CALL THE DEVIL BY HIS OLDEST NAME by Sallie Bissell
Sallie Bissell first appeared on the literary scene with a novel titled A DARKER JUSTICE. In it she introduced the public to Mary Crowe, an Assistant District Attorney for Deckerd County, Georgia. The second Mary Crowe book was titled INTO THE FOREST OF HARM, and the third is CALL THE DEVIL BY HIS OLDEST NAME.
Once again Mary is in harm's way as she pursues a kidnapper who happens to be one of her oldest enemies, Stump Logan. Mary thought this man was dead but he has been biding his time and waiting to lure her to her death. He intends to do this by kidnapping her goddaughter Lily, for he knows this will bring Mary searching for her.
Lily is the daughter of Johnny and Ruth Walkingstick. Mary and Johnny were romantically involved prior to his marrying Ruth. Now they keep their relationship on a strictly platonic level.
Lily is kidnapped when Ruth and her cousin go off to a "Save Our Bones" rally in Tennessee. This is a rally to protest the digging up of an Indian burial ground. Johnny does not want Ruth to go but she persists. He can't accompany her because he has an appointment to take someone fishing. They need the money and this is a paying job for him.
After Lily is kidnapped Mary rushes to join Ruth and help her try to find the baby. Logan sends her e-mails luring her along the Trail of Tears. He intends to get her to a place where he can abduct and kill her.
Bissell knows her territory and she knows her characters. She writes with assurance and with a style that keeps the reader racing to read the next chapter. There are subplots galore involving a couple planning to adopt a baby, a child who must testify at a trial, and Johnny's bad luck when he heads out to the fishing site. All of these are perfectly balanced with the core story of Lily's kidnapping.
This third novel is more enjoyable if you have read the first two, but it isn't a requisite that you have. Bissell's talent is such that she can bring a reader into this latest story and make him/her right at home. The information from the previous two books is related in such a way that it does not slow down the current story but does bring the reader up to date.
The first two Mary Crowe stories were hardcover books. This latest one is a paperback novel. Why this was done is unclear. For Bissell fan's and collectors this makes the retention of the novel more difficult. Still the quality of the writing shines through regardless of the format.
CALL THE DEVIL BY HIS OLDEST NAME is published by Bantam Dell. It contains 370 pages and sells for $6.99.