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Wow. Jeff Stetson has written a book that deals with intense issues and tackles the weighty concerns of ethics and morality, reminding us of all-too-present American racism --- all while offering a suspenseful story. I wasn't halfway through BLOOD ON THE LEAVES when I realized that it would go on my list of "best first mysteries of 2004." This is one helluva story.
Professor Martin Matheson, whose father is a preacher (and who named his son, yes, after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) is a popular and highly controversial teacher of a course in which he presents 20th century southern history, naming names of white residents of Mississippi who were usually acquitted (if brought to trial at all) of killing, torturing and lynching black people 30-40 years ago. When several of those individuals he has named are killed, the community erupts --- well mostly it's the legal community that erupts. Matheson is arrested and charged with murder.
The prosecuting attorney, James Reynolds, who knows Matheson, is black; the defense attorney, Todd Miller, whose choice to become a civil rights lawyer caused his father to disown him, is white. Reynolds' boss, a political deadbeat in the prosecutor's office, is cruelly drawn but believable; there are those who are in politics and law to fight for victims and there are those who are in it for political gain, power and influence, and who would far prefer to deal with office politics than the actual laws they're supposed to defend.
This story contains a great legal thriller and the courtroom scenes move well, providing drama and just enough surprises --- again, Stetson is showing a lot of skill for someone who, while certainly no stranger to writing, is new to mystery fiction. I did have some problems with the presentation of the legal case, though; I thought that the prosecution's case was extremely weak, so that even as a reader I felt strongly about who would win and who would lose. There is some ambiguity to a few characters, but for the most part, the bad guys are pure evil while the good guys (and you get to decide who they are) show a fair amount of depth. The suspense lasts until the book's final word. I'm not entirely sure that I bought the ending one hundred percent, but then again I'm not sure that I didn't; the point here, I believe, is not to walk away satisfied, but to continue to question what happened, and why, and who was ultimately responsible for the deaths in this book, both the recent ones and those from the not-too-distant past.
Perhaps it is Stetson's experience as a playwright that helps to make the dialogue and pacing so effective. The nature of the crimes forces the reader to think about murky issues. What liability does someone have if they name names of murderers who got off during some of the worst times in recent memory? What responsibility does the law have for protecting people who might be on some sort of weird hit list? Is Matheson responsible for the acts, perhaps, of his fired-up students? What if he was wrong about someone? Matheson is just enough of a puzzle; he isn't shy about his feelings and is aware of the turmoil he has created --- and he is proud of it. He loves teaching and making people think --- even in jail, where he seems to me a little too saintly --- but he knows, just knows, that the students are not responsible for the rash of ugly killings. The '50s and '60s are brought back to vivid memory to the characters of the book and the reader. It's within my lifetime that the blatancy of southern racism was confronted, and it's still difficult to read some of the scenes in this book that confirm that in Mississippi, as elsewhere, bigotry and hatred not only exist, but thrive.
A few of the characters are familiar in some ways --- I especially appreciate attorney Miller, the white civil rights lawyer, but all are worth reading about. James Reynolds is acutely aware of the times and of his actions. The conflicts of belief and the rule of law, and the pressures of living in the south and holding certain beliefs about race, are well drawn.
This was not an easy book to read. The descriptions are often ugly and frightening, and you cannot pretend that, at least now, all is well; racism and hatred are still alive --- even if sometimes the victim's color or name might change. Stetson at times may be a little preachy, and obvious --- it's hard not to be with a book about racism and lynching, guilt and history --- but he also can be subtle and, at times, witty. BLOOD ON THE LEAVES makes you think; we need more books like this.
--- Reviewed by Andi Shechter (roscoe@drizzle.com)
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