The Redemption by C.L. Tolbert | #Showcase #Interview #Giveaway
The Redemption
by C.L. Tolbert
June 1-30, 2021 Tour
Synopsis:
Emma Thornton is back in The Redemption, C.L. Tolbert’s second novel in the Thornton Mystery Series.
When two men are murdered one muggy September night in a New Orleans housing project, an eye witness identifies only one suspect – Louis Bishop- a homeless sixteen-year old. Louis is arrested the next day and thrown into Orleans Parish Prison. Emma Thornton, a law professor and director of the Homeless Law Clinic at St. Stanislaus Law School in the city agrees to represent him.
When they take on the case, Emma and her students discover a tangle of corruption, intrigue, and more violence than they would have thought possible, even in New Orleans. They uncover secrets about the night of the murders, and illegal dealings in the city, and within Louis’s family. As the case progresses, Emma and her family are thrown into a series of life-threating situations. But in the end, Emma gains Louis’s trust, which allows him to reveal his last, and most vital secret.
Book Praise:
“With The Redemption, Cynthia Tolbert delivers another beautifully written and compelling read in her Thornton Mystery series, as law professor Emma Thornton’s fight to save a teen wrongly accused of murder endangers her own life in this gripping tale of corruption and crime in the 1990s Big Easy.”
Ellen Byron, Agatha Award Winning Author
of the Cajun Country Mysteries
Book Details:
Genre: Mystery
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: February 9th 2021
Number of Pages: 286
ISBN: 978-1-947915-43-5
Series:Thornton Mysteries, Book 2 || Each is a Stand Alone Mystery
Purchase Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
CHAPTER ONE
September 9, 1994
8:05 p.m.
Just before dark on the night of his death, Brother Reginald Antoine stepped out of the cottage where he lived. He slammed the door shut to prevent the soggy heat of the late summer evening from invading the front room. Except for occasional river breezes, the New Orleans climate was swamp-like until late October. His exits had become swift and cat-like to avoid escalating power bills and a strain on the house’s only window-unit air conditioner.
He stood on the front porch for a moment, staring at the entrance to the Redemption housing project. All was quiet. No one was in sight.
He was looking forward to the evening. He’d promised to help Alicia Bishop complete forms for a scholarship to Our Lady of Fatima, the top girls’ school in the city. He found himself singing under his breath as he locked the front door.
Most of the kids Brother Antoine worked with never finished school, and he was painfully aware that he’d failed far more than he’d helped. But Alicia’s story would be different. Her graduation would be her family’s first. Clear-headed and determined, much like her Aunt Juanita, the woman who had raised her, she was destined to earn far more than a high school diploma. He believed she was destined for great things.
Brother Antoine surveyed the street familiar to him from childhood. Alicia and her Aunt Juanita lived in an apartment was only a few blocks over, but well within the Redemption housing project. Driving such a short distance would be silly, plus he felt like a little exercise. It was a good evening for a walk, even though no one felt completely safe walking around any neighborhood in the city at night. At least one person had been killed in New Orleans every day that year, so far. Sometimes more. Too many drugs were on the streets. But he didn’t worry about any of that.
He tucked the bundle of papers he’d pulled for the meeting under his arm and headed out. When he was a kid he’d found the Redemption overwhelming – so vast it couldn’t be taken in, visually, from his porch or from any single location. A crowded jumble of russet brick, broken down porches, and peeling army-drab paint, it stretched across the lower garden district from Magazine Street to the Mississippi River. When he was about six he tried to count the buildings, but gave up when he got lost. Everything looked the same to him back then. When he returned to live at the mission house he realized he’d been wrong. Each place was unique. Every apartment, every stoop, every front door was distinct, because everything inside was different. Every place had its own family, its own problems, its own joys. Every place had its own family, its own problems, and joys. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed it until his return.
He passed the community garden planted around the corner from the mission house with its patches of brave sprouts pushing out of the ground. He was proud of that little spot, and equally excited for the people who were involved, especially those few who returned week after week to dig, and prod, and encourage the seedlings to grow. Some of the plants even promised to bear fruit, which was reason enough to celebrate.
