I received a gifted copy. There are probably going to be some spoilers as I don’t know how to talk about this book without giving some things away. This tale, for me, got off to a slow start until the first crime, then it picked up.
Part One of this tale is told in the voice of 11-year-old
Billy (Binky to his friends). There is a lot of narrative throughout these
pages. I think it had to be written this way. Part One takes us through two
crimes that happened to two young girls and a failed third attempt. These
crimes happened back in 1963 … the time when segregation was still very
prominent, so of course, guess who gets blamed? Yep, Sam Jepperson. Not good
detective work, just plain old closing the case and who cares about the truth?
Dovey Mae – I liked Dovey Mae’s character. She was Granny
Tarwater’s house person, relegated to the kitchen to even eat her meals. Dovey
Mae and Billy would sneak off and she would tell Billy the truth of the matter
and even at 11 years old, Billy was smart enough to know something wasn’t right
with how Dovey Mae’s “people” were treated. This book stays true to the
verbiage of the time.
Granny Tarwater – Everyone needs a Granny Tarwater. She came
across as someone who had a sense of right and wrong, no matter a person’s skin
color.
Fast forward to Part Two, the 1980s. Billy is all grown-up.
He’s still in touch with some of his neighborhood pals. Billy grew up to be a
newspaperman. The intriguing thing about Billy is that he never forgot about
Sam and never did accept what happened as fact. He decides to try to find out
what really happened, since he now had the resources to do so. Interestingly,
not only was this helpful to Sam, it was also helpful to Cynthia, Billy’s now
wife. You’ll find out why.
This book made me sad, and it made me mad. Sad because
things like this happened, mad because things like this happen. It also puts
forth the fact that even back in the 1960s, during all the segregation going
on, there were still good folks in the world, like Billy, like Granny Tarwater,
who would think about going against the grain, but they just weren’t sure how
to, so they kept their thoughts to themselves. I also liked Officer Winstanley.
I think deep down he was a good man, he wanted to get to the truth, but he was
told to “tow the line,” so to speak. Dovey Mae … we all need a Dovey Mae. She
told it like it was, even to 11-year-old Billy. I liked grown-up Billy’s never
give up attitude in his seeking out the truth, even if it meant kicking over
some rocks, some uncomfortable feelings.
There is also a message of healing within these pages. Especially
when the truth was finally revealed. And the whodunit all those years ago? That
just adds another layer to the telling of this tale.
Website: https://mgcobb.com/
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Purchase Links:
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devil-you-knew-mike-cobb/1142050332?ean=9780578371436
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Nice review. Wow, this sounds like an intense book!
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