by Ruthie-Marie Beckwith
ABQ Press, 2009
Imagine growing up in a place where people around you die on a regular basis—some from known and others from more mysterious causes. Such is the case for Anthony “Tony” Ervin, a young man with mental retardation who lives at the Oak Valley State Training School and Hospital in East Tennessee. In 1978, when murders begin happening back-to-back and innocent victims experience no reprieve from the brutality that pervades their lives, Tony finds himself thrust into the role of amateur sleuth. Uncertain of whom to trust, with violence and deception escalating, and viewed by those who run the institution as incompetent, Tony nonetheless discovers clues that lead to multiple suspects and motives. As Tony plunges into a week that will change his life, his movements as the mail boy for Oak Valley begin to have a profound impact on all whose path he crosses.