Casey Cep signs ‘Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee’ at Garden District Book Shop

If you missed watching the intriguing story of famed author Harper Lee’s desire to write a true crime novel at CBS’ “Sunday Morning” on April 28, 2019, it’s all based on a new book by Casey Cep. And the author will be visiting New Orleans this week, discussing and signing books from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 12, at Garden District Book Shop.

Here’s the book’s description:

The Rev. Willie Maxwell was a rural Alabama preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. 

Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted — thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the Reverend. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante's trial was Harper Lee, who had traveled from New York City to her native Alabama with the idea of writing her own “In Cold Blood,” the true-crime classic she had helped her friend Truman Capote research 17 years earlier. Lee spent a year in town reporting, and many more years working on her own version of the case.

Now Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country's most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity.

If you want to learn more, be sure and watch the "Sunday Morning" episode by clicking here.

Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.

Jefferson Bass pushes character to 'Breaking Point;' Historic New Orleans Collection publishes 2 new books

             A prominent humanitarian has died in a fiery plane crash near San Diego and the FBI calls on Dr. Bill Brockton for assistance, the director of the University of Tennessee’s forensic laboratory known as the “Body Farm,” in “The Breaking Point” by Jefferson Bass. Finding and examining the pieces of the crash tells a tale involving federal agents, drug lords and a secretive celebrity.

            The book is actually written by the team of Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bill Bass, the latter a forensic anthropologist who created UT’s Anthropology Research Facility, dubbed the Body Farm. The duo published Bass’s memoir, “Death’s Acre,” before writing several fictional books based on the Body Farm, beginning with the New York Times bestseller “Carved in Bone.”

            In “The Breaking Point,” Brockton juggles the mysterious plane crash along with a local news station blowing out of proportion his use of body donations for university research. To top it all, an old killer sends Brockton a threatening message. But the largest blow comes when his wife of 30 years receives the worst news of all.

I’ve always been curious about UT’s “Body Farm” and forensic research and “The Breaking Point” offers intricate details on both. CSI fans will not want to miss this, the latest in a long-running series. “The Breaking Point” features a solid mystery at its core with lots of action and conflict to continue in future books, but it’s also a tender love story complete with heartache, the action of which may push Dr. Brockton to the breaking point.

Historic New Orleans Collection

The Historic New Orleans Collection will release its latest book, for “The Katrina Decade: Images of an Altered City” by photographer David Spielman with a book launch from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the HNOC, 533 Royal Street in the French Quarter. Spielman will discuss his experiences documenting post-Katrina New Orleans for the book, which includes more than 125 images of the city over the past 10 years. A light reception will follow the presentation.

A free companion exhibition will also be on view beginning Aug. 22 and running through Jan. 9, 2016, at THNOC’s dedicated art gallery, 400 Chartres St.



This is the second book released this summer by THNOC, the first being the gorgeous coffee table tome, “Henry Howard: Louisiana’s Architect” by New Orleans‒based architectural photographer Robert S. Brantley. Howard is one of the most prolific architects of the 19th century yet so little is known of the Irish immigrant who made New Orleans his home. Madewood, Bocage and Nottoway plantations, Plaquemine courthouses, the Pontalba buildings of Jackson Square and numerous churches, schools and private residences of New Orleans are only a few of his many accomplishments.

Brantley details Howard’s life and career accented by photographs by the author and Jan White Brantley. The book, co-published with Princeton Architectural Press, also includes historic photos, architectural drawings, articles and advertisements, documents, site plans and more — it’s a virtual stroll through New Orleans history through the realm of an amazing architect.

The book retails for $60 and is available at The Shop at The Collection, independent bookstores and national retailers. An exhibition on Howard’s years in New Orleans is set to open this fall at THNOC.

Book events July 12-18, 2015

            Harper Lee’s new novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” goes on sale Tuesday and Barnes & Noble Lafayette will open at 7 a.m., with those who purchase a book before 10 a.m. receiving a free tall hot coffee in the store’s café. The first 20 customers to buy the book in every store will receive a free “To Kill a Mockingbird” reusable tote. The store will also host a Harper Lee Celebration Monday in which all Barnes & Noble stores nationwide will read Harper Lee’s classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” from start to finish. The Read-A-Thon will feature a variety of special guest readers, including local authors or celebrities.

