Cruel as the Grave: John Armistead

A white stranger enters the black cemetery near Sheffield, Miss., when Lizzie Clouse is visiting the grave of her mother, Naresse, who had been murdered three years earlier. Then the man, Rory Hornsly, is found shot to death near his rented apartment. Sheriff Grover Bramlett, in his engaging third adventure (A Homecoming for Murder) finds the names of Naresse, Lizzie and her sister Shamona on a notepad in the man's rooms and soon links his new case to Naresse's unsolved murder. Naresse's decades-long affair with an unknown man of Sheffield is the key to both deaths, but the few who know about that aren't interested in talking to Bramlett. Next, an old friend of Naresse's is murdered; then someone takes a shot at Shamona. Bramlett questions Naresse's widower, who may be out for revenge; a wealthy black businessman who loved Naresse; and the businessman's sister, who had been the girlfriend of Naresse's husband. A college professor, his famous photographer wife and even the local preacher may be involved. The easygoing Bramlett is dealing with family problems of his own, notably his frail mother who hates living in a nearby nursing home. Armistead writes convincingly about Southern small-town police work and race relations--and about the powerful family loyalties and barely buried hatreds that motivate his characters. (Aug.)