As he walked he could smell urine from the street gutters where drunken men or stoned boys had relieved themselves. A recent rain only added a steamy intensity to the mix, creating a cauldron of odors which would vanish only when the next day’s sunlight parched the streets.
The Redemption was teeming with human spirit, poverty, and crime. It was home to many, but with rare exception, no one chose to live there. And everyone who did, even the very young, understood how fragile life could be.
He walked up the steps to Juanita Bishop’s apartment and rapped on the front door.
***
9:00 p.m.
Sam Maureau pulled his car into the Redemption and parked at a curb at the end of Felicity Street. He was alone. Jackson, his partner, couldn’t come. But Sam wasn’t worried. He checked his watch. He was right on time. Things were under control.
He turned off his lights and, except for the murky glow of the half-obscured moon, was surrounded by a blanket of darkness. It took several seconds for his eyes to adjust, but even after he waited, he still strained to see. Most of the streetlights on that block had been shot out, and several apartment windows had been boarded over. He peered in between the last two buildings on the corner for any sign of movement.
Sam kicked aside a beer can as he stepped out of his car. He didn’t expect any trouble that night. Marcus, a dealer who ran the Gangsta B’s, the largest gang in the city, had asked for a meeting to discuss ‘some business’, but they’d never had problems before. Their businesses had always co-existed, side-by-side. Sam had begun selling crack in small quantities ten years earlier, when he was twenty-five, and had remained one of the smaller distributers in the city. He figured that Marcus, who was younger by at least ten years, either wanted to bring him and his territory into the Gangsta B’s, or he wanted to buy him out. He didn’t see the need to change anything right now, unless the price was right. He was making pretty good money. His clients were happy with him. But he didn’t mind talking with Marcus.
Sam patted his jacket pocket. The gun was still there. It never hurt to be careful. He locked his car, checking to make certain nothing was in the back seat. Marcus had asked him to meet around the corner.
Sam made his way across the grassy common area, dodging the few mud puddles he could see reflected in the wan moonlight, to an old iron bench across from Marcus’s grandmother’s apartment where they had met once before. He sat down to wait. The bench hadn’t quite cooled from the daytime heat. The faint breeze from the river ruffled what scant remnants remained of his once luxurious surfer-boy hair and sent greasy paper bags, discarded whiskey bottles, and random debris scurrying across the sidewalk. He absent-mindedly patted his bald spot to make certain it was covered.
He couldn’t see them, but their chatter floated over to his bench. Even though the words were indecipherable, Sam heard three distinct voices. Then he heard Marcus speak.
“Go get Louis.”
Out of habit, Sam felt his jacket pocket again, reassuring himself that his piece was still there. Marcus and one other young man came into view. Sam nodded as they approached.
Marcus was a commanding presence. Tall, and athletic, intricate tattoos of black ink woe across his dark skin, tracing his biceps, and emphasizing his ropy, muscular arms and powerful shoulders. His long hair, pulled back into a pony-tail, flowed down his back. No one questioned his authority.
“We’re gonna wait a minute for Louis,” Marcus pulled out a cigarette from his back pocket and lit it, blowing billowy clouds into the night air.
“Yeah, sure. But what’s this all about?” Marcus ignored Sam’s question and pulled hungrily on his cigarette, blowing smoke rings, refusing to make eye contact with Sam.
Several minutes later a tall young man and a boy who couldn’t have been over sixteen joined them.
“You and your people gotta go. You’re right in the middle of my territory. I’m claiming it, and I’m taking it – now. Ain’t nothing you can do about it.” Marcus threw down his cigarette and stomped it into the grass.
Sam stood up to face Marcus. “Fuck you, Marcus. You don’t need my three blocks. I’ve had it for years, and its outside your territory anyway. You can’t just take it.” Sam clenched the fist of his left hand and shoved his right hand in his jacket pocket where the gun was hidden.
“That’s where you’re wrong, mother fucker.” Marcus grabbed another cigarette and rammed it three times against the pack. “I got business coming to me from uptown all the time now. It’s time for you to give it up.” Marcus nodded to the three boys, who formed a circle around Sam and Marcus.
“No way, bro’!” Sam’s hand instinctively tightened around the gun.
