Heaven’s Crooked Finger: An Earl Marcus Mystery

Earl Marcus, the narrator of Early’s highly atmospheric debut and series launch, grew up in the North Georgia mountains, where his father, Ronald Jackson Marcus, the preacher at the Church of the Holy Flame, encouraged snake handling. As a teen, Earl nearly died after he was bitten by a cottonmouth and his father “refused to take me to a hospital and had instead left it to God to decide my fate.” Earl left home and now, years later, works as a PI in Charlotte, N.C. A month after a body identified as Roland’s is found in the woods, Earl gets a letter from Bryant McCauley, one of his father’s most fervent supporters, with a photo suggesting that Ronald is still alive. Earl reluctantly returns to his birthplace, where, over much opposition, he seeks McCauley, who’s disappeared, and his elusive father. Earl also gets on the trail of some missing teenage girls. Readers with a taste for raw, intense mysteries will be rewarded. [em]Agent: Alec Shane, Writers House. (Nov.) [/em]