Brief

When her cop husband is poisoned in the same manner as a convicted serial killer 25 years before, African American Georgia attorney Nicole finds herself going down a murky path of investigation as an apparent copycat killer takes out nearly a dozen people, revenge for framing her innocent father.

What We Liked

A complex murder mystery driven by African American leads, a welcome rarity in this genre. Female lead Nicole is strong and resourceful as she uncovers past corruption from a 30-year-old case, in order to solve her late husband's recent murder.

1989 would make a great MOW or mini-series, with its complex murder investigation and multiple killings keeping an audience guessing. Driven by a strong African American female lead, the cast is refreshingly diverse.

Key points:
Strong African American female lead.
Starts off with a bang, the murder of the lead's husband.
Very solid hook to draw one in emotionally.
Multiple murders keep one guessing until the end.

Synopsis

Atlanta, Georgia, present day. NICOLE JONES (African American, 40) is a successful lawyer who worked in corporate law to earn big bucks that enabled her to start her own firm, encompassing both corporate and pro bono cases, in which she believes passionately. She is still madly in love with her husband MARCUS (African American, early 30s), a cop, but sadly, they haven’t been able to have children.

Nicole gets home from a long day at work, touched to see flowers, wine and a bubble bath waiting as a gift from Marcus. But when she goes up to their bedroom, she is shocked to find him dead in bed! On his body is a single penny and a note: ‘What happens to a man who awakens a ghost?’ It’s the exact same MO as the Penny Murderer killings 25 years before, for which African American Samuel Johnson was convicted and was later killed in prison. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, he allegedly killed at least 12 white victims, all of them poisoned.

Nicole calls 911 but when the police get there, they arrest her! She’s taken to the station where Marcus’s partner and their close friend SGT. MIKE ALLEN (40s) and CAPTAIN LUCAS BROWN (50s) quickly release her, annoying DA HARRY WALLACE (50s) who has a grudge against Nicole for winning so many cases for ‘the bad guys’.

Years before, Mike’s wife Joanne and their two children perished in a house fire. They are both perturbed by the ‘Penny Murderer’ note: did they convict the wrong man or has a family member come back for revenge? Unable and unwilling to go home, Nicole stays with her law partner and good friend ALAN KEYES (40s), his lovely wife PATRICIA (40s), a neurosurgeon and their adorable toddler daughter.

The cops are called out to another murder, MELISSA LANDRY (40s), the daughter of Judge White, who presided over the Sam Johnson trial, and the daughter-in-law of former GOVERNOR LANDRY (60s). She has been placed in an alley, with a pillow and blanket as if she is sleeping, exactly as a previous Penny Murderer victim. There is another note: ‘Your father took an innocent life.’

Mike isn’t happy to meet his new partner Det. JUSTIN HOWARD (African American, late 20s). He’s too busy and stressed to play nursemaid to a rookie.

Nicole returns to her house to look for clues – and is shocked to find statements from a hidden off-shore bank account worth twenty million!

A third body turns up, that of JUDGE WHITE (80s) who presided over the 1989 Penny Murderer trial. A note also accuses him of framing an innocent man. Allegedly, his daughter TRISHA (40s) once dated accused killer Samuel Johnson, who was despised by her racist family.

Nicole flies to the Bahamas to investigate the secret bank account, meeting with Harry Wallace’s estranged brother JAMES ‘BILLY’ WALLACE (40s) who has married a local woman. The accounts show anonymous deposits of half a million a year for 30 years. Billy discovers that the account was opened in 1993, the year of the Penny Murderer trial. The deposits are from Governor Landry and Judge White to DA Wallace, who prosecuted Sam Johnson. Does that mean Sam was framed?

Cops Mike and Howard track the poison to that of an exotic South American frog purchased from illegal wildlife trader THOMAS RICE (39), who says the customer was tall, white and female. The cops track the store address of her burner phone.

Trisha White calls Howard for a secret meeting. She was 12 when her older sister Laura was killed. At the time she was married to Victor Johnson. She reveals their father was furious about her earlier affair with black Samuel Johnson.

The current MASKED KILLER now confronts PATRICK and APRIL MILLER (both 40s) revealing that her husband killed her former fiancé, staging it as a car crash, in order to marry her. April is shocked – the Killer poisons them both.

Another body shows up, that of Governor Landry’s son ARTHUR (40s), Melissa’s cheating husband. The Killer accuses him of killing her sister, Laura, who he was dating, ‘in an accident’. He told his father who went to Judge White and DA Wallace, who agreed to help cover it up by attributing it to Sam Johnson. When the cops get there, they find Landry removed the Killer’s note in an attempt not to involve his son in any potential scandal.

