Something Bad Wrong by Eryk Pruitt

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Pruitt's latest book, Blood Red Summer. The story of a true crime blogger/podcaster (Jess Keeler) in south central Virginia along the VA-NC border. I had read a few of his earlier books and was impressed so I picked up Summer's predecessor, Something Bad Wrong; Pruitt's first book in the Jess Keeler series.  I said in my review that I'd find the first Keeler book for review. Wasn't hard to find. He's a NC native and the local library has a wall of books from NC authors. Piece of cake.

We learn a bit of Keeler's back story that was only alluded to in the 2nd book. What has grabbed Keeler's interest is an unsolved double murder in 1974 since referred to as the Christmas Eve Murders. A young couple left a holiday party for some private time on a local lover's lane. And that was the last they were seen. Most thought they'd run off to elope, but a few weeks later they are found under a pile of leaves, hog-tied to a tree. The two were from Lake Castor but were found in Deeton County, NC. That means competing jurisdictions by cops squaring off measuring dicks. 

Part of the reason Jess is so interested is that her deceased grandfather was the lead detective on the NC side of the crime. She finds some old notebooks of his and she wants to understand what he was going through as he tried to narrow down potential suspects while he battles with the VA cops. 

To help her dig around, she enlists the help of a local TV news anchor whose off-camera behavior got him booted out of TV journalism. Throughout the story, Pruitt takes us through the agendas of all the cops, friends of the deceased couple, suspects, and Jess' family. If that wasn't enough, Pruitt presents perhaps the most heartbreaking descent of Jess' grandfather into Alzheimers that I've ever read. Some might see that as a distraction. Not me. I thought it was both critical and sensitively presented.

I mentioned before that I met Pruitt while he was out humping Blood Red Summer. Thankfully, he said that he plans to keep Jess Keeler front and center in our consciousness. And that's great because he is rapidly maturing as a crime novelist and may soon muscle his way into our power rotation.

If you are looking for new talent in the mystery/thriller genre, look no further. 

And keep your eyes open for ads about a gathering called Noir At The Bar where mystery writers present readings of their work in taverns, mostly up and down the east coast (so far). I think the Noir outings are Pruitt's baby and he's likely to be present. Been to a couple. Worth going.

ECD