As sheriff of a small county in North Carolina, Winston Barnes is not used to dealing with too many dead bodies, especially not those that have been murdered. Yet when he wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a plane landing at the tiny regional airport by his house, that's exactly what he finds: a murdered Black man near his abandoned car and a crashed airplane. While he begins the investigation, Barnes must also contend with a meddling FBI team (who seem to only see Barnes as a taxi service for their specialists) and a blatantly racist (but rich and well-liked among some of the community) challenger in the rapidly approaching election.
While this sounds like the basis for a cracking good and challenging mystery novel, it's much more character driven, focusing largely on Barnes and his daughter, who has recently come to stay with him after the death of her newborn son. It's not a particularly cheerful novel, nor is it particularly action-packed. But if you're looking for a slower murder mystery with plenty of commentary on race, this might be up your alley.
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