Surrounded by the group of young men, Sam saw an opening, turned, and simultaneously pulled the gun from his jacket. As he stepped toward his escape, he saw something moving along the sidewalk next to the street. It appeared to be a man dressed in dark clothes, but it was impossible to be certain. Sam heard one shot, and felt it whizz by him. The distant figure dropped. Sam twisted around, and aimed his weapon toward the sound of the gun fire. Then he heard another shot.
Feeling something hot in his chest, he crumbled to the ground. The last thing he saw was the young kid, the one they called Louis, running toward the river.
***
Brother Antoine said good night to Alicia on the front porch of her aunt’s apartment and started his walk back home. He was feeling good, lighthearted. He and Alicia had completed her application and she had nearly finished her essay. He was certain she was a shoo-in for the scholarship. He’d only traveled a few feet down the sidewalk when he saw a group of men and a few boys gathered together in the grassy area next to one of the buildings. The cloud-covered moon offered enough reflection to allow him to make out the scant silhouette of the tallest member of the group. There was no doubt. His swagger and perpetual cigarette were unmistakable. Marcus Bishop. They had to be up to no good.
Brother Antoine followed the curve of the sidewalk, which brought him a little closer to the group. He noticed there was movement, perhaps a scuffle. He heard a shot, then felt a searing pain in his chest. He placed his hand on his shirt where he felt dampness, and, struggling to breathe, fell to the ground. He grabbed the scapular around his neck, praying, as he lay there, someone would come administer the last rites.
***
Excerpt from The Redemption by Cynthia Tolbert. Copyright 2021 by Cynthia Tolbert. Reproduced with permission from Cynthia Tolbert. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
In 2010, Cynthia Tolbert won the Georgia Bar Journal’s fiction contest for the short story version of OUT FROM SILENCE. Cynthia developed that story into the first full-length novel of the Thornton Mystery Series by the same name, which was published by Level Best Books in December of 2019. Her second book in this same series, entitled THE REDEMPTION, was released in February of 2021.
Cynthia has a Master’s in Special Education and taught children with learning disabilities for ten years before moving on to law school. She spent most of her legal career working as defense counsel to large corporations and traveled throughout the country as regional and national counsel. She also had the unique opportunity of teaching third-year law students in a clinical program at a law school in New Orleans where she ran the Homeless Law Clinic and learned, first hand, about poverty in that city. She retired after more than thirty years of practicing law. The experiences and impressions she has collected from the past forty years contribute to the stories she writes today. Cynthia has four children, and three grandchildren, and lives in Atlanta with her husband and schnauzer.
Q&A with C.L. Tolbert
What was the inspiration for this book?
In 1995 I met a fifteen-year-old boy who had been charged with the murder of a man in a housing project in New Orleans. Even though he was a juvenile, he was in the adult prison system because of a statute which required that all juveniles be tried as adults for certain crimes of violence. The DA had already mentioned the death penalty as a possibility for the juvenile, which was permissible then. I was teaching at a law school, and took the case through the law school’s clinic.
I’ll never forget the look in the young man’s eyes when I met him. I wasn’t certain if he fully comprehended the seriousness of his circumstances, but one of his knees shook up and down like a piston. He was terrified, and refused to speak of the night of the murder.
I was haunted by his case, which inspired The Redemption. In the actual case, the young man protected his brother, who was the head of a gang, and went to prison for him. I changed the story to show how the young man could have turned that same loyalty and courage around to help save himself.
What has been the biggest challenge in your writing career?
Without question, the biggest challenge in my writing career has been marketing. I enjoy writing, and would love to spend all of my time engaged in the development of the next move in my plot or a particular nuance of a character. But I read recently that writers should spend fifty percent of their time writing, and the other fifty percent marketing. Self-promotion is not easy for me. Plus, my social media skills aren’t exactly stellar. My goal for the coming year is to at least remember to use hash tags on my posts, and to up my marketing time to the required fifty percent!
What do you absolutely need while writing?
I prefer silence while I’m writing. I also need a computer, my computer glasses, and about five to six hours of sleep.
Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?
