BookBrowse Reviews Holy City by Henry Wise

Having returned home to Euphoria County, Virginia, after a decade in the "Holy City," aka Richmond, Will Seems is the new deputy sheriff when a shocking murder implicates the father of a friend. In his debut novel, Holy City, Henry Wise goes beyond formulaic mystery tropes to deliver a satisfying—and deeply dark—story of faith, forgiveness, and redemption.

Growing up in Virginia's rural Southside region, Will, who is white, was close to many in the area's Black community, including his friend Sam Hathom. After the death of his mother, Will left the tobacco fields and razed forests of Southside to forget; but after ten years in the Holy City, he is done with forgetting and wants to pay back a debt he owes to Sam, who once took a beating that nearly killed him when he stood up to a ring of bullies at the creek where the two boys often swam. While saving Will, this ...