Murder In Macon: A Frank Hayes Mystery - Paperback

by Beverly Connor (Author), Charles Connor (Author)

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.

Author Biography

Beverly Connor is the author of the Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation series, the Lindsay Chamberlain archaeology mystery series, and co-authored Murder In Macon, and The Poplar Creek Murders with her husband Charles. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and geology. Before she began her writing career, Beverly worked as an archaeologist in the southeastern United States, specializing in bone identification and analysis of stone tool debitage. Originally from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, she weaves her professional experiences from archaeology and her knowledge of the South into interlinked stories of the past and present. Beverly's books have been translated into German, Dutch, and Czech and are available in standard and large print in the UK, and in ebook format worldwide. Please visit her at beverlyconnor.net Charles Connor grew up in Alabama during the 1940s, 50s and 60s in and around the little communities of Caffee Junction, Green Pond, and McCalla just outside Birmingham. He received B.A. and Masters degrees from the University of Alabama, attended graduate school at Vanderbilt and received a doctorate from the University of Georgia. He taught at several state universities in the southeast before joining the faculty at the University of Georgia where he founded the Harriette Austin Writing Program and the HAWC writing conference and directed them for twelve years before retiring from university life. He and his wife, novelist Beverly Connor, now reside in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (The Secret City, home of the atomic bomb, 3D printers, and the world's fastest computer) where he reflects on life, writes, and supports Beverly in her writing. He is co-author of The Poplar Creek Murders and Murder In Macon with his wife Beverly.