Zach Stander, a down-and-out attorney, is called by Eli Jenkins, a free-clinic Black client of his, to represent Eli’s nephew Sam in a murder case. Sam was found covered in blood at the scene of Jessica Gadsden’s murder in a country church on Cicada Road, outside Walterboro, South Carolina. A Black man found at the murder scene of a young white woman in the deep South brings to mind John Grisham’s A Time to Kill and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.

To complicate matters, Jessica’s father Buford Gadsden, a powerful and somewhat corrupt local yokel, is seething with anger and thirsting for revenge for his daughter’s murder. This is Stander’s opportunity to either win a case that will restore his reputation or risk losing, sending him farther down the road to destitution or possibly death. He enlists the aid of his winsome girlfriend and legal investigator Addie, as well as Colleton–another has-been attorney–to combat a powerful and successful solicitor.

Throw in a never-solved, double-murder case from three decades earlier at nearby Edisto Beach and your wondering how in the world that case, re-opened by Addie, could possibly be related to this murder. Intriguing, to say the least.

Caroline Cleveland’s debut novel When Cicadas Cry will have you guessing whether Sam is the murderer or, if he isn’t, who it could possibly be. You’ll find yourself pulling for all of the main characters, even the accused, and wondering which one you likely misjudged.

Real-life attorney Cleveland’s first novel is a “home run.” I highly recommend it for your reading enjoyment.

reviewed September 2024