A Little Death In Dixie [Paperback]

Lisa Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2010

The Blues were born out of need, anger and pride. Murder comes from those same dark places. Memphis has both. One of Memphis' most seductive and notorious socialites has vanished. Either she's off on another drunken escapade or the disappearance is something much more frightening. What begins as an ordinary day's work for Detective Billy Able quickly grows into a complex spider's web of tragedy, mystery, suspicion, and sordid secrets including a few of Billy's own. With the help of Mercy Snow, the estranged sister of the missing socialite, Billy follows a twisted trail of human frailty and corruption to disturbing truths that undermine everything he thought he knew about himself and the people he loves. "Memphis, the Mississippi River, and the underbelly of human nature they're all exposed in the dark brew of this fast-paced Southern Gothic suspense. Page-turning and atmospheric, this tightly-plotted novel turns the screws and sends readers racing to its surprise conclusion." ~Michael Finger, Senior Editor, Memphis Magazine

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Memphis, the Mississippi River, and the underbelly of human nature they're all exposed in the dark brew of this fast-paced Southern Gothic suspense. Page-turning and atmospheric, this tightly-plotted novel turns the screws and sends readers racing to its surprise conclusion." ~Michael Finger, Senior Editor, Memphis Magazine --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Bell Bridge Books (June 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935661906
• ISBN-13: 978-1935661900
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (221 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Excerpt from a book signing interview:


Q: "How did you learn your book had jumped to the #1 spot on Kindle's Top 100 List?"

LT: "I'm obsessive . . . not like a doorknob jiggler, bless their hearts, but enough so I'll get up at night when there's a storm and run around near-naked checking for leaks even though we have a new roof. You never really get over leaks.

"Anyway, my publisher alerts me that my book has been nominated for the Amazon Sunshine Deals and it's climbing on the list. So I get up in the night to check it like I'm turning a fertilized egg under a heat lamp. How embarrassing is that? And it's at #3. And then #2. I slept right through #1. I choked on my coffee when I saw that."

Q: "Does this obsessive trait carry over into your writing?"

LT: "Of course. I don't write, I re-write. I turn the egg over and over until it hatches."

Q: "Which leads to the obvious question: Are you currently hatching any eggs?"

LT: "How can a writer not write?"

Q: "Are you saying. . ."

LT: "Southern women rarely SAY anything. It's a culture of subtext. That's why it's so interesting."

Biography:

Born in Memphis, Lisa Turner spent her childhood either on the back of a horse or reading fiction. At times she did them simultaneously. Flannery O'Connor and James Lee Burke were her literary heroes long before she knew the term "Southern Gothic."

From the experience of managing her family's interior design firm, she earned a PhD in the peculiarities of human nature.

More recently, she and her husband bought a home in Nova Scotia where the landscape changed from cotton fields to lobster boats. She currently shuttles between the Deep South of her childhood and the wildly beautiful coast of Nova Scotia.

"But I remain a Southern woman to the bone," she says. "Here's how I know":

I've worn elbow-length gloves in a beauty contest.

The term "funeral food" makes perfect sense to me.

I can ride, shoot, fry up catfish, and I drink my Jack Daniels neat.

You can't fool me with silver plate. I know sterling when I see it. That goes for men, too.

I can thump a watermelon and know if it's sweet.


A Little Death in Dixie is Lisa Turner's debut novel.

Don't miss a television interview with Lisa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyQGxnVauJ8

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

314 of 325 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read Book!, June 26, 2010

By 

Linda King "Linda K," (Canon City, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little Death In Dixie (Paperback)

If you're a fan of suspense novels, you'll love this Southern gothic police procedural which is sure to find a home on your keeper shelf. It's full of twists and turns that keep you guessing as you follow Detective Danny Able through his search for the missing socialite, with whom he shares a past, and his search for the sordid truth about his partner, whom he'd elevated to father-figure status. Memphis has always been one of my favorite cities, and Ms. Turner brings it to vibrant life, giving you a tour of Memphis's high society as well as the city's dark underbelly.

I'm a master mystery solver. I read very few books whose ending I can't figure out long before I'm there, but A LITTLE DEATH IN DIXE has a fantastic ending that I never saw coming. Thank you, Ms. Turner, for a wonderful read!

128 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death and Corruption, August 8, 2010

By 

Lady Dragoness "Lady D." (Deep South, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little Death In Dixie (Paperback)

A Little Death In Dixie provides a fascinating insight into the world of law enforcement, and the corruption sometimes found there. The novel opens with a murder scene in Memphis, Tennessee. As the reader immediately gets involved in the drama, we discover that this crime isn't what's important to the story the author is telling us, but the reactions of the officers investigating the crime do become integral to the story, as we will soon see. Shortly after the introductory scenes, a woman is reported missing. Debut author, Lisa Turner has taken you by the hand to lead you through a non-stop, page turning, not-to-be missed thriller. In addition to the well-written and tightly plotted novel, this book also includes a full dozen reader discussion questions that encourage the reader to do some thinking about the story.

Every now and then, I am surprised by the intensity of the way a new novel will grab me. In fact, several times this year, the intense novels have been written by authors making their debut in the publishing world. A Little Death in Dixie is one of those. Recommended for readers age 17 and up who love mysteries with one caviat. If you are offended by coarse language, there is a little of it in this novel... but not nearly as much as you find in other new books and the offensive language - used here as an element of character development - does not detract from the reader's enjoyment of the story.

This book was provided to me free by the publisher in exchange for this review. This review has been simultaneously published on Dragon Views, LibraryThing and Amazon.com

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, July 27, 2010

By 

Suzanne - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Little Death In Dixie (Paperback)

A LITTLE DEATH IN DIXIE is a very well written novel that includes plenty of those quirky, unique to the South characters that make a good mystery even better. I was so immersed in the story that I often felt that I was standing in the middle of a movie scene--Lisa Turner's descriptive powers and attention to detail are that good. Her references to real Memphis "characters", businesses, and landmarks kept me, again, right in the middle of the fast paced action. A true homerun for Ms. Turner's first novel!