We have two thrilling stories for you, by two local authors who bring their expertise to the foreground. North and The Senator's Son provide exciting escapes, as senseless crime and the need for justice clash in these unforgettable pages.

NORTH, the debut novel of award-winning playwright and poet Roy Robbins, begins when Hal Parker, a market research executive delivered into therapy by his divorce, returns to his childhood home in northern Florida. He has arrived too late for his mother’s funeral—but early for another. The small rural town of North is in shock over the death of local kingpin Leon Putnam, murdered days earlier.

Claire Austen, a reporter who may or may not be in love with Hal, arrives in town and begins asking questions about the dead man. Claire’s life may be in danger and her relationship with Hall certainly is. A mysterious fire is set. Clues and fragmented recollections are rushing to the fore in North. But so are suspects. The tangled webs of Putnam’s crimes reached everywhere, into politics and law enforcement and even the dangerous local drug trade. Can they be untangled? And is Hal and Claire’s love on the way to becoming another victim?

NORTH is the powerful, beautifully written story of a man’s search for an understanding of his family, his town, and himself—and the truths they avoided. On his journey, he just may help solve a murder.

ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1905, eight- year-old Kenneth Beasley walked to the back of his school’s playground and into the melting snow of the woods beyond. He never returned. A massive search was undertaken for the North Carolina state senator’s son, and a reward was offered. Despite clues, rumors and even a ransom note, he was never found.

A year and a half later, a political rival hurriedly was charged. Accused of the most bizarre and twisted of plots, he faced a courtroom overflowing with jurors, star lawyers, spectators and newspaper reporters. The eventual verdict and stunning aftermath would rip apart two families and shock a state ... yet leave a mystery unsolved.

NOW CHARLES OLDHAM, attorney by trade, has reopened the case. Using modern research methods and his own legal training—while also investigating the state’s political, racial, lynching, and liquor cultures—Oldham has come as close as anyone can to the truth.

The result is an absorbing, must-read story. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, The Senator’s Son is both an important book and a fascinating one.

Roy Robbins grew up in SC, studied theater in NY, and literature at the University of Virginia. He has worked with a playwriting group in Charlottesville, VA and one of his plays won a place in the London Festival of new plays while another one was produced in Providence, Rhode Island. At the Hill Gallery in Richmond he participated in a joint presentation of poems with the landscape paintings of VA artist Lindsay Nolting. A collection of his poetry, “Poster Art Nights”, was published by an indie press in 2015.

For Charles Oldham, The Senator’s Son is his first published book, but it is the product of several lifelong passions. Charles was born and raised in Sanford, North Carolina, the son of a community college professor and a math teacher. His parents instilled in him a natural curiosity, and a love for reading. Early on, Charles had a special interest in history and politics, most especially that of North Carolina, where his family roots go back more than two centuries. He also has a keen eye for mysteries, for searching out the details of a story that needs to be explored. It is a talent that led him to become an attorney.

An Evening with Roy Robbins and Charles Oldham