"Money, Mississippi looks exactly like it sounds." (It's true...google it.) Money is the town where Emmet Till was brutally murdered in 1955, and the opening sentence of this unique book hints at the darkly hilarious, frequently shocking, and ultimately cathartic events that follow.

Using a murder mystery as its platform, the Booker shortlisted novel tells a story that begins with the murders of three present day descendants of the perpetrators of Till's murder (the real life murderers were acquitted). Curiously, each victim also has a dead Black man nearby, who, in the case of the male victims, is holding their severed testicles. A couple of Black detectives are called in from the state to help the yokelish local law enforcement puzzle it all out. The crimes escalate around the country, even involving the White House, and the White folk reach for their guns.

The descriptions of the locals in Money, Mississippi, are gut bustingly funny, and some might think a a bit mean. I don't know if they are accurate depictions or not, but when you find out why the victims are being targeted, those descriptions seem to be just what these folks deserve.

This author has written many books, but he is new to me. His writing is smart, really funny, and he uses humor brilliantly to get at some very hard truths about racism.