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    Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel
    Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel
    Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel

    Written by Tom Franklin

    Narrated by Kevin Kenerly

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    “The classic trifecta of talent, heart, and a bone-deep sense of storytelling….A masterful performance, deftly rendered and deeply satisfying. For days on end, I woke with this story on my mind.”— David Wroblewski

    “A new Tom Franklin novel is always a reason to get excited, but Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is more—a cause for celebration. What a great novel by a great novelist.”—Dennis Lehane

    A powerful and resonant novel from Tom Franklin—critically acclaimed author of Smonk and  Hell at the Breech—Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter tells the riveting story of two boyhood friends, torn apart by circumstance, who are brought together again by a terrible crime in a small Mississippi town. An extraordinary novel that seamlessly blends elements of crime and Southern literary fiction, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a must for readers of Larry Brown, Pete Dexter, Ron Rash, and Dennis Lehane.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 10, 2019
    ISBN9780062955357
    Author

    Tom Franklin

    Winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Tom Franklin teaches in the University of Mississippi’s MFA programme and lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife, the poet Beth Ann Fennelly, and their children.

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    Reviews for Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

    4/5

    1,170 ratings175 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great story!!!!! Highly recommend. Hope someone makes this into a film.
    • 4/5
      In a small town in Mississippi, a series of murders has long haunted the population. Everyone knows that "Scary Larry" is responsible for the disappearance of a teenage girl he took on a date the night she died. Larry was always a strange kid with know friends and an obsession with horror movies and books. Since that day so many years ago, Larry has lived an isolated life as the town pariah. When another girl goes missing, everyone is sure they know who is responsible. Several days later, Larry is found shot in his home and shortly thereafter, the body of the missing girl is found buried on Larry's property.Silas is a town police officer. He knew Larry when they were growing up and the two were even friends briefly. Silas doesn't believe that Larry is guilty, and he might be the only one in town who can find the real killer. But more than the memory of a friendship, Silas has a secret that will finally have to be spoken if he hopes to help Larry.This is a thoughtful, atmospheric book that cuts between the current events of the most recent murder and flashbacks to the time of the previous murder. It is a story about prejudice and the mythology of small town life.
    • 5/5
      4.5 stars for the wonderful prose and narration. The storyline is a bit simple and slow paced, but it is pulling at your heartstrings.
    • 5/5
      Lived in Mississippi during this time and this was true
    • 1/5
      Slow. Narration pacing is a bit awkward. I found the racial notes to be off-putting, I don't need to know the color of every character. Maybe it's important later but I gave up listening after the first dead body.
    • 4/5
      A fascinating character study of race in small-town Mississippi, although not in the way you might expect. As boys, Larry and Silas become friends when Silas and his mother move into a cabin belonging to Larry's father. Their fragile friendship is shattered when Silas, who's black, goes off to college and Larry, who's white, stays in their hometown despite being suspected of murdering a missing teenage girl. Their paths cross again as grownups when Silas, now the town constable, investigates the disappearance of another young woman and suspicion once again falls on Larry. Readers looking for an uncomplicated happy ending will be disappointed; what Franklin offers instead is a cautious hope in the future of interracial friendship in general, and for Larry and Silas in particular.
    • 4/5
      Murder mystery in the south in small town. Well written as it follows a quiet, lonely mechanic, and his former childhood friend who is now a sheriff.
    • 1/5
      More violence than I care for
    • 4/5
      Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Tom Franklin. 2010. Thank you thank you, Janet for lending me this book! It is the best book I have read this year! This a beautiful coming of age novel set in Mississippi. Franklin, a native of Alabama, knows southern boys and the 1970s South. I see why he has been compared to Harper Lee. Larry Ott (white) and Silas “32” Jones (black) form a close friendship that they have to keep secret. They have a falling out and basically ignore each other. In high school Larry is suspected of murdering a young white girl he took on a date. He drops out of school, takes over his father’s failing auto business and spends a lonely life being tormented by people who think he killed the girl. Larry goes off to play ball for Ole Miss and become a law enforcement officer. He returns home to become the constable. Not long after another girl disappears and everyone suspects Larry. A beautiful story of friendship restored.
