Chiefs is the first story in the Will Lee series by Stuart Wood and was originally published in 1981.
Although it was his third book to be released, it was his first fiction novel and subsequently won him the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
Chiefs was also made into a TV miniseries that featured Charlton Heston, Keith Carradine and Danny Glover.
Chiefs book description
In the bitter winter of 1920, the first body is found in Delano, Georgia; the naked corpse of an unidentified teenager. There is no direct evidence of murder, but the body bears marks of what seems to be a ritual beating.
The investigation falls to Will Henry Lee, a failed cotton farmer newly appointed as Delano’s first chief of police. Lee’s obsession with the crime begins a story that weaves through the decades, following the life of a small southern town and the role of three police chiefs in unraveling the crime.
Chiefs is the best kind of thriller, where the investigation plays out against the drama beneath the surface of a seemingly placid community, seething with the pressures of race, love, hate, and; always; political power, extending from the town fathers all the way to Washington, DC.
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