MISSISSIPPI MUD: A TRUE STORY FROM A CORNER OF THE DEEP SOUTH

By: Edward Humes
True Crime
Review By: Ingram

About Biloxi, Mississippi couple, shot to death in their home. It portrays how one woman's steely obsession for the truth shook a city to its foundation--and nearly destroyed everything she loved. Soon to be an NBC-TV four-part mini-series starring Valerie Bertinelli. Photos.

Publisher Marketing: Biloxi, Mississippi, is a city of contradictions. A lush green jewel on the Gulf of Mexico, a Southern Riviera steeped in Confederate history, where antebellum mansions command staggering ocean views. Yet it has also been home to The Strip, a beachside center of neon decadence, prostitution, drugs, and corrupt public servants - all in thrall to a shadowy band of criminals called the Dixie Mafia. Here in Biloxi, Old South virtue clashes with a long-standing tolerance for evil. When one of the city's most prominent couples - a judge and his mayoral-candidate wife - were shot in their home, their daughter embarked on a dangerous crusade for justice that would forever change the complexion of Biloxi. She wanted to accomplish what the police could not or would not do: find the assassins and shake the city of Biloxi from its jaded complacency. In Mississippi Mud, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes tells the inspiring and harrowing story of Lynne Sposito, whose obsession with solving her parents' murder "irresistibly draws us into a ripe, teeming, darkness, " into a sin-belt world of conscienceless killers, illegal casinos, and venal politicians. At the same time, Mississippi Mud provides a fascinating and vivid portrait of a little-known corner of the Deep South where corruption and betrayal arise not only from the criminal element but also from the good people of Biloxi's long-standing tradition of turning a blind eye to the malignancy in their midst. Though a work of nonfiction, scrupulously reported and documented, Mississippi Mud reads like an exquisitely taut and suspenseful novel, building toward a surprising - and chilling - conclusion, as the forces unleashed by Lynne'sinvestigation forever alter her life, and Biloxi's future. Publisher Marketing: On a quiet September afternoon, Lynne Sposito learned that her parents, Vincent and Margaret Sherry, had been shot to death in their Biloxi, Mississippi, home. One of the city's most prominent couples -- he served as Circuit Court judge and she was runnng for mayor -- the Sherry's were mourned by a community. But for a stunned and grieving daughter, the nightmare was hust beginning. Racing to Biloxi for answers, Lynne found the police investigation in chaos. The only sure lead was that the Sherry's murder somehow was connected to the Dixie Mafia, a predatory band of criminals who ran Biloxi's beachfront hub of sex, drugs, and sleaze known as The Strip. Lynne, armed with a savvy private eye -- and a .357 Magnum -- set out to accomplish what the authorities could not or would not do: hunt down her parents' assassins and bring them to justice. Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Humes delivers a shocking and bizarre tale set against a teeming underworld of merciless killers, ruthless con men, and venal politicians. "Mississippi Mud" portrays how one woman's steely obsession for the truth shook a city to its foundation -- and nearly destroyed everything she loved. Review Quotes: Joyce R. Slater "Chicago Tribune"Reminiscent of Truman Capote's In "Cold Blood...."ReadYs? as smoothly as a finely crafted suspense novel. Review Citations: * Booklist 09/01/1994 pg. 8 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover) * Library Journal 08/01/1994 pg. 102 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover) * Publisher's Weekly 07/11/1994 pg. 70 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover) * Kirkus Review - Adult 06/15/1994 pg. 823 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover) * Wilson Public Library Catalog 01/01/1995 pg. 45 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover) * Wilson Public Library Catalog 01/01/1998 pg. 202 (ISBN 0671889982, Hardcover)

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