Franklin 's first book is collection of ten short stories , '' Poachers '' ( 1999 ) , the title story of which won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Short Story . In an interview for the website Mississippi Writers and Musicians , its author writes of the book as being " stories that address the injustice and irony that life can sometimes have as well as the corruption present in daily life . Franklin puts his characters in situations where temptation makes the line between right and wrong unclear at times . " His first novel , '' Hell at the Breech '' ( 2003 ) , is better described as being regional fiction . It is a fictionalized version of an actual violent feud in 1892 called the Mitcham War , that took place in Clarke County , Alabama , near the author 's home . In brief , its story is about " poor white sharecroppers against the landowners who controlled their fates . The story begins when young Macy Burke , a poor white teenage orphan , accidentally shoots a local merchant , Arch Bedsole . " Tooch " Bedsole , his cousin , uses this killing as a pretext to form the Hell at the Breech gang . This group of criminals and powerless poor white tenant farmers terrorizes Clarke County , murdering and intimidating its law-abiding citizens . " '' Smonk '' ( 2006 ) , like '' Hell at the Breech , '' is set in Alabama and like the previous title is a good example of regional fiction . A reviewer notes this second novel by Franklin is " a violent and savage tale of a murdering rapist who has terrorized the small town of Old Texas , Alabama , for years and his trial in 1911 . " Franklin 's most acclaimed novel , '' Crooked Letter , Crooked Letter '' ( 2010 ) , which won the Crime Writers ' Association Gold Dagger Award , is regarded as more than a crime novel . For example , Marcel Berlins , writing for '' The Times '' of London , England , notes that " Franklin 's portrayal of small-town paranoia and racial politics is superb , as is his moving treatment of his main , damaged , characters . " . In addition , reviewer Rachelle Lasky Bilz , writing for '' Teacher Librarian , '' notes the novel is more than a mystery as it " explores racial tensions and the bonds of enduring friendships . " In an interview on National Public Radio , Franklin told the story of the novel 's title , " It 's how Southern children are taught to spell Mississippi - M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-humpback-humpback-I . " . In brief , the novel , according to '' Publishers Weekly '' , is about " Silas Jones and Larry Ott have known each other since their late 1970s childhood when Silas lived with his mother in a cabin on land owned by Larry 's father . At school they could barely acknowledge one another , Silas being black and Larry white , but they secretly formed a bond hunting , fishing , and just being boys in the woods . When a girl goes missing after going on a date with Larry , he is permanently marked as dangerous despite the lack of evidence linking him to her disappearance , and the two boys go their separate ways . Twenty-five years later , Silas is the local constable , and when another girl disappears , Larry , an auto mechanic with few customers and fewer friends , is once again a person of interest . " In writing of the work , reviewer Jonathan Dawson notes it " is a quite beautiful crime novel , sweltering with deep Southern menace , plotted with elegance and written in a melancholy tone that calls up echoes of Tennessee Williams at his most regretful , Southern best ... and is a fine addition to American Gothic and an unforgettable novel of transgression and retribution that lingers in the mind long after the finish " . Furthermore , Franklin 's prose shines in this third novel , being termed " luminous , " " moody , " and " masterful " by Allison Block in '' Booklist . '' Franklin co-wrote the novel '' The Tilted World '' ( 2013 ) with his wife Fennelly , who have been praised as being " the king and queen of contemporary Southern literature " . Like all his other works , '' The Tilted World '' is set in the South . Here the setting is Mississippi in 1927 , with the central event being the often forgotten Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 . Reviewer Teresa Spears offers praise of the novel , saying it " is as much a portrait of an era as it is a story of the South . It encompasses an America rebuilding after World War I , battling over prohibition , redefining ideas of race and gender -- an America as tumultuous as the Mississippi River swelling against the levees straining to keep it at bay ... it is a story of renewal and redemption . The levees broke on Good Friday of 1927 , making this historic event the ideal impetus for a narrative about the flow and resilience of living and of life beginning anew "
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Tom Franklin (author)