The Scribe (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
An assured second effort from Guinn, former Ole Miss professor. Set in Reconstruction Atlanta, a group of prominent businessmen known as “the Ring” has staked much on the city's Cotton Expo, but a rash of brutal murders jeopardizes their plan and the populace. Canby is a disgraced lawman brought back to the city as the lead investigator but quickly realizes how much is stacked against him. The cast of characters, taut plotting, and depiction of the period make for a great read.
— Cody
An assured second effort from Guinn, former Ole Miss professor. Set in Reconstruction Atlanta, a group of prominent businessmen known as “the Ring” has staked much on the city's Cotton Expo, but a rash of brutal murders jeopardizes their plan and the populace. Canby is a disgraced lawman brought back to the city as the lead investigator but quickly realizes how much is stacked against him. The cast of characters, taut plotting, and depiction of the period make for a great read.
— Cody
An assured second effort from Guinn, former Ole Miss professor. Set in Reconstruction Atlanta, a group of prominent businessmen known as “the Ring” has staked much on the city's Cotton Expo, but a rash of brutal murders jeopardizes their plan and the populace. Canby is a disgraced lawman brought back to the city as the lead investigator but quickly realizes how much is stacked against him. The cast of characters, taut plotting, and depiction of the period make for a great read.
— From Cody's 2016 and older picksDescription
Disgraced former detective and Civil War veteran Thomas Canby partners with Atlanta's first African American police officer, Cyrus Underwood, to track down a serial murderer who seems to be targeting the city's wealthiest black entrepreneurs. Even after the killer is revealed, his astonishing ability to elude capture raises the question: is there such a thing as supernatural evil at loose in the world? Matthew Guinn draws readers into a vortex of tense, atmospheric storytelling, confronting the fears of both old South and new, compelling the reader through a breathless, disturbing finale.
A Los Angeles Public Library Best Book of the Year and a Finalist for the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize.