While on a trip to St. Louis, fourteen-year-old Trixie Belden discovers some mysterious papers in her hotel room and soon realizes that she and her friends are being followed as they cruise in a towboat down the Mississippi River.

The stunning true story of a murder that rocked the Mississippi Delta and forever shaped one author’s life and perception of home. “Mix together a bloody murder in a privileged white family, a false accusation against a Black man, a suspicious town, a sensational trial with colorful lawyers, and a punishment that didn’t fit the crime, and you have the best of southern gothic fiction. But the very best part is that the story is true.” —John Grisham In 1948, in the most stubbornly Dixiefied corner of the Jim Crow south, society matron Idella Thompson was viciously murdered in her own home: stabbed at least 150 times and left facedown in one of the bathrooms. Her daughter, Ruth Dickins, was the only other person in the house. She told authorities a Black man she didn’t recognize had fled the scene, but no evidence of the man's presence was uncovered. When Dickins herself was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the community exploded. Petitions pleading for her release were drafted, signed, and circulated, and after only six years, the governor of Mississippi granted Ruth Dickins an indefinite suspension of her sentence and she was set free. In Deer Creek Drive, Beverly Lowry—who was ten at the time of the murder and lived mere miles from the Thompsons’ home—tells a story of white privilege that still has ramifications today, and reflects on the brutal crime, its aftermath, and the ways it clarified her own upbringing in Mississippi.

One LONG river! One giant arch! One runaway paddle wheeler! Four huckleberry friends! And five days to solve a mighty mystery! Christina and Grant start in New Orleans. Their two new friends start at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota. They planned to meet at the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis. But they didn't plan on getting involved in a very strange mystery which takes them over locks and dams, past Tom Sawyer's cave and past many other fascinating sights along the mighty Mississippi. Are they being followed? Tricked or trapped? Come along for the ride and see! LOOK what's in this mystery - people, places, history, and more! New Orleans history, facts, and traditions Š The French Quarter of New Orleans Š Mimes Š Mardi Gras history Š Cajun history and lifestyle (seafood gumbo, zydeco, and Cajun two-step) Š Funeral traditions in New Orleans Š Where the Mississippi River runs Š Mississippi River history and facts Š Paddlewheeler boats Š Life along the Mississippi River Š Gateway Arch construction, architecture, and history Š St. Louis history Š Jackson Square Š The Cabildo, famous fort where the Louisiana Purchase had been signed Š City of the Dead, Burial Ground Š Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri Š Museum of Western Expansion. Like all of Carole Marsh Mysteries, this mystery incorporates history, geography, culture and cliffhanger chapters that will keep kids begging for more! This mystery includes SAT words, educational facts, fun and humor, built-in book club and activities. Below is the Reading Levels Guide for this book: Grade Levels: 3-6 Accelerated Reader Reading Level: 4.4 Accelerated Reader Points: 3 Accelerated Reader Quiz Number: 79514 Lexile Measure: 680 Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level: Q Developmental Assessment Level: 40

Midnight on the Mississippi begins the new Secrets of the South Mysteries from bestselling author Mary Ellis. These complex crime dramas follow an investigator's quest to make the world a better place...solving one case at a time. New Orleans—Hunter Galen, a stock and securities broker, suspects his business partner, James Nowak, may be involved in embezzling their clients' money, but he's reluctant to jeopardize their friendship based on suspicion alone. After James turns up dead, Hunter realizes his unwillingness to confront a problem may have cost James his life. Nicki Price, a newly minted PI, intends to solve the stockbroker's murder, recover the missing millions from the client accounts, and establish herself in the career she adores. As she ferrets out fraud and deception at Galen Investments, Hunter's fiancée, Ashley Menard, rubs Nicki the wrong way. Nicki doesn't trust the ostentatious woman with an agenda longer than the Mississippi River. Ashley seems to be hiding something, but is Nicki's growing attraction to Hunter—a suspected murderer—her true reason for disliking Ashley? As they encounter sophisticated shell games, blackmail, and murder, Nicki and Hunter's only option is to turn to God as they search for answers, elude lethal danger, and perhaps discover love along the way.

Meet Sarah Booth Delaney, an unconventional Southern belle whose knack for uncovering the truth is about to make her the hottest detective in Zinnia, Mississippi . . . if it doesn't make her the deadest. No self-respecting lady would allow herself to end up in Sarah Booth’s situation. Unwed, unemployed, and over thirty, she’s flat broke and about to lose the family plantation. Not to mention being haunted by the ghost of her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, who never misses an opportunity to remind her of her sorry state—or to suggest a plan of action, like ransoming her friend’s prize pooch to raise some cash. But soon Sarah Booth’s walk on the criminal side leads her deeper into unladylike territory, and she’s hired to solve a murder. Did gorgeous, landed Hamilton Garrett V really kill his mother twenty years ago? And if so, what is Sarah Booth doing falling for this possible murderer? When she asks one too many questions and a new corpse turns up, she is suddenly a suspect herself . . . and Sarah Booth finds that digging up the bones of the past could leave her rolling over in her grave.

There was a ghastly murder in New York City, and Mark Twain's address was in the dead man's pocket. But even more alarming was that Twain had just received a message sent by anold friend from his riverboat days -- and the handwriting matched the note found on the corpse. So with his new secretary, Wentworth Cabot, Twain caught a steamboat bound for New Orleans. On board were all matter of people -- wealthy tourists and old river rats, literary amateurs and high-stakes gamblers . . . and a determined killer whose only goal was to bring Mark Twain's celebrated career to a stop!

An examination of a noted civil rights case involving the murder of an NAACP official and his killer's three trials draws comparisons between the case and the racial climate in the Deep South