MISSISSIPPI MUD : Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia

Rating:
Summary: Dixie, dirt and a determined daughter.
Review: "Mississippi Mud" is, as author Edward Humes's introductory words explain, the name of that particular kind of poker where the cards themselves become irrelevant and the only thing that really counts is the ability to bluff and betray. It is also the name of a sweet, rich pie made from chocolate, eggs, sugar, vanilla and corn syrup (and according to some recipes, vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream). In this book, "Mississippi Mud" is Humes's term of reference for the loosely organized group of people otherwise known as the "Dixie Mafia," whose members not so long ago used to leave traces of their unsavory plots all over the "Old South," from Louisiana to Texas and beyond. And one day in September 1987, their activities hit home in the Gulf Coast resort city of Biloxi, Mississippi.

Not that this should necessarily have come as a complete surprise, you will say, if you've heard the gossip about the city's one-time notoriety, if you know some of the historic facts that have contributed to those rumors (such as early 18th century con artist John Law's get-rich-quick scheme which crushed the hopes of thousands of European settlers, or the exploits of James Copeland, arguably the "Dixie Mafia"'s 19th century forefather), or if you have made it all the way through this book's first third to read Humes's account of Biloxi's past. And of course, from New York to Atlantic City, Chicago, Las Vegas, Palermo, Corleone, Moscow, Hong Kong and Macau, there are plenty of cities large and small all over the world that have at one time or another seen their share of mafia, mob and triad activity; and gambling, illegal liquor and sex schemes often, although not necessarily, have something to do with it. More than once, those who have made it their business to rake out the mud get bogged down by it and die, instead of bringing the perpetrators to justice thus adding to the list of casualties in the seemingly never ending war against organized crime. And all too often the culprits get away with murder: literally so.

Well, not here, however, and that is the difference in this story - or one of them, anyway. Granted, the "Dixie Mafia" may not have been as intricately organized as the Chinese triads, any of their Italian and Russian counterparts or the organizations run by the likes of Al Capone, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano and John Gotti; but Humes's account of a city government and a police force partly unwilling and partly too incompetent to mount a proper investigation into the murder of an outspoken critic of official corruption and of her husband, a prominent judge, sounds eerily familiar; and so does the involvement of a contender for public office with a group of notorious criminals running a scam out of a supposedly high security prison, with little to no interference from prison officials, and with a shadowy organizer pulling his strings in the background. The odds of successfully pitting a sole determined woman - the victims' eldest daughter - and her dogged investigator against the combined forces of political clout, an endless supply of seedy money, utter ruthlessness and sheer police incompetence were slim to none. Yet, Lynne Sposito persevered, and after ten years, finally got justice for her murdered parents.

Edward Humes tells the story of Sposito's quest with a journalist's detachment; in a chilling matter-of-fact style and with an excellent eye for detail. He does not fall into the trap of glorifying the victims; both Vincent and Margaret Sherry were far from perfect, and the reader learns about their flaws and personal pitfalls as well as their strengths and, in particular, Margaret Sherry's undying commitment to rooting out corruption in Biloxi. Nor does Humes unduly vilify those involved in the conspiracy (although given their colorful personal and criminal histories and their various roles in the conspiracy to kill the Sherrys, any further vilification would have been unnecessary anyway and would actually have taken away a lot of the narrative's effectiveness). Equally unsettling as "In Cold Blood," to this day the benchmark of all true crime literature, although less literary in its description than Truman Capote's account or, for that matter, John Behrendt's famous "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," Humes's "Mississippi Mud" unravels the web of corruption and crime in which much (although undoubtedly not all) of Biloxi's society once used to be caught. And although the consequences of the events related here won't be as terminal for any of the conspirators as they are for Lynne Sposito and her parents, Mrs. Sposito can now at last, as Humes quotes her at the end of the book's paperback edition (which updates the narrative's conclusion vis-a-vis the earlier hardcover version), "get a good night's sleep" again - thus eerily echoing the sentiment expressed in Eliot Ness's (Kevin Costner's) final comment in Brian de Palma's "The Untouchables," who, when asked by a reporter what he will do after prohibition has been lifted, drily responds: "I'm going to have a drink."

Rating:
Summary: A whole lotta sewerage
Review: After an Oprah-esque beginning focusing on the bereaved family, this is one of the best "true-crime" books that I've read - although the exposed failures of "the system" are truly frustrating.

On September 14, 1987, someone brutally murdered mayor-wannabe Margaret Sherry and her husband, Vincent the Judge, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Through intention, incompetence, obstruction, or neglect, there were investigative blunders. But the persistence of the Sherry's daughter, Lynne Sposito, eventually focused suspicion on Judge Sherry's former law partner and mayor-wannabe Peter Halat, and a cabal of convicts over in Louisiana s Angola prison.

