A Peculiar Tribe of People: Murder and Madness in the Heart of Georgia

The 1960 murder of the wife of a Macon, Ga., slumlord eager to climb the social ladder propels Hutto's real-life Southern gothic tale. Despite being a distant relation to one of the city's most prosperous families, Chester Burge was never socially accepted despite his wealth, flashy cars, and bejeweled wife, Mary, because his money came from "slimy" operations, from liquor running to housing scams. Burge also had a proclivity for men. On May 12, 1960, Mary's strangled body was discovered in her bedroom and even though Burge was hospitalized after surgery, and thus apparently unable to have committed the murder, he was eventually arrested and tried not only for Mary's murder but also for committing sodomy with his black chauffeur. Hutto (Their Gilded Cage) goes into great detail describing Burge's twisted family history—particularly how it intersected with prominent Macon families, many of whom the author interviewed—and the explosive court battle over Mary's murder. For those seeking closure, Hutto leaves readers with too many unanswered questions, but the story and its eccentric cast make this solid book worth the read. 16 b&w photos. (Nov.)