    • 4/5
      Good story, but too too too many words to get to some points. Liked the story very much- just took FOREVER to read. Would I recommend it? Sure. Why not?
    • 4/5
      Wonderful book. Not a "whodunnit" in the traditional sense. More of a relationship story between two people, and the long term damaging effects of being ostracized and lonely. I don't read many mysteries but this was well worth the effort. Couldn't put it down.
    • 3/5
      I liked the book and definitely the character development, but I found the mystery very predictable. I'd like to give it 3.5 stars, it just wasn't 4 stars in my rating.
    • 2/5
      Do you like watching glaciers move? Like, in real-time? Are you a German teacher of English? Do you hate someone very much? (You can even combine the last two!) Congratulations, this book is especially for you! I actually enjoy a good story, lavishly told in good time. Me possibly drinking coffee or wine and enjoying myself, even losing myself inside a story told slowly, delightfully, perhaps playfully. The story-telling here is mooooooooostly slooooooooow. Just slow. Not lavish, not delightful, not playful, just plain old slow. Now, slow food? Good stuff! Fast food only makes me fat anyway. Slow food doesn’t mean I have to enjoy chewing on a piece of granite – or reading this book. ‘f slows the only prob, things mighta haven’t look so bleak. Ain't just that, sirree, naw. The language. South’rn drawl my ass. Short sentences. Clipped sentences, eh? Yeah, boy, might work. If yall are proper pen pushers, heh?! Franklin, ma boy, you ain’t a one. Ok, enough of this. It’s really annoying. I really, really hated those clipped sentences. They read like they hated their literary life for being, well, emaciated. Well, all of that could still have been forgiven (I can almost see the small teaching, pupil-hating, glacier-watching demographic from the introduction nod their approval!) but let’s take a look at the story itself: Young Larry (40 today) goes on a date, girl goes missing, people start hating Larry, apart from his “special friend” Silas and even more special Wallace Stringfellow. The former being a sorry excuse for a friend, the latter being worse. At the very beginning, poor Larry gets shot and Silas goes up and down memory lane for about 80% of the book, inspecting their miserable, boring lives in the past. Discovering “shocking” truths and a body. (Not, two, though. The mystery that all but ruined Larry’s life never gets solved.) The first words in chapter seven are basically a clue bat I, unfortunately, didn’t fully appreciate: “IT WAS 1982.” Yes, and we’re at 41% of the book and feeling like we’ve had to wade through decades of boredom but, wait, those guys are about 40 and no point whatsoever has been reached or made so far – we're not safe yet, with decades before us yet! (Had I realised earlier and not only now, in hindsight, or given in to my instincts about bad books I might have preferred to watch grass grow but, alas, that exciting exercise has to wait for a worse book.) Still chapter seven (did I mention those chapters can take an hour or more of a fast reader’s time? (not to speak of the poor sod’s life!)): “IT WAS THE slowest week of his life,” man, you’re taking the words right out of my mouth. Anyway, why did I even finish this turd? Well, truth to be told, my daughter has to read this book for school and being the stupid oaf I’m sometimes maligned to be, I mouthed off to her about how good this book must be, having great reviews on Goodreads and how she should just get reading it! Sorry, my dear Schn..., I’m sure to do it again but for this book you have my sympathy. Drink, have fun with grass, do whatever you want with your life but don’t make people read this book. Oh, and if you really are a German teacher of English, I’m presenting you with a list of seven (because I can!) books better suited for your intended purpose which won’t make your pupils hate you (even more, at least): - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - Beartown by Fredrick Backman - Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - The Universe versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence - The Nightingale or The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
    • 4/5
      I thought the first half to two thirds of the book was brilliant. The resolution was lovely but not brilliant. It's earned it's place in "Southern Gothic" but just barely due to the resolution.
    • 5/5
      Really liked this one. As a mystery, I thought it was well mapped out, and Franklin does a nice job of turning it from a whodunit (since we're pretty sure who the culprit is halfway in) into a whydthetownblameitonthatguydunit. As a Southern gothic tale, the novel is a keen observant of contemporary American life in the South—well aware of the faults and critical of them, but also very much concerned with the welfare of the people in the story.

