Ken Farmer’s “Three Creeks” is delightful. I read all of Ken Farmer’s books cover to cover, usually without the ability to put them down but needing to read them in a single day, and I enjoyed them all. I think that this one is his best. As I read it, I thought it compared very favorably with the excellent books by Mark Twain “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn,” and Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
I enjoyed the language, the wit, the development of the characters, the loving and respectful relationship that the three generations had with one another, grandma’s food, the bond between the eight-year-old white boy Foot Lee and the black boy Hutch, life in 1949 southern Arkansas, the plot, the involvement of a World War I Medal of Honor recipient, and the way the plot advances with humor, twists, and suspense.
Foot Lee, his mother and dad visit southern Arkansas and Foot lee discovers a good friend and adventures he never expected. Three murders of young teen-age girls are discovered and a fourth girl is missing. Foot found the first girl. The sheriff is wounded in a gunfight during a moonshine bust, and Foot’s grandpa, who was a deputy in the past, needs to take over the investigation. Boys are killed during the bust and their father swears revenge. Soon shots are fired at Foot’s dad and granddad.
Who killed the three girls? Where is the missing girl? What attempts will the father continue to take in revenge?
