Drawn into a web of small-town secrets, family drama, and the rusted tentacles of the Dixie Mafia, a young lawyer is forced to confront his own notions of justice, freedom, love, and sobriety.
Athens, Georgia, 1988: Attorney August “Critter” Stillwell dreams of a life on the open sea, but he’s stuck juggling a crushing caseload after the sudden departure of his defense attorney father, Guy Stillwell. When an episode of Unsolved Mysteries leads to the capture of a murder suspect who’s been on the run for twenty-five years, the ominous pattern of facts drags Critter into a hidden corner of Guy’s past.
In 1963, To Kill a Mockingbird was playing in local theaters, and Guy Stillwell was a lot like Atticus Finch—if Atticus had been a charming two-timer and burgeoning alcoholic. For fifteen-year-old Critter, working at his father’s law firm was a masterclass in the art of good ol’ boy litigating and congenial backroom deals. Guy took on the trial of the decade that summer: defending a black woman charged with the murder of a KKK thug. By the time it was over, Critter’s world and the sleepy town of Athens were in flames.
As an older, wiser Critter looks back on that fateful season, he discovers stunning connections between Guy’s case and his own defense of the runaway murderer. Now he must choose between his duty to the law and an unwavering loyalty to his flawed but charismatic father.