4.0
Evidence of Blood
By Thomas H. CookPublisher Description
After a Georgia sheriff’s death, old secrets start to emerge in this “highly satisfying story, strong in color and atmosphere, intelligent and exacting” (The New York Times).
Jackson Kinley has returned to Sequoyah, his small Southern hometown, to mourn the passing of his old friend Ray Tindall. But Sheriff Tindall’s death has raised new questions about a very old case.
Forty years ago, a man was sentenced to die for murder, even though the body of the victim was never found—only her bloodstained dress. The late sheriff had begun to take another look at the case, before quickly closed it again. Kinley, a true-crime writer, wants to know why. His investigation will lead him into a maze of corruption—and into the darkest corners of the human heart—in this powerful, evocative work of fiction by an Edgar Award winner and “masterful crime novelist” (Toronto Star).
“[A] splendid novel.” —Publishers Weekly
“[A] gripping Southern drama.” —Kirkus Reviews
Jackson Kinley has returned to Sequoyah, his small Southern hometown, to mourn the passing of his old friend Ray Tindall. But Sheriff Tindall’s death has raised new questions about a very old case.
Forty years ago, a man was sentenced to die for murder, even though the body of the victim was never found—only her bloodstained dress. The late sheriff had begun to take another look at the case, before quickly closed it again. Kinley, a true-crime writer, wants to know why. His investigation will lead him into a maze of corruption—and into the darkest corners of the human heart—in this powerful, evocative work of fiction by an Edgar Award winner and “masterful crime novelist” (Toronto Star).
“[A] splendid novel.” —Publishers Weekly
“[A] gripping Southern drama.” —Kirkus Reviews
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4.0
Morgan Lentz
Created over 4 years agoShare
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prashanth bhat
Created over 4 years agoShare
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“Evidence of blood - Thomas h.cook
ಅವನೊಬ್ಬ ಲೇಖಕ. ಸರಣಿ ಹಂತಕನೊಬ್ಬನ ಜೊತೆ ಮಾತಾಡಿ ಅವ ಬರೆದ ಪುಸ್ತಕಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿಯೂ ಬಂದಿದೆ. ಅವ ತನ್ನ ಪಾಡಿಗೆ ತಾನಿರಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಅವನ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದೂರಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಸುದ್ದಿ. ಅವನ ಗೆಳೆಯ ತೀರಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಆ ಗೆಳೆಯ ಒಬ್ಬ ಪೊಲೀಸ್. ರಿಟೈರ್ ಆಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಯಾವುದೋ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವರ್ಷ ಹಳೆಯ ಕೇಸೊಂದನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಹುಡುಗಿ ಹಠಾತ್ತಾಗಿ ನಾಪತ್ತೆಯಾದ ಕೇಸನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದವ ಹೃದಯಾಘಾತಕ್ಕೀಡಾಗಿ ಸತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಆ ಹಳೆಯ ಕೇಸು ಇವನಿಗೂ ನೆನಪಿದೆ. ಗೆಳತಿಯ ಮನೆಗೆ ಹೊರಟ ಹುಡುಗಿ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾಪತ್ತೆಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ರಕ್ತದಿಂದ ತೊಯ್ದ ಅವಳ ಬಟ್ಟೆ ಮತ್ತೂ ಷೂ ಮಾತ್ರ ಪತ್ತೆಯಾದದ್ದು. ಅದು ಒಬ್ಬ ಟ್ರಕ್ ಡ್ರೈವರ್ನ ಟ್ರಕ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಪತ್ತೆಯಾದ ಕಾರಣ ಅವನೇ ಕೊಲೆಗಾರ ಎಂದು ಅವನಿಗೆ ಗಲ್ಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಮುಚ್ಚಿ ಹೋದ ಕೇಸು.ಇದನ್ಯಾಕೆ ಅವ ಬಗೆಯಹೊರಟ ಎಂದಿವನಿಗೆ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯ. ಗೆಳೆಯ ಅರ್ಧಂಬರ್ಧ ಮಾಡಿಟ್ಟ ಪತ್ತೇದಾರಿಕೆಯ ಕೆಲಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಇವ ಮುಂದುವರೆಯುತ್ತಾನೆ.
ದಶಕಗಳ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಕೇಸಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನವರು ಸತ್ತಾಗಿದೆ. ಅವರ ಮಾತುಕತೆಗಳ ರೆಕಾರ್ಡ್ಸ್ ಮಾತ್ರ ಇವನಿಗೆ ದಾರಿದೀಪ. ಹೀಗೆ ಹುಡುಕಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೊರಟವನಿಗೆ ಯಾರೂ ನೋಡಿದ ಹಾಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಗೊತ್ತಾಗುತ್ತಾ ಹೋಗುತ್ತದೆ.
ಅದು ತನ್ನ ಬುಡಕ್ಕೇ ಬರುವಾಗ ಅವನಿಗೆ ಯಾರನ್ನು ನಂಬಬೇಕು ಯಾರನ್ನು ಬಿಡಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಅಯೋಮಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.
ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ಕೊಲೆ ಯಾರು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು? ಅವ ತನ್ನೊಳಗೆ ಬಚ್ಚಿಟ್ಟ ರಹಸ್ಯ ಯಾವುದು? ಇದು ಕಥೆ.
1991 ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಇದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಮಜಾ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಓದು.”
“Jackson Kinley, the protagonist of Evidence of Blood, is a true-crime writer. His career has brought him close to unimaginable horrors: rapists and murderers and people who torture others for pleasure. Kinley (as he is most often called) seems somehow immune to these horrors. Perhaps it’s his IQ, which is reportedly off the charts. Perhaps it’s his own childhood – he was raised by his grandmother in backwater Sequoyah, Georgia. Whatever the reason, Kinley is able to face the dark deeds of the world’s most reprehensible criminals without flinching.
His armor is breached, however, when he gets the call that his childhood friend, Ray Tindall, has been found dead. He returns to Sequoyah and learns that Ray was trying to uncover the truth about a murder which had occurred many years before.
Thomas H. Cook – as those of you who are regular readers here already know – is my favourite mystery writer. True, I am not a mystery scholar by any stretch, but an accidental discovery of his book Breakheart Hill several years ago has turned me into a fan and I have read several of his books (and I am thrilled to know there are more waiting to be read.)
Cook is particularly adept at creating nuanced characters and Kinley is no exception. Kinley’s past is deeply rooted in Sequoyah, but even he is unaware of just how deep those roots go. He can’t help himself – he’s an investigator and the shocking death of his oldest (and perhaps only) friend, has him sifting through the past. Ray, it turns out, was looking into the mysterious disappearance of Ellie Dinker, a sixteen year old whose bloody dress was found on a tree branch in 1954. A man was sentenced to death for that crime and Ray was trying to prove his innocence.
Like all of Cook’s novels, the mystery will keep you guessing. I tried out several potential (and I thought entirely plausible) solutions and was still surprised at the end of the book. I like the way Cook writes; his are literary mysteries. I feel like the craft of writing is just as important to him as telling a cracking good story – which he does. You keep turning those pages.
As Kinley follows Ray’s paper trail, interviews the players who are still alive and recalls childhood memories, he slowly begins to understand the implication of Ray’s words to him at one of their final meetings: “It’s better to know, don’t you think, Kinley? No matter what the cost?”
If you like well-written mysteries, you really can’t beat Cook.”
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