      If anything, though, I think Franklin did an outstanding job in painting the nuances in the relationship with the two protagonists, one a black member of law enforcement and the other white outcast. The grit and grace is here.
    • 4/5
      Silas and Larry were once friends for a short time, though one was white and one was black. Larry's life is forever changed after he goes on a date with a girl who is never seen again. Silas and Larry's lives cross paths again many years later. The book is really well written, and though some things are foreshadowed, I was still surprised by some twists and turns. The inner of lives of Larry and Silas are very well handled, and you also get to meet a cast of secondary characters. My heart went out to Larry, especially the more I learned about him--though I also understood his treatment by the community. I also really identified with Silas, although of course he turns out to be imperfect. Aren't we all? So many lives so tarnished forever by things that could have so easily been different. And yet.
    • 5/5
      You can get the gist from the description. When the story starts, someone has attacked Larry and Silas is on the case. Both need to confront their shared past, though they don't realize it yet.I really liked it. Vivid characters and economical writing, the story told with flashbacks. These people and their town are as alien to me as a story set on Arcturus, one reason they're fascinating.The extra matter included an essay by Franklin about how he came to write the book which added to it. The questions for readers, not so much.
    • 4/5
      Reading progress update: I've read 274 out of 274 pages. Definitely sped through the last 60 or so pages! I was not ready for it to end.
      I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the way that the story was told from the perspective of the two main characters. This book touched on some issues such as racism and inter racial relationships but it was not too heavy. The author was able to carefully and beautifully weave beautiful story telling, sensitive issues, and even a bit of mystery.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed it but not as much as I hoped I would.
    • 5/5
      Do NOT miss this book. Wow. One of the best stories I've read.... brings to mind some of Stephen King's early stuff (and not just because Main Character #1 was an avid reader). Recommended to me by a respected patron - I hope he writes more and as well.
    • 4/5
      Reads quickly, entertaining, but predictable.
    • 5/5
      A black boy and a white boy enjoy an abbreviated friendship until life's harsh realities force them apart. Years later their lives become entwined again and how one of them deals with their history provides the foundation for a highly-satisfying mystery set in rural Mississippi. Great characters and rich narrative.
    • 4/5
      If nothing else, the author has accomplished one thing with this novel – I have never felt such anger and disgust for a fictional character as I did for one of the characters here. The why is spoiler territory, so I’ll put that at the end of the review with a warning. But the fact that I felt so strongly speaks to the story and character building that the author has created here. He made these people live for me.

      The beginning of the story is mostly action, and it is not until you get further in and the backstory kicks in that you begin to understand and care for the characters. As a result, the beginning is a slow read and I didn’t connect with the characters right away. Because it was also a bit sad, I was tempted to set the book aside. But then I became acquainted with the characters and I read the middle of the book almost to the end without stopping. I’ll admit I had trouble with some of the dialogue used. I’ve never so much as visited Mississippi so I can’t claim first hand knowledge, but I find it difficult to believe a character would be able to get through college without learning to construct grammatically correct sentences.

      But overall this was an enjoyable read and I recommend it to those who like what is termed “literary mysteries”.


      *** Spoiler Warning *** The following contains spoilers for the end of the book.

      The character who infuriated me was Silas (32), once it was revealed he had known of Larry’s innocence all along. For him to sit on the information he had was (to me at least) unforgivable. And I mean that literally. He not only let a murderer go free, he sentenced a supposed friend (not to mention brother) to a miserable, friendless existence for over a quarter of a century. If you ask me Larry had a fairly miserable life even before he was shunned by the entire town as a rapist and murderer. And he was such a kind, innocent soul – he didn’t deserve to be treated as he was. I sincerely wanted to crawl inside this book and punch Silas right in the face. And I didn’t care he tried to do the right thing in the end. I didn’t care that he finally told the truth. I wanted him to suffer some kind of punishment, so it was all the more annoying to me when everyone treated him as a hero. Silas laying side by side with Larry in that hospital room, and all the people trooping in to see Silas, caring about Silas, saying he was a hero, don’t worry about work, you’ll still get your pay. Grrrr! What about Larry? No one cared about him, no one came to visit, no one cared he’d basically lost his way to earn a living. And all that was due to Silas.
    • 4/5
      This was the 3rd book I have read by Tom Franklin. He deals with a small town in southeast Mississippi in this story. It concerns 2 childhood friends who 25 years later confront the clash of the present and past. This book is a murder mystery but less on the mystery side and more the character development side. Franklin makes you feel the small town South of the past and the present in an excellent way. You can see the rusted cars, closed down businesses, and dysfunctional people unfolding. This book moved slowly but definitely picked up steam towards the end. Franklin is a very descriptive writer but he seems to do this so you can sense of the place about which he writes. This style can be difficult in a very long novel, but it works here. If you have not read any Tom Franklin, I recommend this book as a good introduction.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. I had picked the book up because I needed a title that had repeated words, I'm so glad I bought this one.

