The White River Killer

A Mystery Novel

Fiction - Mystery - Murder
294 Pages
Reviewed on 03/19/2015
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The White River Killer is a mystery novel written by Stephen Wilson. John Riley Hubbard has a small farm outside Hayslip, Arkansas. He supplements his income and child support payments by writing about sporting events for The Union Democrat, the local paper. One morning, his boss, Tony Anderson, asks him to cover the investigation of a body found out by Shanty Town. Hubbard is reluctant to get involved. He's not a crime reporter and Shanty Town, a collection of derelict shacks considered to be haunted, has particularly unpleasant memories for him. Hubbard's father was shot and killed out there a number of years before, but the killer was never apprehended. The loss destroyed Hubbard's mother, and the town still gossips about whether Hubbard's wealthy and powerful uncle, R.J. Hubbard, was behind the killing.

Stephen Wilson's mystery novel, The White River Killer, is dark and brooding. His main character, the solitary John Riley, falls easily if reluctantly into the role of sleuth with a heady mixture of curiosity, native intelligence and a long-brooding desire to set things right again. His return to Shanty Town sparks memories of evenings spent trying to find out just what happened that night when his life changed so dramatically, and Wilson's deft use of language and imagery makes each shadowy image come alive for the reader. I enjoyed Hubbard's interactions with the editor, his old English teacher, whose dedication to getting the news out is treated with loving attention to detail. Wilson seeds his plot with clues, red herrings and regrets, and the result works marvelously. The White River Killer is a thoughtfully written mystery that lingers in the mind long after the last page is read. This debut novel cries out for a sequel, or at least another fiction offering by this talented author. The White River Killer is most highly recommended.