When her husband leaves her for a younger woman, Rose Franklin buys a camper and sets off-away from her heartache and anger. She finds herself spending a couple of days in Shady Grove, a camp site along the Mississippi River in West Memphis, Arkansas. While there, a respected and well-liked man in the community seems to commit suicide for no apparent reason. Could it somehow be connected to the ancient slave burial ground that he was researching? As Rose comes to know the characters of this small community she begins to unravel the mystery of why a man loses his faith and the consequences of his loss.
"In Down by the Riverside Jackie Lynn's lyrical prose creates a richly diverse cast of characters brought by fate or chance to the Shady Grove Campground on the banks of the timeless Mississippi River (almost a character in itself). Lynn's writing touches the everyday with a golden glow, turning the simplest moments into profound truths. Love, death, healing, redemption, and the deep transcendent connections that can grow between strangers are at the heart of this gentle mystery."
Vicki Lane, author of Signs in the Blood
"Down By The Riverside is a lyrical mystery that rolls along much like the great Mississippi River it portrays. Sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce, always the currents below the surface hide far more than they reveal. With beautifully crafted prose, Jackie Lynn weaves a tale of outcasts living along a riverbank, who while seeking the truth about a drowning, ultimately find both love and redemption. It's a novel that lingers; I found myself not only wondering further about the characters, but also thinking how nice it would be to plan a trip to Memphis and visit that fabled river."
