The year is 1967. Decatur, Alabama is an industrial town nestled against the Tennessee River. When 34-year-old Mary Faye Hunter is found dead a few months after she goes missing, it sends shockwaves through the small community. Retired state investigator Bob Hancock spent most of his career trying to solve Mary Faye's murder. Five decades later, the case is still officially unsolved, but all the secrets have been unearthed. This case is regarded by many in law enforcement as one of the most perplexing in the state's history. To understand what happened to Mary Faye Hunter, you have to know her. For the first time, the events that preceded Mary Faye's death are detailed as you travel back in time to examine her life, ambitions, and dreams.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who tried to write his story. Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members, but with the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative assassinated him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend himself. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante’s trial was Harper Lee, who spent a year in town reporting on the Maxwell case and many more trying to finish the book she called The Reverend. Cep brings this remarkable story to life, from the horrifying murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of our most revered writers.

Tourism in the Southeast is often associated with Florida--a state that essentially defined the industry in America. Yet Alabama has a fascinating history of tourism all its own. It all began with an enterprising politician. In 1916, John Hollis Bankhead went to great lengths to ensure that one of America's first transcontinental highways went directly through Alabama. Though it was a less efficient route for highway travelers, it marked the birth of Alabama's fledgling tourism industry, which grew exponentially with each passing decade. Since he was a boy, author Tim Hollis has traveled from the Shoals to the coast and amassed an unrivaled knowledge of Alabama tourism. From restored and preserved historic destinations to campy tourist traps and outrageous roadside attractions, this is the complete story of tourism in Alabama.