Author Ed Humes steers this saga well - churning through the moral murkiness of Biloxi and far throughout the South - touching such folks as Senator Robert S. Kerr; Jim Garrsion; the Sherriff who walked tall - Buford Pusser; and the Bishop of Biloxi - who tried to intercede on behalf of one of those convicted in this mess.

Reviewers have likened this story to a John Grisham novel. This is not a "Grisham-like" tale. Seems to me like this is a true tale from which Grisham created fiction. The scam at the fetid heart of the 1987 Sherry murder conspiracy, the "lonely hearts" bilking and extortion from gay men, is real similar to the scam in the center of Mississippi-native Grisham's later novel, "The Brethren."

Usually in fiction, the Good Guys "get their man" or woman, or gang of bad folk. The Hardcover edition of Mississippi Mud is stuck with the "ending" that is no end. Why? Maybe because "Pete Halat had his supporters - a majority of voters had elected him mayor, after all. And apart from questions of his guilt or innocence, there was Biloxi's long history of wearing moral blinders. While shopping one day, a businesswoman she had known for years asked Lynne why she insisted on stirring up trouble, causing investigations and trials that hurt Biloxi's image. 'It's sewerage, honey, I know, but it's our sewerage,' the woman complained. 'If we want to swim in it, y'all ought to let us.'" (page 313-314)

Hume's book illuminates the cesspool. (Stay tuned for Updates contained in the Paperback.)

Rating:
Summary: Great and Truthful Book
Review: At the time I first read Hume's Mississippi Mud I worked in downtown Biloxi, and I found the book so powerfully evocative that each time I passed City Hall I caught myself shuddering.

Superior to the more famous MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL, Humes' MISSISSIPPI MUD paints a portrait of an infamous lonelyhearts scam being run out of notorious Angola prison by a member of Mississippi's good-old-boy crime ring--a scam that ultimately involves a sitting Judge, Vincent Sherry, his mayorial candidate wife, Magaret, and a law partner who has political aspirations of his own, Pete Halat. And the involvement quickly spirals into a double murder that would haunt the city and the entire region for years to come.

The story is extremely convoluted, but Humes tells it with disturbing clarity and in the process captures the atmosphere of a city with a long history of political corruption and social hypocrisy, where strip joints and churches and slums and great mansions co-exist cheek-to-cheek. In some respects the book does a disservice to the respectable citizens of the city, tarring them with the same brush as it does the criminal element, but there is no denying the power of this pitch-black story of life and death on the Biloxi strip, and Humes' book accurately follows the news updates on the case as they so slowly unfolded on the Mississippi gulf coast, as well as drawing material from those most intimately involved in the investigation. In the same league as Capote's IN COLD BLOOD and Alexander's NUTCRACKER, those who read Hume's MISSISSIPPI MUD will find themselves in for a well-documented, increasingly disturbing, chilling, and fascinating time.

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Nonfiction Writer You've Never Read!
Review: Edward Humes ranks with Joan Didion, John McPhee and Tracy Kidder as one of the finest nonfiction writers in America today, with a distinctive literary style and a knack for finding the stories -- and the subtle truths behind them - that the rest of us miss. Humes' books deserve a much wider audience than they have received; MISSISSIPPI MUD stands out as the true-crime masterpiece of the 1990s, a probingly researched page-turner about corruption, betrayal and one woman's quest to avenge her parents' murder. I can think of no other book that so evocatively -- and accurately -- portrays the soul, the heart, and the evil within a community as Humes does with Biloxi, MS, and its villainous mayor, conscienceless crime lords and citizenry content to look the other way. MISSISSIPPI MUD compares favorable to Ann Rule's "The Stanger Beside Me," Jack Olsen's "Doc," and, for that matter, the nonfiction of Wambaugh, Mailer, Capote and Wolfe. MUD is fascinating, compulsively readable and -- as anyone can tell from the author's thorough sourcing and journalist integrity (all too lacking in other works of "true crime" -- absolutely accurate. That he has touched a raw nerve among the friends of corruption, crime and the status quo is obvious from some of the reader comments that continue to emanate from Biloxi years after the book came out. Let them rant! Maybe the controversy will bring Humes and MISSISSIPPI MUD the readers it deserves!

Rating:
Summary: True crime that reads like fiction!
Review: I agree completely with "a reader from NJ"--the Sherrys apparently were not nice people, and they crossed the wrong people time after time after time with no thought of consequences. Mr. Humes is an excellent writer, and he certainly researched this book well.

