“Goat Castle” is much more than a highly entertaining historical true crime novel. It is also a “warts and all” window into the “Old South” of America post-civil war. Karen Cox illustrates throughout the book how despite emancipation for African-Americans occurring decades earlier, just how far away from freedom and justice they actually were with ultimately the only two people convicted for the crime being African-Americans.

“Goat Castle” gives the reader an insight into the workings of the police force and justice system and richly details the lives of those directly involved in the crime. This book brilliantly recreates the time in which a terrible crime took place, often overshadowed by the post-depression public’s appetite for antebellum Natchez, Mississippi.

I enjoyed this true crime book enormously. It is well written and excellently researched and shows the fallibility of the justice system for African-Americans that unfortunately continues to this day.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
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Extremely, in fact annoyingly so repetitive. One gets the impression she repeats herself so much as filler. Content was good, writing was superfluous. Well researched but also perplexing. ( )

Anyone who has a fascination with the history of the deep South, Jim Crow South, and class relations will certainly welcome the well-researched Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race, and the Gothic South. The historical detail surrounding the families of influence, the city of Natchez and the Civil War era sets the stage dramatically for this true crime story. Immediately, the reader is immersed in a time where they can “feel” the tension between the central figures and the pains of the vile ways POC were treated.

Karen L.Cox does spend a lot of time providing in-depth backgrounds of our main figures and their families, which can feel a bit drawn at times, out but I can appreciate how this may be necessary in order to capture the essence and attitude of how class (and race) plays a significant part in the actions, response and those unanswered concerns in this story. For instance, Jennie Merrill was a woman with a very affluent background and saw herself as such. A woman like Octavia Dockery was below her in class and Jennie Merrill had no use in speaking with her, thus having servants or the sheriff to deal with her disputes – and disputes she had! In her Merrill’s own words, “I have never spoken to Miss Dockery in my life,” probing the question – Why were the fingerprints of the strange couple Octavia Dockery and Dick Dana’s in the Merrill home at the time of her death when she loathed them so much? If Jennie Merrill had no use in speaking with Octavia Dockery, she certainly would not invite the couple into her home for tea. So, why were they there?

When Jennie Merrill ends up murdered, someone must be held accountable. This being the Jim Crow South and Jennie Merrill being a white woman, it’s no surprise that the crime and punishment is handed to a black person(s). George Pearls had no chance to defend himself or share his whole truth, being shot and killed by a police officer before he could ever go to trial for the Merrill murder. Emily Burns, however, did live with 8 years in jail for a murder that she did not commit – once again, showcasing the injustices of the South towards black women and men. It wouldn’t have gone any other way.

This fascinating book is necessary and fair – giving a voice to the truth. The historical detail, along with the many photographs throughout, went a long way for this reader!

Thank you to NetGalley and University of North Carolina Press for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review. ( )

Two white ladies, both remnants of the white enslaver lifestyle who grew up after the Civil War but in a society that wished it didn't happen, have a feud; one of them squats/lives in a decrepit house with the mentally incapacitated man for whom she cares. One night, with the involvement of a black man who's returned to town from Chicago and the black woman he was courting, the other white lady is killed and her house robbed. Then the black man was killed, and then the black woman--who doesn't seem to have known the plan--is sent to jail for murder (the fact that she isn't lynched or executed seems to suggest that the whites knew she wasn't really guilty; they were content to send her to a horrific penal facility). Then the other white lady and her companion become famous for how decrepit their house was--goats wander through it, among other things. It was a delightful scandal, even a tourist attraction, in Depression-era America. A relatively slight story overall, but a lot of local color. ( )

This book has a great deal of wonderful information but is somewhat loosely put together, jumping back and forth in time a bit. I found the characters to be rather flat though they clearly were people of great interest in the time of the crime, especially those characters of color. The facts appear to be very well researched, just not entertainingly presented. I was also put off by the use of the term "the Jim Crow South" so frequently, as if somehow we as readers would forget that this was the time period being represented.....one or two mentions would have been more effective. This being said, there is something of interest here to be sure and I'm certain that the events caused quite a scandal at the time! ( )