Mississippi mud : the true-crime bestseller of Southern justice and the Dixie mafia

NOW UPDATED WITH EXPLOSIVE COURTROOM DETAILS. . . . The riveting true-crime account of the heartbreaking murder that shook a Southern city to its corrupt foundation BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: After the fatal shooting of one of the city's most prominent couples—Vincent Sherry was a circuit court judge; his wife, Margaret, was running for mayor—their grief-stricken daughter came home to uncover the truth behind the crime that shocked a community and to follow leads that police seemed unable or unwilling to pursue. What Lynne Sposito soon discovered were bizarre connections to the Dixie Mafia, a predatory band of criminals who ran The Strip, Biloxi's beachfront hub of sex, drugs, and sleaze. Armed with a savvy private eye—and a .357 Magnum—Lynne bravely entered a teeming underworld of merciless killers, ruthless con men, and venal politicians in order to bring her parents' assassins to justice. Biloxi, Mississippi, is a city of contradictions. A lush green jewel on the Gulf of Mexico, a Southern Riviera steeped in Confederate history, where antebellum mansions command staggering ocean views. Yet it has also been home to The Strip, a beachside center of neon decadence, prostitution, drugs, and corrupt public servants - all in thrall to a shadowy band of criminals called the Dixie Mafia. Here in Biloxi, Old South virtue clashes with a long-standing tolerance for evil. When one of the city's most prominent couples - a judge and his mayoral-candidate wife - were shot in their home, their daughter embarked on a dangerous crusade for justice that would forever change the complexion of Biloxi. She wanted to accomplish what the police could not or would not do: find the assassins and shake the city of Biloxi from its jaded complacency. In Mississippi Mud, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes tells the inspiring and harrowing story of Lynne Sposito, whose obsession with solving her parents' murder "irresistibly draws us into a ripe, teeming, darkness," into a sin-belt world of conscienceless killers, illegal casinos, and venal politicians. At the same time, Mississippi Mud provides a fascinating and vivid portrait of a little-known corner of the Deep South where corruption and betrayal arise not only from the criminal element but also from the good people of Biloxi's long-standing tradition of turning a blind eye to the malignancy in their midst. Though a work of nonfiction, scrupulously reported and documented, Mississippi Mud reads like an exquisitely taut and suspenseful novel, building toward a surprising - and chilling - conclusion, as the forces unleashed by Lynne's investigation forever alter her life, and Biloxi's future. BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: After the fatal shooting of one of the city?s most prominent couples?Vincent Sherry was a circuit court judge; his wife, Margaret, was running for mayor?their grief-stricken daughter came home to uncover the truth behind the crime that shocked a community and to follow leads that police seemed unable or unwilling to pursue. What Lynne Sposito soon discovered were bizarre connections to the Dixie Mafia, a predatory band of criminals who ran The Strip, Biloxi?s beachfront hub of sex, drugs, and sleaze. Armed with a savvy private eye?and a .357 Magnum?Lynne bravely entered a teeming underworld of merciless killers, ruthless con men, and venal politicians in order to bring her parents? assassins to justice"--The publisher Without warning or symptom, the twentieth century's version of Plague came calling on Lynne Sposito at exactly ten minutes past two on the afternoon of September 16,1987.