Down River by John Hart

Red Water Farm, Rowan County, North Carolina, the Yadkin River. Adam Chase was shunned by his family and community because of a murder he did not commit, a murder for which he was acquitted, but for which he was still blamed. It was widely assumed that he had been freed because of a rich man’s defense, due to having the better attorney and due to technicalities. Grey Wilson, the 19-year-old who was killed was a local football star, well-loved by the community, while Adam’s wealthy family was not. It was Adam’s stepmother who served as the eyewitness for the prosecution at his trial, and his father chose to support her, rather than his own son. Adam fled to New York for five years until his one old and true buddy, Danny Faith, called to say he needed Adam to come home immediately, there was an urgent matter that could only be discussed face-to-face. But, by the time Adam got there, Danny was nowhere to be found – and not long after his arrival, Adam discovered Danny’s body. Down River was a story of maximal family dysfunction. The character development was great. As EC Don wrote about Hart’s first book, The King of Lies, the writing was far more literate than many of the books in this crime-novel genre. At times, I thought Hart was working a little too hard to hold the plot line together, but overall, it was a very good mystery, although perhaps a bit too real at times when compared to our usual escapist books.