An affair of honor

by Richard Marius

"At the center: Charles Alexander, twenty, groomed from birth by his mother to be a Baptist minister, teetering on the edge of his faith. In his last year of college, working late one night at the newspaper office, he accidentally witnesses the murders. The killer is Hope Kirby, World War II hero, member of a large mountain clan of farmers, who has discovered his wife's infidelity. Although Kirby's code of honor requires that he exact vengeance, it won't allow him to kill an innocent bystander, and Charles goes free, promising not to tell what he's seen.". "But Charles does tell, and we watch, fascinated, as a trial, an appeal, and a new terror unleashed on the countryside draw the entire country into the action. Among the people most closely involved: the skillful, overweight, hard-drinking lawyer for the defense; two Baptist preachers - one liberal, one a strict constructionist - each with a secret to hide; a lady banker determinedly headed for trouble; a big-hearted good-old-boy she