It's almost a cliché to comment on the meticulous detail of Iles' work, but even when readers expect explanations of everything from alligator-hunting styles to JFK conspiracy theories, they're still impressive. Her symbolic search for the tree/truth makes everyone question their own motives. Reporter Caitlin Masters is convinced that the key to her success lies with an infamous torture-and-killing site, a towering cypress in the Lusahatcha Swamp known as the chain tree or bone tree. Other characters, like Penn's father, Tom Cage, and FBI agent John Kaiser, hunt for their own redemptions.

He wrestles with whether love is more important than justice, and his actions might surprise even the most diehard fans of this series. 'The Bone Tree,' the second volume of a trilogy, picks up after the tumultuous events of 'Natchez Burning.' Mayor Penn Cage pursues the ruthless leader of a KKK offshoot, the Double Eagles, while trying to keep his family safe. Time is running out to achieve some measure of justice.' The latest crime novel by Greg Iles captures that urgency. Russell write, 'Our opportunity to capture their stories - and an important part of our nation's history - is quickly vanishing as memories fade, witnesses die and evidence disappears. In a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times, 'The Cold Cases of the Jim Crow Era,' Margaret A.

How can a book be both timely and historic? If it delves into the countless unsolved murders of African-Americans in the decades preceding the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The bone tree series