      Larry Ott is too smart, too "sissyish" for his father who wants Larry to be more like him. He's also not popular at school so when a girl asks him out he jumps at the chance. Problem is that the girl never returns home after the date and the small town people think he had something to do with her disappearance. Silas is an African-American (I probably should have added this is in a small town in the South which is why is ethnicity matters to this story) who is a constable for the District. He's come back after many years of living "Up North" (Northern Mississippi that is). He's having a hard time coming to terms with the friendship he had with Larry when they were younger.

      If you want a book more about life and motivations than of murder this is a book for you but if you want a hard-driving, thriller you may want to try something else. I will be reading more by Tom Franklin.
    • 4/5
      A slow moving mystery, we follow two men who were boyhood friends, one black and one white. Since the 1970s were not the time and Mississippi was not the place for such a friendship they had to keep it secret as they met in the woods. The black man, Silas nicknamed 32, went on to become a police officer and the white man followed his father and became a car mechanic. When Larry was accused of the murder of a young woman, Silas investigates quietly and unofficially to clear his friend.Full of the anger and bigotry caused by poverty found the South, this book shows what can happen when the nature of a man, not his color, is appreciated and the truth can be revealed.
    • 3/5
      Really did not see anything special about this at all.
    • 5/5
      So well written! Rural Mississippi, in the late 70's but here it may as well be the late 50's. Hot, dusty, dangerous friendships.......a 5 Star read
    • 2/5
      I am not sure what I expected from this. For some reason, I thought this was going to be an oddity, like John Dies at the End by David Wong or anything by Jasper Fforde. Instead, it was a straight-up mystery with a pretty heavy dose of character study. I had put off reading this because of my expectations, but was completely wrong.

      Larry has really gotten the shaft in life. He has suffered for years for being different, and more years for being a silent victim. Son of an ass of a father and a ghost of a mother, he was destined to fail.

      Silas has taken advantage of every opportunity and has succeeded in life, at least on the outside. Son of a single black woman, he was the typical success story in rural Mississippi (the reason for the name of the book).

      Franklin, as an Alabama native, writes perfectly of the underbelly of the South's redneck white trash population. He has it down to a "t". It would have been nice to see this balanced with the more genteel side of Southern living, but that may have been too prosaic for the author. Instead, it felt like a story awash in Southern stereotypes, that I (as an Alabama resident) don't see in my particular corner of the world (thank goodness).

      If Larry has been in law enforcement, I would have been reading In the Heat of the Night. And probably liked it better.

      Not recommended.
    • 4/5
      In a small Mississippi town, two young boys, one white and the other black, hide their friendship. When they are in high school a young girl goes missing after a date with one of the boys. Her disappearance is never solved, but the town assumes he killed her and they persecute him. Meanwhile the other boy moves away and goes to college. Now, years later, Silas has returned to Chabot as a police constable. Larry is still ostracized and tormented by the local teens. When another young girl goes missing, Larry is the immediate suspect.

      This is a mystery novel with layers of psychological tension woven through. We have characters who are without a father figure, or who have a completely dysfunctional family life. Add to this the prejudices and assumptions of a small Southern town’s citizens and police force, and the media frenzy surrounding the unexplained disappearance of two vibrant young women, and you have a recipe for personal tragedy. Franklin does a good job of building tension, giving us clues as to what is really happening, and what happened all those years ago. I was a little confused about his skipping back and forth in time – some chapters deal with the boys’ childhood, some with the first disappearance, some with the present – but I thought Franklin did a good job with this device. It certainly kept me on my toes trying to figure out what really happened. I’m not sure I was totally satisfied with the ending, but I think it reflected reality. Such tragedies never end well.