Murder in Mississippi

'One of the best pieces of sustained, rigorous journalism I've read in twenty years. It is absolutely magnificent –  smart, and wry, and emotional too.' Caroline OveringtonWhen filming his TV series Race Relations, John Safran spent an uneasy couple of days with one of Mississippi's most notorious white supremacists. A year later, he heard that the man had been murdered – and what was more, the killer was black.At first the murder seemed a twist on the old Deep South race crimes. But then more news rolled in. Maybe it was a dispute over money, or most intriguingly, over sex. Could the infamous racist actually have been secretly gay, with a thing for black men? Did Safran have the last footage of him alive? Could this be the story of a lifetime? Seizing his Truman Capote moment, he jumped on a plane to cover the trial.Over six months, Safran got deeper and deeper into the South, becoming entwined in the lives of those connected with the murder – white separatists, black campaigners, lawyers, investigators, neighbours, even the killer himself. And the more he talked with them, the less simple the crime, and the world, seemed.Murder in Mississippi is a brilliantly innovative true-crime story. Taking us places only he can, Safran paints an engrossing, revealing portrait of a dead man, his murderer, the place they lived and the process of trying to find out the truth about anything.'The elegance of this book is that its axis is a resounding 'perhaps' . . . It is this moral ambivalence that draws readers to the true crime genre, and Safran nails it.'Weekend Australian'Witty, insightful, compelling – In Cold Blood for our generation.' Eddie Perfect'[Safran] has written a marvellous book which I cannot put down.' Melbourne Observer'Now I know what to recommend people who liked Them.' Jon Ronson, author of The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Psychopath Test 'Stunning' Men's Style