She Treads Softly: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
10/5/10; 304 pages
William Morrow

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin is an exceptional, very highly recommended character driven literary mystery. This is a must read extraordinary novel.

When Tina Rutherford, 19, goes missing, Larry Ott, 41, is the immediate and only suspect. "Scary Larry" lives an isolated, lonely existence in rural Mississippi where he is a mechanic. He enjoys reading, cares for his chickens, is ostracized by the community, goes to the garage daily waiting for some work, and visits his mother who is in a nursing home. Years ago when he was 16 he took Cindy Walker on a date. She disappeared afterward and he has always been blamed for her presumed murder. He keeps a file of the subpoenas Gerald County Chief Inspector Roy French serves him with anytime anything happens.

Years ago Larry and Silas "32" Jones were friends of a sort for several months in the 1970's. Larry was the only bookish child of a lower middle class white parents. His father was a mechanic, but Larry much preferred reading. Silas was the son of a poor, single black mother who lived in a cabin on their land. After Cindy Walker disappeared, their friendship ended and Silas went on to become a baseball star, number 32. Now Silas is back as the Constable of Chabot, MS and the sole law enforcement officer in the area. Larry has tried to contact him several times, but Silas studiously ignores all his attempts. The investigation into the disappearance of Tina Rutherford will force both men to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades.

The writing is excellent, the plot compelling, the character development is outstanding, the final denouement is a breath-taking revelation. I can't say enough good things about Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. The plot unfolds through alternate narratives from the past and the present, which all come together to solve the mysteries and reveal something even more surprising and unpredictable. All of the descriptions are so rich that the setting, time period, and characters come to life. Your heart will break for Larry, both in the past and present.

There are clues to follow in the current mystery, but the magic is in the writing and the character development. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a perfect selection for everyone who enjoys wonderful writing and excellent character development. (This novel represents another reason I'm continuing my short break between advanced readers copies and working my way through my TBR stacks from years past.)

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.