The Kirksey Nix blackmail caper was borrowed by John Grisham in "The Brethren"!

Rating:
Summary: True crime that reads like fiction!
Review: I agree completely with "a reader from NJ"--the Sherrys apparently were not nice people, and they crossed the wrong people time after time after time with no thought of consequences. Mr. Humes is an excellent writer, and he certainly researched this book well.

The Kirksey Nix blackmail caper was borrowed by John Grisham in "The Brethren"!

Rating:
Summary: Victims not sympathetic in this story
Review: I normally don't read true crime books, so I initially hesitated about reading this one. I am so glad I ended up reading this! The author does an amazing job of bringing the different stories of the different people together. You really feel for Lynne Sposito as she tries to find out who murdered her parents, and why. It's amazing how many people were involved with the crime, whether actually participating, or being involved with the coverup.
You will never look at police investigations the same way again after reading this book.
A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating page turner
Review: This book is absolutely mesmerizing and Edward Humes is indeed one of the best authors I had never read up until now. I picked up this book after seeing the "City Confidential" TV show. The TV show had to cram an incredibly complex case into a one-hour program, so it was necessarily shallow. This book takes that complexity and weaves into a very readable, engrossing mystery.

The book's main flaw is that it ends too early. Readers will have to find out how the story really "ends" by doing some Internet searching (www.edwardhumes.com has some good info).

Here's hoping for a new edition that will fill in the details from the last 10 years.

Rating:
Summary: How Things Work
Review: This story takes place in Mary Higgins Clarke's social territory. Quite-comfortable, right-wing Catholic judge and his moral-activist wife are the victims of a contract killing. Their still-more-comfortable Catholic daughter fights over five years to undertstand the crime and have the authors face their just rewards.

But those are almost the book's only links to Clarke. Mississippi Mud is a painstaking report on a double murder in Biloxi, MI, that occurred in September, 1987, and the ensuing investigations and trials, leading to conspiracy sentences in March, 1992, and more conspiracy convictions in September, 1997 (covered in a postscript for this edition). There are 43 pages of source notes (all primary: interviews or court records) and 8 pages of photographs on good paper, but no index, a real lack. The author follows the daughter, Lynne Sposito, through all those years, and tries to hew to her point of view. (She moves much to the right.)

The book is divided into nearly equal parts by the revelation of the names of the sponsor of the killings and of the trigger man, by a new-found enemy of the sponsor. (He's right about the sponsor, wrong about the trigger man, and none of his testimony is worth bringing to court - as will often occur in the story.) The first part is true Biloxi Mud (in fact, the Church later comes out in support of the killers). By the time we get to the revelation, it's clear that in that neck of woods a judgeship is not what Clarke would think. The second part is what one might call a DA-procedural. I found both parts fascinating in their separate way, and the second especially instructive.

The contract killing was far too clean to yield a lead within the 48 hours in which most murders are basically solved, if they are to be solved at all. Practically everything that occurs during the five years following depends on Lynne Sposito's tireless and skilfull efforts. The central revelation is due to a private investigator she hired, and it would have zilch results if she did not bring in a local TV station to broadcast it. This puts the file on the DA's desk but, as the second part shows, it would not go much further without true devotion on Lynne's part and on the part of a lone FBI agent, past his retirement. Not for evil reasons: it is simply a very iffy case to bring to court. In the end, we still don't know the real motive for the crime, and there is one big thread left hanging, unnoticed by Humes, which could lead to an entire new layer of involvement.

One part of the story is amazing in itself. The sponsor is the son of another judge (still richer), who practically set his son up in crime. (From early youth the his aim in life was to be an outlaw.) Twenty years or so before the murders, he was sentenced to life without parole at hard labor in the nation's most isolated prison camp, Angola. Yet he found the way to set up and run a gay lonely-hearts scam that brought in millions (a small part of which went to pay for the murders). How? You'll have to read the book.

There is one unfortunate Mary Higgins Clarke aspect to this book and most of those like it. Clarke, like the writers of TV serials, invents feelings and inner thoughts for her heroines that are expected, reasonable and conventional the way inner life never is. Whether in soaps or in Clarke novels, this is effective because it supplies a nearly-blank screen on which the reader can project her own feelings and needs, and thus empathize with the fictional heroine. This should not occur in painstaking reports of true stories, but it does. Where it occurs in Mississippi Mud, it gives the book an undeserved veneer of unreality. "Just the facts, Humes."

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable.
Review: You just can't make this stuff up. Simply put, you've got to read it to believe it. Excellent book.