Review: Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
by Tom Franklin
Larry Ott has been ostracized in his hometown ever since a girl disappeared after he went out on a date with her, twenty-five years ago. Every day, he goes to his auto repair shop and waits for customers, reading horror novels to pass the time. No wonder people call him “Scary Larry.”
Silas Jones is the town constable. A girl has disappeared and once again, Larry is suspected. This put Silas in a tough spot. He and his mother once lived on land belonging to Larry’s father, and for a time the two boys were friends. But as Silas became a local sports star and became popular at school, he left Larry behind. Now, it seems like he’s the only one willing to give Larry the benefit of the doubt. There’s no evidence directly linking Larry to either disappearance, after all. But the mystery must be solved, and the past and present intertwine as Silas continues his investigation.
This is a slow, languid novel. It never rushes, but leisurely unrolls the story with rich, atmospheric description. Tom Franklin has a lovely, melodic writing style and a good ear for dialogue. Each character has a distinctive voice.
Racism plays a large role in the novel, from the boys’ childhood in the 1970s up to lingering tension in the modern day. Silas is initially a loner because of his skin color, and Larry is the only white kid willing to cross the color line and offer friendship. It makes Silas’ later abandonment of his friend all the more tragic.
You can’t help feeling sorry for Larry. Here’s a guy whose entire life can be summed up in one word: LOSER. As a child, he was awkward and geeky, without a single athletic bone in his body. When he was a teen, he was accused of murdering a girl who was his first date. Ever since, he’s been alienated with only books for company. How tragic is that?
The story’s greatest strengths are definitely the characters and their tangled relationships. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter was beautifully written, and I enjoyed the writing, but the main mystery of the girls’ disappearances seemed pretty standard to the genre. The twists and turns of the investigation were quite predictable. To be honest, it was boring. But I might read another book by Tom Franklin if I come across it.
3.5 out of 5 stars
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