Events this week at Barnes & Noble’s second annual “Get Pop-Cultured with Barnes & Noble,” are DC Comics Days and The Comic Convention Collectibles today, heading to the 1980s on Throwback Thursday, Minions Fun at 7 p.m. Friday, “Stars Wars” Saturday for fans of all ages and Manga Mania on Sunday, July 19. In addition, the store is offering sweepstakes and giveaways. For more information on what’s happening during Get Pop-Cultured with Barnes & Noble month at Barnes & Noble Lafayette customers can visit the store or www.bn.com/getpop-cultured. 

The General Raymond E. Mason Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series on World War II Jonathan W. Jordan presents "American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II"
(the same title as his new book) at Thursday at the World War II Museum in New Orleans. There will be a 5 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. presentation and Q&A and a 7 p.m. book signing.

Tony Dunbar discusses and signs his eighth book in the Tubby Dubonnet series, “Night Watchman,” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “ExploringCajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

A peek inside the life of Nelle Harper Lee

            Nelle Harper Lee left her hometown of Monroeville, Ala., to pursue a career in writing in New York City, eventually acquiring time to write a novel beginning on Christmas Day 1956, when friends gave her money in order to take a year off from her job. Lee wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird” in both New York and Monroeville and the book was published in 1960 under the name of Harper Lee.
             Nelle, as she is known to family and friends, would never be the same.

            The critical acclaim of the book, the enormous publicity after the book’s publishing and the release of the movie starring Gregory Peck, the invasion of Lee’s privacy and the dissection of her life turned Lee away from public life. She has since spent most of her life living quietly with her sister, Alice Finch Lee, refusing publicity and public appearances except in very few cases.

            Lee was reluctant to speak with Marja Mills of the Chicago Tribune in 2001, but somehow the reporter made friends with the Lee sisters and managed an article. In 2004, with the Lee’s blessing, Mills moved in next door to the sisters’ home in Monroeville and began a rare friendship.

            Mills shares her experiences in Monroeville with the Lees, their friends and other residents of the south Alabama town in “The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee.” The book includes family history — including setting things straight from tales told by Truman Capote, Harper Lee’s childhood friend, — insight into the characters of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, aspects of which were based on family members including Lee herself, and why Lee never wrote another book. More than anything, the biography showcases the deep relationship between Harper and Alice Lee, which lasted years until Alice’s death last year at age 103.

The Left Behinds

            American history can be a tricky subject for young readers, unless you spin an adventurous tale in a modern fashion, preferably in a quirky way. On a Christmas day, author David Potter throws three adolescents back to 1776 where they find Gen. George Washington dead in a horse stable in “The Left Behinds and the iPhone That Saved George Washington.”
            The threesome — known as the Left Behinds because their families couldn’t bring them home from their fancy boarding school for the holidays — first try to understand why they are being chased by Hessians in a land without toilets and smart phones. Then they try to figure out a way back to the 21^st century, with help from their teacher who is texting Mel, the narrator of the story, through his iPhone. There’s the question of how texts are being received across centuries and what happened in that dark basement at the re-enactment they were attending back in modern times?

            In the end the unlikely group enlists the help of Benjamin Franklin to recharge their phones and then work to change history to keep Washington alive and crossing the Delaware River, a decisive victory on Christmas Day 1776 that leads to the establishment of the United States.

            Potter’s first book in what looks like a series will entertain readers through the antics of history geek Mel and his sidekicks, Beverly and Brandon, all the while teaching readers a lot about history. It’s a tough challenge but Potter delivers beautifully.

New releases

            Brian Boyles compiles what happened during those 100 days leading up to the 2013 Super Bowl, including the now famous moment when the lights went out in the Superdome, in “New Orleans Boom and Blackout: One Hundred Days in America’s Coolest Hot Spot,” published by The History Press.

            The first edition of UNO Press’s "Death by Pastrami," a collection of 17 stories by Leonard S. Bernstein that take place in New York’s Garment District, has sold out, thanks to Maureen Corrigan raving about it on National Public Radio. Check out the review and get a copy when the next edition hits the streets: http://www.npr.org/.

            Southern University coach Roger Cador has published an autobiography titled “Against All Odds” that spans his childhood in Pointe Coupee Parish through his 30 years coaching Jaguar baseball. The book is available on Amazon.com.

            Sylvia Rochester just released book three of the “Bawdy Boutique Mysteries” through Whiskey Creek Press, titled “Mellow Yellow Dead Red.” The cozy mystery is set in a small fictitious town south of Hammond where the two main characters, who are into fashion and know nothing about solving murders, somehow wind up in the thick of things.

            Lyn LeJeune writes about the Sonnier family and Abbeville in a Kindle book titled “Each In Its Ordered Place: Cajun Gothic Tales.” 

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.