This is a puzzling book to review! I definitely want to read more of Ace Collins’ books after finishing The Color of Justice about a half hour ago. The author kept my attention and I enjoyed the characters although they were a wee bit stereotyped. It is a story set in a small town, Justice, Mississippi, mostly in 1964. I can remember that time period very well and I think that he captured the feelings of the times very well. The town was divided into black and white. I grew up in the North but I remember going to a school for whites and I later discovered that there was also a school for blacks. It brought back memories for me. I am glad that Ace Collins knew how to trigger those memories.

The lawyer in this tale Coop Lindsey, had to go through some uncomfortable soul searching before he decided to take on defending a young black teenager who had been charged with murder of a young white woman in town. I liked the way the author tied Coop’s upbringing by his preacher father to his decision to risk being hated by the town’s white population. This book had a “movie” quality to it and it was easy for me to imagine Kevin Costner playing Coop Lindsey.

I love the character of Hattie, although also stereotyped, the boy’s aunt who pleads for his chance to have fair trial. I think I felt at home with these people and recognized good qualities of my old relatives in them. But the town’s name of Justice seemed to be a little too much when a major theme in this book is in fact Justice!

Also, I did not like how things fit together a little too neatly at the end. But on the whole, I enjoyed this book and think the author might have been better off in not tying up all the ends. That would be more like life, having some secrets that never are discovered but effect the character’s peace of mind.

I received this Advanced Reading Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling. ( )

The Color of Justice is By The Book’s February selection, and preliminary polls indicate this one will get two thumbs up! Ace Collins has long been a favorite of mine. He writes thought-provoking fiction that is no less entertaining. And his latest novel is my favorite by far.

Justice, Mississippi in 1964 is a segregated small town where blacks and whites know their place. When a horrible murder disturbs the peace, the ugliness that is exposed is not just the crime. A young black man is accused and the controlling white population is ready to try, convict and mete out justice even before a trial takes place. But Cooper “Coop” Lindsey confronts his own prejudices and the words of his minister father and takes on the highly controversial case. What results is a page-turning, legal suspense novel that explores more than the legal and cultural atmosphere of the South in the 60s. It causes the reader to examine what he truly believes and is willing to live out.

The Color of Justice is two stories in one. The majority of the action takes place during the summer of 1964. Collins has masterfully brought the life and times of that volatile period of the South into clear perspective. No punches are pulled in its description of the reality of life for both blacks and whites during that era. The fear of speaking out and standing for what is right is palatable as is the hate hidden from direct view, but real all the same. I came to love and care about the characters in this novel and literally gasped when that story concluded. Coop’s grandson returns to Justice in 2014 to get the answers he needs and ends up in the middle of a mystery and court case of his own. Long buried secrets are exposed and provide the characters and the reader the closure they need. A strong message of faith is threaded throughout the book, and I loved how Collins used Coop’s minister father’s message of the Good Samaritan to influence his son long after his death.

The Color of Justice is certainly going to be on my Best of The Best list this year. Great for book club discussions, I highly recommend it.

Highly Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

Audience: older teens to adults. ( )

A special thank you to Abingdon Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

THE COLOR OF JUSTICE by Ace Collins is a riveting, page-turner, and complex story of racial injustice and a small southern town full of dark secrets. Set in 1964, in Justice, Mississippi, where black and whites live separately, and the lines are seldom crossed.

Coop is an attorney with his own small firm, taking over from his dad’s practice, where he now resides with his wife Judy, and children. Three months of living with his wife Judy and children, in the sleepy community where five generations of his family had called home had proven two things to the lanky, dark-haired man. The first was something he liked: Justice was the same quaint town he remember from his youth and also the thing he hated with their narrow minds and thinking.

Since he opened his office not one black person had knocked on his door, until Hattie Ross walks in. She was a former maid for Coop’s dad and family and asks him to defend her grandson, Calvin, accused of murdering Becky (a white girl from a powerful family).

When Coop takes the case, his entire world changes and his wife, and family are threatened and all their lives are at risk. Someone has set up Calvin, and Coop takes it upon himself to find the answers, and the real killer, no matter what. When he finally wins the case; however, they both go missing, after the trial, never to be found again.

I was immediately hooked from page one, as Ace Collins grabs the reader and never let’s go until the ending. The lovable characters were so warm and realistic and I would have been satisfied with the book ending when the trial ended in 1964, as I was so rooting for Coop and Calvin. (I loved this part, as was so engrossed, had forgotten there was a second part, and wanted to cry, as loved these two characters).

After the trial, the book advances to 2014, where Coop’s grandson returns to the small town, also an attorney, and this time the roles are reversed. Almost 50 years later, he opens his own practice, at the same office. His first case is just as controversial as the one that ended his grandfather’s life.

This time the victim is African American and the suspect is white. Things have changed for the better in 2014; however, some are stuck back in the sixties, and racial tension is still high even some fifty years later, but Clark is as driven as his grandfather and will not stop until he uncovers his grandfather’s killer, peeling back the layers and the secrets.

The last part of the book is fast paced, revealing clues from the 1964 case relevant to the case in 2014. Some things are not as they seem, and the question – how far will the killer go for revenge. From power, money, revenge, lies, secrets, murder, and racial injustice – it has it all. I happen to grow up in this era in the south, and so loved the mentions of the sixties music, like Rick Nelson, cars, and the styles rang familiar and readers from this time will relate.

Wow, I loved everything about this book! THE COLOR OF JUSTICE, is the kind of book you want to savor and do not want it to end. The front cover is so intriguing, drawing you into this world of controversial issues between races, with all its injustice.

With twists and turns you will not see coming for an engrossing and satisfying suspense thriller, THE COLOR OF JUSTICE is a story you will not soon forget, and characters which will live on making you smile long after the book ends.

Am so delighted with this book and author, cannot wait to dive into his previous books. Don’t you love discovering a new-found author? We can only hope for a sequel!

Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
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