As I often end up doing, I read this book after the the author's second book set in the small town of Revere, Mississippi. That one, The Secret of Magic, was set in the 1940s, just after World War II ended and revolved around the murder of a returning black war hero. This book, set in the mid-1960s, is focused on the federally mandated school desegregation's affect on the town, while also serving up a mystery involving a poor white man's death due to a supposedly self-inflicted gunshot wound. The blurb on the back of the trade paperback makes it seem to be more a mystery tale than it truly is. This is as much a story about a town in the deep South as the author's second one is, with fully realized characters possessing complexity and contradictions. In a town where whites and blacks don't mingle and everyone seems to know everyone's business, there are plenty of secrets that, if revealed, could change everything.

There is a vague connection to the second book, but otherwise, each stands on its own. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and hope Johnson keeps writing about the generations of people who call Revere their home. ( )

Didn't really like it.
Our story follows two doctors (one white, one black) as they are caught up in the whirlwind of the possibility desegregation in 1960s Mississippi.
This is labeled as a mystery and to be quite honest going into it I thought the mystery was the death at the beginning of the book but after having read it, I can't say that that was the focus of the mystery itself.
Following my main complaint of the storyline not being so clear I would have to say another problem I found with this book was the fact that the author went way too far into developing her characters and in doing so ended up getting away from the main storyline to the point where it was confusing for the reader. I mean she describes her characters down to what they actually plant in their gardens. It's a little more than overkill.
Going back to the story itself, I feel like the roundabout way that the story was written made it very poorly executed. Which is quite sad because I think this would be a great story if written differently.
I didn't really like this book but I didn't hate it at the same time. This book frustrated me more than anything. The author tries to build up the suspense in certain parts and she just fails utterly.
I honestly can't say that I can recommend this book to people who like mystery books because I am still wondering myself what exactly the mystery was. 🤔 ( )

This book was such a page-turner! I loved it!!! ( )

Excellent book focused on race relationships in the Mississippi in 1967. When reading this book it is hard to imagine how far Americans have travelled in race relations. Interesting characters make up this book with a few twists and turns along the way.