Chiefs (Will Lee, #1)

Stuart Woods

In the bitter winter of 1920, the first body is found in Delano, Georgia - the naked corpse of an unidentified teenager. There is no direct evidence of murder, but the body bears marks of what seems to be a ritual beating. The investigation falls to Will Henry Lee, a failed cotton farmer newly appointed as Delano's first chief of police. Lee's obsession with the crime begins a story that weaves through the decades as it follows the life of a small southern town and the role of three police chiefs in unraveling the crime.

'Chiefs' is the best kind of thriller, where the investigation plays out against the drama beneath the surface of a seemingly placid community, seething with the pressures of race, love, hate, and always, political power extending from the town fathers all the way to Washington, DC.

With its 25th anniversary, there's a new foreword by the author, making it a collector's treasure for all fans of Stuart Woods.