Cry Me a River

With this breakthrough novel, Pearson offers the best of several fictional worlds. Fans of his work ( A Short History of a Small Place ) will welcome the serpentine, jack-in-the-box literary style that has rocket-launched him to a special planet in the cosmos of hilarious Southern storytelling. Those readers and others who savor more traditional writing will enjoy the sturdy murder-mystery foundation that cradles the rococo word choices and eccentric cast of characters here. After the unnamed narrator--a policeman on the force of a sleepy South Carolina hamlet--discovers the first murder victim (also a cop), readers meet a sideshow of assorted and memorable eccentrics whom Pearson portrays with an empathy for human nature in all its protean manifestations. There is, of course, darkness in any story involving violent death, and he deftly weaves into this amusement the passionate roots of crime. Further, he reveals a generous compassion for the victims and their families, through characters whom a less sensitive writer might dismiss as crude and unfeeling. Pearson's heightened control of plot, pacing and structure in this particular work mark a mastery of craft and maturity of vision for a writer already recognized as an American original. 50,000 first printing; author tour. (Jan.)