The Scribe by Matthew Guinn
Reviewed by Keith McCoy, Somerset County Library System
Originally Submitted to Library
Journal
Race, money, power, and
scandal: this brew is steaming in Atlanta of 1881. A disgraced
detective is brought back to investigate the ritualized murders of two Negro
businessmen. Both were prosperous enough to have invested in the upcoming
Exposition, which is intended to showcase the city as the forerunner of the New
South. Both had letters carved into their foreheads, as did the ambitious
prostitute who is murdered the night Thomas Canby returns. The business
community wants this solved pronto, but is this a fight within the black
community, or something more sinister? Why was the Jewish upstart from
Brooklyn framed to take the fall? Canby is teamed with Atlanta’s first
African-American patrolman, who also becomes a suspect in the process.
The action moves back and forth between the burgeoning city and the villages on
the outskirts, ending in a thrilling railroad chase scene, and an assassination
attempt on a prominent American.
Verdict: Both
exciting and gruesome, The Scribe will appeal to readers who like crime
mixed with history, but some may find the ending frantic and inconclusive.
This book will be published in September.