Howard visits Nicole privately and admits he’s discovered some inside info from Marcus that made him think he didn’t trust his partner, Mike, and that Nicole shouldn’t either. Nicole is skeptical but agrees to work with Howard, showing him the secret bank accounts with payments from Landry and White to DA Wallace.

Mike and Howard trace the burner phone of the poison purchaser, TRACEY BUSH, 20s, via CCTV footage but when they get to her house, they find her poisoned like the other victims. Judging by her lab and class books, she really was just an innocent grad student doing research.

Howard tracks some of Sam Johnson’s former contacts, which leads him to MABLE THOMPSON (African American, 70s). She knew him when he was younger when he was married to Tiffany (black), with two kids. They came from the same small town as Nicole and were friends with April Miller. But Sam also liked the ladies and he had an affair with Laura, Melissa’s sister, who was later killed.

Unbeknownst to him, she became pregnant and was sent away to Europe for 9 months to have the baby – twins, in fact, a boy and a girl. When Laura’s family disowned them, her mother gave them to Mable to raise. Now, Laura’s mother, Judge White’s widow, breaks down and confirms the story.

Mike Allen gets blind drunk and wakes at home to find the Masked Killer has tied him up. He also helped cover up Laura’s murder by Arthur. Allegedly, his late wife Joanne killed someone in a hit and run and Wallace used this to blackmail Mike into staying silent about framing Sam. Marcus had recently found out and that’s why Mike killed him!

The Masked Killer injects Mike with fatal poison. Nicole is horrified to discover the body, with a note that reads: ‘What happens when you kill to protect your secrets.’

Howard is shocked by Mike’s murder. When he visits Mable again, she has just passed away. He notices many photos of Marcus, whom she claimed she took in after his parents were killed in a car accident.

Mable’s daughter gives Howard a sealed envelope left by her mother for him. In it, Howard learns that Laura’s twins were Marcus, who was raised by Mable, and Mary-Jo, who was lighter skinned and given up for adoption. She is also Mike’s ex-wife, who allegedly died in a house fire.

The Masked Killer sets up Harry Wallace and GARRET JAMES (50s), Sam’s former defense attorney. The Killer knows they meet monthly at a particular rural inn and waits for them there, eager to see their shocked response as they find their dark misdeeds 25 years before make breaking news on the TV, anonymously leaked by the Killer. Proof that Wallace received payments has been found, showing he deliberately framed Sam. Meanwhile, the Killer poisons both Wallace and Garret.

Nicole’s fingerprints are now found on all the crime scenes, as well as CCTV footage of her leaving the inn where Wallace and Garret are found dead. She is brought in for questioning but a witness whom the Killer had saved from a beating by Arthur Landry testifies that they had blue eyes, not brown, like Nicole’s.

Howard learns that Nicole and Sam were from the same small town and that she was friends with his daughter, Denise. After his unjust conviction and murder, she drank herself to death and her mother Tiffany followed soon after. Nicole was determined to get justice for Sam and to avenge the torment heaped on her best friend. Growing up, she had also witnessed her mother kill her father.

Sam’s daughter Jo – the Masked Killer – now confronts Governor Landry who thinks he’s safe at his lake house. She reveals who she is and knows what he did to cover up the murder of her mother by his son, and the framing of her father for her death. He killed both of her parents. She injects him and watches him expire.

DA Wallace (not dead?) makes a public announcement that he is opening an impartial inquiry into the 1989 conviction of Sam, just in case they had the wrong man. He appoints INGRID SMITH (light skinned African American, 31) from his office. When Nicole, who has now been released, sees the news she realizes that Ingrid is Mary Jo, Sam’s daughter!

When the cops are slipped confidential information on Wallace, he is arrested for Sam’s murder as well as the dozen other murders at the time. Charges against Nicole are dropped once and for all.
Jo is shocked when coroner Adam is killed – she didn’t do it.

Jo has now killed everyone who contributed to framing her father and causing his death in prison. She’d faked her and her children’s death in a house fire using morgue bodies, changed her name and studied law. She is, in fact, Ingrid Smith, who works at the DA’s office! She deliberately didn’t kill Wallace: she wants him to suffer public shame and an awful life in jail.

But she hadn’t counted on Nicole realizing who she is and now confronting her.

About The Author

African American author James Smith is a retired US Army Veteran who received two Bronze Stars and many other awards. He also has a BA in Criminal Justice, which gives his debut murder mystery novel realistic grit and authenticity. James is married with two daughters, and they currently live in Georgia