Let Me Die In His Footsteps

Let Me Die in His Footsteps, an Edgar Award-winning novel by Lori Roy, follows two generations of women in rural Kentucky whose family secrets and dark past are uncovered after a body is found on a neighboring farm. A literary thriller, the book is inspired loosely by the last known public hanging in the United States, which took place in Owensboro, Kentucky in 1936.

Let Me Die in His Footsteps is told in alternating chapters. The first, set in 1952, follows Annie Holleran as she ventures from her family farm to the neighboring Baine's farm, a place she has been forbidden to go for as long as she can remember. The second story reveals the events that happened twenty years before, following Annie's Aunt Juna and her relationship to one of the Baine brothers, Joseph Carl Baine.

Annie has been making the people of the small town where she lives uneasy for her entire life – she has the same strange sixth-sense, what locals call “the know-how” as her Aunt Juna, who disappeared almost twenty years after a death and execution struck their rural Kentucky county. Annie is not sinister like her notorious Aunt Juna, but she is fascinated by her own ability to tell the future. One night, in 1952, Annie travels to the Baine family land to find their well, hoping to see the face of her future husband in the water. This is the tradition of local Kentucky girls; the ritual is called “ascending.” The Baine and Holleran farms are separated by enormous fields of lavender; Annie makes the trip at night to avoid detection from her protective mother, Sarah.



Unfortunately, Annie doesn't make it to the well. Instead, she finds the dead body of a woman on the farm, which unleashes memories of the last murder for both the Holleran and the Baine families. That Annie shares her Aunt Juna's black eyes and seductive appearance only makes matters worse for the Hollerans, who were hoping to put the dark past behind them. To make matters worse, the body belongs to Cora Baine, one of the elder Baine relatives.

As the novel goes on, the narrative slips back in time to memories of the events in 1936, when Joseph Carl Baine looked in Juna's black eyes and was overcome by their ability to make him act in ways that he never dreamed. This story is told by Sarah, whom we soon learn isn't Annie’s mother, but her aunt, who adopted Annie after her birth mother, Juna, left town. Sarah recounts the strange circumstances leading up to the death of her brother, the rape of Juna, and the case that was made against Joseph Carl Baine.

According to Sarah, the death of her brother was less cut and dry than the lead investigator, Sherriff Irlene Fulkerson, wanted to believe. The violent death in such a quaint rural area sparked outrage among the locals. Fulkerson was quick to make an arrest and try the case against Joseph Carl for the death of the younger Holleran brother and the rape of Juna Holleran. Sarah, knowing her sister and her dark powers, wasn't as certain about Joseph Carl's guilt as some other members of the community. Others shared her doubts, and as the case went on, the relationship between Juna and Joseph Carl became darker and more complicated. Ultimately, it led to Joseph Carl's hanging, which provided half-hearted relief to Fulkerson and the community, despite the nagging feeling that something hadn't yet been revealed.



After Cora Baine's body is found, Annie and her sister, Caroline, dread the thought of Aunt Juna returning. The schoolyard rhymes about her have haunted the girls since childhood, and Annie is particularly frightened because she knows she shares Juna's powers and dark blood.

The book unfolds to reveal the murderer, and the Holleran family secrets unfold alongside it. The result is an atmospheric crime novel reminiscent of the Southern Gothic style.

Lori Roy is the author of four mystery and crime novels, many of which have been nominated for or won Edgar Awards. Her first novel, Bent Road, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and her second book, Until She Comes Home, was nominated for Best Novel. Her most recent novel is The Disappearing, which takes place in rural Florida and has the same Southern Gothic atmosphere that makes her work so recognizable and engaging for critics. Roy is the first woman to receive the Edgar Award for Best Novel and Best First Novel. She lives in Florida with her family.