Cypress Grove

Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly Turner, a homicide cop from Memphis, has retired to a cabin outside a small town in the South, but crime comes knocking in this tightly written, low-key thriller. The rural sheriff, Lonnie Bates, introduces himself over a bottle of Wild Turkey and asks for assistance in a murder case that clearly is out of his league. A drifter has been found wired up on latticework, arms ritualistically crossed above his head, a long stake driven through his heart. As he joins in the investigation, Turner meets and likes more and more of the locals, remembering how he came to this place after an on-job shooting and follow-up stint in prison. Alternating chapters build his backstory, with brilliant, disturbing vignettes of police work and scenes of surviving as an ex-cop behind bars that stand with the best in the genre. The prose, unlike other more poetic writing from the versatile Sallis, is easily accessible: "We came in from the north, onto deserted streets. Pop. 1280, a sign said. Passed Jay's Dinner with its scatter of cars and trucks outside, drugstore and hardware store gone dark, A&P, Dollar Store, Baptist church, Gulf station." With his highly regarded six-novel series about New Orleans detective Lew Griffin (The Long-Legged Fly, etc.) behind him, Sallis seems completely comfortable in this solid, lyrical and very human-scale mystery. Fans who appreciate his more quirky touches won't be disappointed, as he brings in an unexpected cult cinema angle. This one may well draw a larger readership to his work. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist His Lew Griffin series behind him, Sallis turns to a new hero. On the run from his past, which includes stints as cop, convict, and psychotherapist, Turner has settled in the deep country outside Cypress Grove, Tennessee, looking only for solitude. Then the local sheriff shows up bearing a bottle of Wild Turkey and a plea for help: murder has come to Cypress Grove, and the sheriff needs the expertise of a mean-street-hardened investigator. Turner allows himself to be drawn into the case--a bizarre ritual killing--and follows the trail to a cult filmmaker whose unreleased final film includes a death scene that appears to have been the killer's inspiration. Jumping between the main story and a series of flashbacks detailing Turner's tortured past, Sallis combines an intensely introspective hero with a detail-rich plot (the foray into B-films is especially fascinating). Sallis' prose tends to walk a thin line between lyrical and mannered, sometimes falling one way, sometimes another, but this time he remains in balance throughout. A strong series debut from one of the genre's most original voices. Bill Ott Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.