Murder In Macon: A Frank Hayes Mystery

In 1970 a fashionably cynical and somewhat naive young Frank Hayes takes a job at City Hall in racially tense Macon, Georgia. Mr. John Glover, an eighty-nine year old illiterate black man, asks Frank for assistance in understanding a city condemnation order against Mr. Glover’s home. Frank’s efforts soon put him in the arms of Shirley Willingham, wife of Stafford Willingham, one of Macon’s wealthiest real estate developers. But it is Johnny Mae Glover, the green-eyed granddaughter of the old gentleman he is trying to help, who steals Frank’s heart. Frank is taken under the wing of a grizzled fifty-five year old black ex-convict named Tiny who confides to Frank that he was the husband and convicted murderer of Johnny Mae’s mother. Johnny Mae does not know that black sheep Uncle Tiny is her father. Tiny believes Frank to be an angel sent to put his and Johnny Mae’s worlds right again. But before that can happen Frank, Tiny, and Johnny Mae are arrested and jailed for the murder of millionaire Stafford Willingham. With no money, no influence, few friends, and time running out, Frank digs himself deeper into trouble. Armed with only a smart aleck sense of humor and a quick brain, when he uses it, Frank has to figure out who he can trust and what is going on before he and his few brave companions become just the latest items in the obituaries. This story will make you laugh and it will make you cry. You will hurt for our heroes in their defeats and cheer for their victories. The intrigue and pace of action from beginning through heartrending and emotion-filled final scenes make this book hard to put down.