From the start of his novel The Kingdoms of Savannah, it's clear that George Dawes Green hails from Georgia. Whether depicting the humble starlight of a wooded homeless camp or the "soft crush of oyster shells" lining Turner's Rock — one of Savannah's most luxurious neighborhoods — Green's words transport you in a way only those of someone familiar with this place could.

The Kingdoms of Savannah, which is set in the titular historical city in contemporary times, revolves around the sudden disappearance of archaeologist Matilda Stone, a Black woman also known as "Stony." Matilda was the last to see Luke Kitchens — a young white man with bipolar disorder — alive before he was found burned in a locked room of an abandoned home. The home is owned by a white man named Archie Guzman, a much-loathed real estate mogul who has connections to both Luke and Stony that no ...