Phillip DePoy
The Witch's Grave (2004)
Author: Phillip DePoy
Genre (and subgenre): Mystery/Amateur Detective
Plot Summary:
This is DePoy’s second mystery featuring Fever Devilin, a freakishly large, prematurely white-haired folklore professor who also happens to be a skilled amateur sleuth. Fever has abandoned academia for his rural hometown in the mountains of Georgia, where he continues to collect folktales from the peculiar and normally close-lipped townsfolk. When the town’s mortician turns up murdered near Fever’s house, he immediately begins investigating the crime by searching for the local witch Truevine Deveroe and her coroner boyfriend Able Carter. The couple turned up missing the day after the murder, and Fever is certain that they are involved with the crime in some way. Fever is aided in his investigation by his best friend Needle Skidmore—who also happens to be a local police deputy running for sheriff—and his British friend Winton Andrews, a Shakespeare scholar visiting Blue Mountain on vacation.
Geographical Setting: Blue Mountain, Georgia (small Appalachian town)
Time Period: Present
Series: A Fever Devilin Mystery (2nd book in the series)
Appeal Characteristics:
folklore elements in plot; likeable, complex, unconventional amateur sleuth; quirky, interesting secondary characters; story is both humorous and dark/atmospheric; paranormal, gothic overtones; literary writing style; no graphic violence or gruesome descriptions of murder scenes, crimes, etc.
Similar Authors:
Tony Hillerman (mysteries that focus on character, geography, and culture—Native American rather than Appalachian); Sharyn McCrumb (mysteries with mystical overtones set in small Appalachian towns - incorporates information on the folkways of mountain people); Ron Rash (mysteries set in small-town Appalachia)
Red Flags: None
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