Blood on the Leaves
By Jeff Stetson

     Racial killings of the past come back to haunt the town of Jackson Mississippi. White men are being murdered. The victims of the present day murders are the men who in the 1960's were caught killing African-Americans but were acquitted by all white juries. Is someone seeking revenge?

     James Reynolds is the only African-American prosecutor in Jackson with a 95% conviction rate. Reynolds is asked to prosecute another black man for these murders. It will affect his professional and personal life as well as bring up the past that has not been laid to rest for him. The man he's asked to prosecute is Dr. Martin Matheson the son of a civil rights leader and a professor at the college. The town's reaction to this arrest and prosecution will divide the town by color. Reynolds will feel it through his church while Matheson's white defense attorney Todd Miller will find himself being discriminated against by the people he thought were his friends. Todd is the son of a former Klansmen and will have to deal with his own past as well.

     While the African-American citizens cannot believe that Dr. Matheson could commit such crimes, it's hard to deny his part in inciting the murders. He has been giving lectures to his classes with examples of the racially motivated murders of the past. Handing out photos of dead bodies and the names and current addresses of the acquitted murderers.

      The outcome of this case will change the nature of the relationships in this town. This book while written and occurring in the present touches on the horrible period of time when people were murdered simply for the color of their skin. "Blood on the Leaves" is a gripping tale of how the past can come back to change the course of current day life. Will there be justice for the past victims or for the new victims and their families? A very thought provoking and entertaining read. It's hard to put this book down as you'll want to know how this could happen and could it happen even now. Has it really stopped?