Author Michael Hicks Thompson will visit the Booksellers at Laurelwood on Saturday, April 16, to discuss and sign his latest novel, The Rector (Shepherd King Publishing).
If Solo, Mississippi, had any claim to fame in the 1950s, it was due to the small town’s proximity to notorious Parchman Farm Penitentiary. When the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church dies suddenly, most locals believe he had a heart attack. Martha McRae, widow and owner of the local newspaper and boarding house, disagrees. She knows the young rector was carrying on with Martha’s friend, Mary Magden Grater, wife of the wealthy Capp Grater. Martha believes Capp had more than enough motive for murder. Martha’s suspicions go unvoiced — in part because she hopes to shield Mary’s past from public scrutiny and in part because the new rector captures her attention. Father Cain’s brand of prosperity preaching and good works captivate everyone in town, but something about the man doesn’t sit well with Martha. Then Cain is murdered. Everyone’s a suspect. Including Martha. When the new rector arrives, she encounters a different sort of puzzle, one that takes her into Parchman Penitentiary where she comes face to face with evil.
Born and raised on a Mississippi farm, Thompson can claim more than a little knowledge about small towns, strong Christian women, alcoholic men, and Jesus. A writer of movie scripts and novels, Thompson is a self-taught artist, licensed offshore sailor, and scuba diver. He is the writer and director of the two-volume David, an illustrated novel on the life of King David. Volume one was awarded the Silver Medal IPPY from the Independent Publisher’s Association in 2011, with volume two winning the Best Graphic Novel award from International Book Awards in 2013.
Michael Hicks Thompson
Booksellers at Laurelwood
Saturday, April 16
2:00 p.m.
