When she was nine years old and anxious to be one of the boys, Billie Warren tormented Crazy Sadie Byrd. Forty years later, now Stanton City Police Chief, Billie still regrets that day, but never did she think that she would see Sadie again. Sadie had left town with her husband not long after the incident, but what Billie never knew is that Sadie had witnessed a terrible crime not long before, a murder of which Sadie was accused later of. In spite of a warrant for her arrest, Sadie comes back to Stanton and asks to speak with Police Chief Warren. Billie is beside herself with pent-up guilt, but Sadie needs to confess. She did nothing wrong, but she is convinced she knows who killed little Caroline Norris: retired Judge Harold Norris, who is second to God in the eyes of the locals, and whose son the Governor is up for re-election. Who would believe Crazy Sadie? It turns out, maybe Billie will...

ECHOES OF MERCY is a novel in the grand tradition of Southern storytelling: complex characters dealing with complicated family relationships. Billie Warren is an unconventional heroine in that she is 49 years old, and lives with her daughter and grandson, while her beloved mother is in the last stages of Alzheimer's; Billie is understandably overwhelmed, and the sudden reappearance of Sadie seems like the last thing she wants, but Sadie is so genuine and helpful, that Billie agrees to listen to her, which has unforeseen consequences for Billie, and her whole family.

ECHOES OF MERCY is not a traditional mystery, but an examination of political corruption, cover-ups of unspeakable crimes, atonement and revenge. The pace is relaxed and in tune with the hot weather of South Carolina, and the author's lush descriptions of the scenery, along with the nearly audible twang of the dialogues contribute to a feeling of authenticity throughout. Ms. Boykin possesses incredibly flawless timing and all of a sudden, when it seems that everything in Billie's life is all coming together, that loose ends are being neatly tied up with a pretty bow, cow dung hits the fan and the speed picks up very quickly, enough to make your head spin, as a totally unexpected plot twist, albeit entirely consistent with the story's events, and completely shifts the perspective of everything that had seemingly happened. Sit back and let Kim Boykin take you for a spin in this unusual and satisfying tale told in every imaginable shade of grey, where black and white are nowhere to be found.

Book Summary

How can you make up for something that you did as a kid that was both so stupid and so terrible, forty years later it still follows you like a pack of lost dogs? For Billie Warren, it means piling up more and more responsibilities, doing good for the community as the police chief of her Lowcountry hometown. Trying to be the best mother of a teen mom, and daughter to her mom with Alzheimer’s, that she can be.

But Billie’s fragile life is thrown into turmoil when the target of her biggest regret, Crazy Sadie, shows up claiming to have witnessed the only murder in the town's history. Sadie Byrd accuses the nearly dead and sainted Judge Norris of savagely beating his own little girl to death forty years ago. Could Miss Sadie be right? As Billie uncovers the terrible truth of stolen babies and bone-chilling corruption, she will have to risk everything when powerful people are prepared to do anything to keep buried.

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