When Ghosts Come Home: A Novel

Product Description
Winner of the SIBA Southern Book Prize for Fiction
“I loved it and devoured it with fury, straight to its blazing end.” —Lily King, author of Writers & Lovers
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home, a tender and haunting story of a father and daughter, crime and forgiveness, race and memory.
When the roar of a low-flying plane awakens him in the middle of the night, Sheriff Winston Barnes knows something strange is happening at the nearby airfield on the coast of North Carolina. But nothing can prepare him for what he finds: a large airplane has crash-landed and is now sitting sideways on the runway, and there are no signs of a pilot or cargo. When the body of a local man is discovered—shot dead and lying on the grass near the crash site—Winston begins a murder investigation that will change the course of his life and the fate of the community that he has sworn to protect.
Everyone is a suspect, including the dead man. As rumors and accusations fly, long-simmering racial tensions explode overnight, and Winston, whose own tragic past has followed him like a ghost, must do his duty while facing the painful repercussions of old decisions. Winston also knows that his days as sheriff may be numbered. He’s up for re-election against a corrupt and well-connected challenger, and his deputies are choosing sides. As if these events weren’t troubling enough, he must finally confront his daughter Colleen, who has come home grieving a shattering loss she cannot fully articulate.
As the suspense builds and this compelling mystery unfolds, Wiley Cash delves deep into the hearts of these richly drawn, achingly sympathetic characters to reveal the nobility of an ordinary man struggling amidst terrifying, extraordinary circumstances.
Review
“Cash is a good storyteller, capturing the cadence of Southern speech and the complexity of modest lives with thoughtful intelligence.” --
New York Times Book Review \n“Writing with clarity and grace, bestselling Cash is a gem of a storyteller, combining the solitary journey of a young mother’s grief and a community’s relentless battle against racial injustice. The result is a tightly crafted whodunit with true depth that readers will simultaneously want to speed through and savor.” --
Booklist (starred review)\n“[A] gripping, multi-layered [novel]… Some readers may be taken aback by the abrupt gut-punch ending... But as I mulled it over for several days—and that says a lot about the power of the book—I understood it was not capricious… It was as inevitable as nightfall in late autumn.” --
Atlanta Journal-Constitution\n“An intelligent mystery that features realistic and layered characters from a storyteller who becomes more masterful with every novel.” --
Augusta Chronicle\n“Although the plot alone is compelling enough to keep readers turning the pages, this is also a quietly moving look at how realistically flawed characters deal with the tragedies life throws at them. A gripping mystery with characters that will linger in readers’ minds long after they turn the last page.” --
Kirkus Reviews\n"Taut, tense, and tender—this novel hits every note. I loved it and devoured it with fury, straight to its blazing end.” --
Lily King, author of Writers and Lovers\n“In
When Ghosts Come Home Wiley Cash reveals how family and history and the threads that connect us can contain such mystery. This is a masterful example of storytelling, told by one of the most open-hearted and clear-eyed writers I know." --
Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here\n“A searing, thunderous, heartbreaking thriller. Wiley Cash has talent to burn.” --
Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End\n"A treatise on race in America wrapped in a family drama wrapped in a mystery, it brings us a thoughtful examination of a good man's struggle to do right under trying circumstances. Cash puts his whole heart on the page with these flawed, true characters, and the reward is