they can find in THE FUGITIVE."—Kirkus Reviews. "This is a gripping read."—Library Journal. A MYSTERY GUILD SELECTION.. show less
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I kept trying to reject this book. It didn't look that interesting and what I had read about it sounded like it wasn't going to be. In the beginning, the plot wasn't even that interesting but something would not let me put it down. I don't know what it was but I do know it was a great read. Charley LeBlanc was born a half century ago with a silver spoon in his mouth which he spit out early and legitimately earned the label black sheep. But he was not behind the blast that blew up his family - no matter what the local sheriff thinks.
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17+ Works 231 Members
Henry William Hoffman was born in Charleston, West Virginia on May 16, 1925. He attended the Kentucky Military Institute before entering the U.S. Army in September 1943. He served as a medic in the Normandy campaign and at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. He was discharged in February 1946. He received a bachelor's degree from show more Hampden-Sydney College in 1949. He studied law at Washington and Lee University, but quit after the publication of his first short story in 1950. He studied at the Iowa Writers' Workshop for one year. After working in Washington, D.C., for the Evening Star newspaper and for the U.S. Department of Defense, and then in New York City for Chase National Bank, Hoffman returned to Hampden-Sydney. He taught at the college from 1952 until 1959 and was the writer-in-residence from 1966 until his retirement in 1973. He was the author of fourteen novels, four short-story collections, and two plays. His novels included The Trumpet Unblown, Days in the Yellow Leaf, The Dark Mountains, Yancey's War, Godfires, Wild Thorn, and Lies. His first collection of short stories, Virginia Reels, was published in 1978. His plays included The Love Touch and The Spirit in Me. He won the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature in 1992, the O. Henry Prize in 1996, and the Dashiell Hammett Award in 1999 for Tidewater Blood. He died on September 13, 2009 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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