Sorrow Wood

Reva Blackmon is a reluctant probate judge in the small town of Sand Valley, Alabama. She lives in a rock castle with turrets and a moat thanks to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal and walks on one leg thanks to a drunken railroad engineer on the Southern Pacific. She sings Wednesdays and Sundays in the choir at the Methodist Church and believes in reincarnation the rest of the time. Her husband, Wendell, is the love of her life, stretching back down the corridors of time.

Wendell Blackmon is the disgruntled policeman in this same small town. He rides herd on an unlikely collection of reprobates, rogues with names such as Deadhand Riley, Gilla Newman, Otter Price, and Blossom Hogan. Law enforcement in this venue consists of breaking up dog fights, investigating alien abductions, extinguishing truck fires, and spending endless hours riding the roads of Sand Valley. Unlike his wife, Wendell does not believe in reincarnation. Nor does he believe in Methodism, Buddhism, or Santa Claus. But he does believe in Reva, and that belief has been sufficient to his needs over their many years together.

But the routines of Sand Valley are about to change. A burned body has been discovered at a local farm named Sorrow Wood. The deceased is a promiscuous self-proclaimed witch with a checkered past. Wendell investigates the crime, and the list of suspects includes his deputy, the entire family of the richest man in town, and nearly everyone else who knew the departed. As the probe continues, a multitude of secrets are revealed, including one that reaches from the deep past all the way to the rock castle. Who was this woman who met her end at Sorrow Wood? Where did she come from? What were the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death, and what did her presence mean to Wendell, Reva, and the remainder of the inhabitants of Sand Valley?

“Raymond L. Atkins has written a richly textured mystery, a complex blend of Southern Gothic, social satire, and page-turning whodunit. Reminiscent of Clyde Edgerton with its down-home characters, of James Wilcox with its uproarious humor, Sorrow Wood nonetheless has its own distinctive voice, and a more than distinctive charm. This is a novel destined to please many readers.”
~ Greg Johnson, author of Pagan Babies and Women I’ve Known: New and Selected Stories

“Atkins’ flair for poetic prose is not only beautiful and enjoyable, but also clever and meaningful.”
~ Ken Anderson, author of Someone Bought the House on the Island

“Like all great Southern writers before him, Raymond Atkins knows how to spin a yarn. With trenchant wit and lucid, poetic prose, he weaves the homely with the divine, creating characters that glow with human life. Façades don’t last long in Sorrow Wood—these people know each other whether they want to or not, and their interactions inevitably lead to the kind of conflict that bares souls. Under the skillful direction of a master storyteller, Wendell, Reva, Otter, Deadhand, Eunice, and their kin, friends, and foes, weave a plot that holds the reader fast to the page.”
~ Melanie Sumner, author of The School of Beauty and Charm

“Sorrow Wood is sure to please readers looking for a good old-fashioned page-turning thriller, replete with a grisly murder, plenty of twists, and a surprising and yet logical ending. But it’s more than that—at bottom this is a love story between the two most unlikely guardians of the law to come along in a long, long time: Reva Blackmon, local judge, and Wendell, her policeman husband—destined to be together, perhaps since the dawn of time. A story at once funny, sad, and profoundly hopeful.”
~ Man Martin, author of Days of the Endless Corvette

"Raymond L. Atkins’ strength is in his writing style, and his ability to create living, breathing individuals with just a few critical details." To read the full review, click here
~ Fashion Piranha

"Raymond L. Atkins brings readers another southern classic."
For more, click here
~ ReadersFavorite.com

"The finely crafted, descriptive turns of phrase impart wry wit that make this a rare pleasure to be savored like fine wine." To read the full review, click here
~ MonstersandCritics.com

"Beautifully written with bouts of hilarity only a small-town native could truly appreciate (and perhaps relate to), Sorrow Wood is another ballpark home run for Atkins." For more, click here
~ The Bookshelf Reviews

"As with his debut novel, Atkins has created a cast of colorful characters with his latest novel." For more, click here
~ TheInsideCover.com

"The narrative is rich with exquisite detail." To read the full review, click here
~ Blogger News Network

"Subtle humor and mostly pitch-perfect prose distinguish Atkins's compelling mix of mystery and romance, set in 1985 with flashbacks to the 1930s and '40s. When Wendell Blackmon, the 59-year-old police chief of Sand Valley, Ala., investigates the murder of a self-proclaimed witch whose charred body was found at a farm called Sorrow Wood, he discovers that the victim was loathed by many in her occult-as-an-excuse-for-free-love coven. Meanwhile, decades earlier, after a painful childhood, Wendell meets his future wife, Reva, falls in love and marries her in the course of a week. Together they build a family. Reva, who serves as Sand Valley's probate judge and believes in reincarnation, believes she and Wendell have shared several lifetimes, indicated in historical vignettes throughout. Atkins (The Front Porch Prophet) smoothly weaves past into present as the action builds to a final poignant twist."
~ Publisher's Weekly

“. . . fans will enjoy love through the ages on a par with the epics of Barbara Delinsky and Danielle Steele.”
~ Harriet Klausner, MidwestBookReviews.com (August2009)

"[Atkins'] book takes many twists and turns along the way to a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Mr. Atkins has once again created a place I didn’t want to leave."
~ North Georgia Living Magazine (August 2009)

" . . .a casually clever, darkly humorous mystery."
~ Atlanta Magazine (September 2009)

“Forget the murder plot. It’s not that important. What is important is the story of a great and enduring love. Atkins clearly loves his characters. You will, too.”
~Michael Scott Cain, Rambles.net (October 2009)

“Sorrow Wood is ultimately a story about the lasting strength of love.”
~ Rebecca Tolley-Stokes, Tennessee Library Association (April 2010)

“Anyone who lives in a Southern small town or the rural South will be able to relate to . . . the characters portrayed by Atkins.”
~ Susan Smith, Decatur Daily News (April 2010)