I write every day, unless there is a conflict. Writing very early in the morning works best, until the day kicks in and I need to complete a few chores. Then, after my morning chores, I’ll start again, if the day permits, and write from about 1:00 to 5:00.
Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
Other than Emma Thornton, my favorite character in all of the Thornton Mysteries, my favorite character in The Redemption was Juanita Bishop.
Juanita was the owner of her own business, “A Cut Above” hair salon. She devoted herself to raising her niece, Alicia, helped out other family members, including her nephew Louis, and saved her money for her own home – all with the same fierce love. She wasn’t afraid of anyone, not off duty police officers who harassed her for protection money, or thugs who threatened her family. She was tough, principled, but kind. She never failed to give everything she had to the people she loved. Plus, she looked and dressed like an Egyptian queen.
Tell us why we should read your book.
The Redemption is, as its name implies, a mystery that also offers a story of healing and hope, and a glimpse into the characters’ humanity. The story is told through the eyes of Emma Thornton, a stressed-out, working-mom attorney, whose impulsive tendencies cause trouble. But what makes the book even more unique is the element of social justice which runs through the story line. I wanted to show the reader how easy it is to manipulate a sixteen-year-old. This vulnerability is what caused Louis Bishop’s arrest and incarceration, and eventually, since, in 1996 the death penalty was constitutionally viable for juveniles, it is what made him susceptible to this country’s most extreme punishment. Emma quickly realizes that she must gain Louis’s trust to help him, which proves more difficult than tracking down the actual murderer.
Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?
I lived in New Orleans during the time period of The Redemption. I enjoyed revisiting the city in my imagination as I wrote. I had planned on flying down to New Orleans to verify street names and locations, but the pandemic shut down travel, and I wasn’t able to do in-person research. I was comfortable with all of my descriptions in the book but one. I had never walked on the wharf at the end of Felicity and Tchoupitoulas Street, and wasn’t certain how and with what materials the dock was constructed.
I decided to try Google Maps Street View to find the streets and the wharf. It was surprisingly easy. I located Felicity Street, which I virtually “walked” down, much as Emma would have. When I found Tchoupitoulas Street, I virtually followed the curve, then found the wharf along the river. I could even see the texture of the wharf, and verified that it was comprised of poured concrete.
I wrote the wharf scene after viewing the virtual wharf. To verify what I’d written, I asked my cousin, a former jack-up ship captain, to review the pages. He and his fellow captains, who are all familiar with the New Orleans docks, approved the description, and even wanted to know more about Emma and her adventures!
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I’d like my readers to know how much they’re appreciated. It’s so exciting that someone actually reads something I’ve written, and touches me more than I can say. I’d like to thank all of my readers, in the most heartfelt way.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
In 2010, I won the Georgia Bar Journal’s fiction contest for the short story version of OUT FROM SILENCE. I developed that story into the first full-length novel of the Thornton Mystery Series by the same name, which was published by Level Best Books in December of 2019. My second book in this same series, entitled THE REDEMPTION, which is set in New Orleans, was released in February of 2021.
I have a Master’s in Special Education and taught children with learning disabilities before moving on to law school. I spent most of my legal career working as defense counsel to large corporations and traveled throughout the country as regional and national counsel. I also had the unique opportunity of teaching third-year law students in a clinical program at a law school in New Orleans where I ran the Homeless Law Clinic. I retired from the practice of law several years ago.
I have four children, and three grandchildren, and lives in Atlanta with her husband and schnauzer.
What’s next that we can look forward to?
I’m working on Sanctuary, the third book in the Thornton Mystery Series. This book is also set in New Orleans, and begins with the death of the leader of a cult.
Catch Up With Cynthia:
CLTolbert.com
Goodreads
Instagram – @cltolbertwrites
Twitter – @cltolbertwrites
Facebook – @cltolbertwriter
Tour Participants:
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ENTER TO WIN:
This is a Rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for C.L. Tolbert. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card (U.S. ONLY). The giveaway runs from June 1, 2021 through July 4, 2021. Void where prohibited.
Great interview!
“I prefer silence while I’m writing. ” I always find the differences between authors interesting. I just read an author interview and he writes from coffee shops because he likes the noise.
Thanks, great sounding book!