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By Ace Collins 

ISBN: 9781426770036
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Publication Date: 10/7/14
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars

A special thank you to Abingdon Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE COLOR OF JUSTICE by Ace Collins is a riveting, page-turner, and complex story of racial injustice and a small southern town full of dark secrets. Set in 1964, in Justice, Mississippi, where black and whites live separately, and the lines are seldom crossed.

Coop is an attorney with his own small firm, taking over from his dad’s practice, where he now resides with his wife Judy, and children. After Ole Miss and Vanderbilt and six years of working for the Tennessee Supreme Court and fathering a boy and two girls, as only child, he gave up his plan and dreams of staying in Tennessee to come home and help his cancer ridden mother. Sadly no sooner had he moved his family, to Justice, Agnes died.

Three months of living with his wife Judy and children, in the sleepy community where five generations of his family had called home had proven two things to the lanky, dark-haired man. The first was something he liked: Justice was the same quaint town he remember from his youth and also the thing he hated with their narrow minds and thinking.

Since he opened his office not one black person had knocked on his door, until Hattie Ross walks in. She was a former maid for Coop’s dad and family and asks him to defend her grandson, Calvin, accused of murdering Becky (a white girl from a powerful family).

When Coop takes the case, his entire world changes and his wife, and family are threatened and all their lives are at risk. Someone has set up Calvin, and Coop takes it upon himself to find the answers, and the real killer, no matter what. When he finally wins the case; however, they both go missing, after the trial, never to be found again.

I was immediately hooked from page one, as Ace Collins grabs the reader and never let’s go until the ending. The lovable characters were so warm and realistic and I would have been satisfied with the book ending when the trial ended in 1964, as I was so rooting for Coop and Calvin. (I loved this part, as was so engrossed, had forgotten there was a second part, and wanted to cry, as loved these two characters).

After the trial, the book advances to 2014, where Coop’s grandson returns to the small town, also an attorney, and this time the roles are reversed. Almost 50 years later, he opens his own practice, at the same office. His first case is just as controversial as the one that ended his grandfather’s life.

This time the victim is African American and the suspect is white. Things have changed for the better in 2014; however, some are stuck back in the sixties, and racial tension is still high even some fifty years later, but Clark is as driven as his grandfather and will not stop until he uncovers his grandfather’s killer, peeling back the layers and the secrets.

The last part of the book is fast paced, revealing clues from the 1964 case relevant to the case in 2014. Some things are not as they seem, and the question – how far will the killer go for revenge. From power, money, revenge, lies, secrets, murder, and racial injustice – it has it all. I happen to grow up in this era in the south, and so loved the mentions of the sixties music, like Rick Nelson, cars, and the styles rang familiar and readers from this time will relate.

Wow, I loved everything about this book! THE COLOR OF JUSTICE, is the kind of book you want to savor and do not want it to end. The front cover is so intriguing, drawing you into this world of controversial issues between races. 

With twists and turns you will not see coming for an engrossing and satisfying suspense thriller, THE COLOR OF JUSTICE is a story you will not soon forget, and characters which will live on making you smile long after the book ends.

Am so delighted with this book and author (a master storyteller) -- cannot wait to dive into his previous books. Don’t you love discovering a new-found author? We can only hope for a sequel!