The Trees

A sharp, unsettling thriller that confronts the enduring legacy of lynching in America. The story begins in Money, Mississippi, where a string of brutal murders shocks the town. When two investigators from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they’re met with hostility from local officials and townspeople who would rather look the other way. But the case becomes even stranger: every crime scene includes a second corpse, a man who looks uncannily like Emmett Till.

What first appears to be revenge soon grows into something far larger, as similar killings begin surfacing across the country. The detectives turn to a local root doctor who has spent years recording the nation’s lynchings, uncovering a buried history that is suddenly—and violently—forcing itself into the present.

Bold, fast-paced, and fiercely pointed, The Trees blends dark humor with chilling suspense to examine racism, justice, and the ghosts America still carries. It’s a powerful, unforgettable novel that refuses to let the reader look away.

Winner of the 2022 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.