Tom Elliott’s debut novel, Lakepoint: Murder on the Everglades Frontier
, profiles a fictional small winter-farming community situated on the rich soil surrounding the east and south shores of the great Lake Okeechobee. He contrasts the life of the nearby Atlantic communities and their “palm-tree lined beaches, opulent resort hotels, luxurious estates, and high-society lifestyle” with Lakepoint, a town that “remained a frontier society in many respects.”Elliott’s novel centers on two homicide cases pursued by Charles Lockhart, the Lakepoint Chief of Police. One is a 10-year-old double murder drawn from an actual crime that remains unsolved to this day. The other is the killing of a black man, which the community is not taking seriously, despite Lockhart’s determination to solve it. The Lake Okeechobee farming area is the perfect backdrop for the novel’s intrigue and violence. Few people are aware of Palm Beach County’s agricultural industry and its crucial role in our national agricultural industry.
Elliott describes the Glades people who lived in Lakepoint in the 1950s – the timing of the novel - as “fiercely independent” and “quick to settle their disagreements with guns, fists, knives, or any other implement that might be handy.” Most of the men in Lakepoint owned handguns “and carried them in their belts, under the seats of their cars and trucks, or concealed among themselves in their places of business.”
Although most visitors to Palm Beach County have never ventured further west than the polo grounds of Wellington, if they were to keep driving, the would soon encounter small towns on the lakeshore that still represent the rough-hewn lifestyle depicted by Elliott. While “her soil is her fortune,” the annual per capita income of the area is less than $12,000, standing in stark contrast to the rich Breakers luxury resort and the upscale Worth Avenue shops in Palm Beach.
As he tours the town’s Main Street, Elliott’s protagonist, Chief Lockhart, recalls incidences of an Elks Club celebration that resulted in a head laceration from someone getting struck in the head by a beer bottle, and a death at a local nightclub when a fight resulted in one combatant slitting the other’s jugular vein with a knife.
These problems are still rampant today, with the area showing rates of violent crime that rank among the worst in America – as evidenced by the prevalence of security bars in the windows of both businesses and homes; that’s how it is in the Glades. Local newspapers are filled with horrific accounts of violence, including stories of a sexual assault on a ten year-old girl and a 10-day murder spree that left a dead body in the street. There are also frequent reports of stabbings and burglaries/homicides at convenience stores. Less than three years ago, one of the region’s top high school football stars died from a bullet in the head following an altercation at a post-game dance.
The unsettled frontier nature of the area has recently come to prominence in the news, as a long stretch of State Road 80 has long been without a guardrail, claiming twelve deaths in seven years as cars careened off of the treacherously winding and often foggy road into a canal. The recent death of a mother and two children has finally been the catalyst for plans for building a guard rail, in this largely ignored area of prosperous Palm Beach County, Florida.
Lakepoint
is an intriguing novel that builds on real murders, and uses the character and unsettled nature of the land to depict the frontier-like lifestyle of the community Chief Lockhart has sworn to protect. The narrative adds layers of depth and detail to Elliott’s story, based on his experiences growing up in the Glades winter-farming region. Although the book is set in the 1950s and focuses on long-forgotten murder cases, the violence that Chief Lockhart deals with still pervades the area and resonates in the headlines of today.My Take on the Book
The author does an amazing job at capturing the imagination of the reader and allows that imagination take hold to explore the possibilities within this suspenseful mystery. I can honestly say that this book kept me guessing from the beginning to the end. One of the things that I enjoyed was that the author was able to capture the everglades very well. As a person who has visited the everglades a number of times it was nice to be able to close my eyes and just think through the images that the author shares (brings back great memories).
I also thought it was interesting that the author used a true unsolved murder case in this book as you do not always see this in a novel!
The characters in the story were well developed and the author even works at tackling many pertinent issues of day as well, so he truly takes you back in time and lets you live in the moment.
This is a great book and one that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys mysteries or who likes to be engaged in a book from beginning to end without fail!
All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.
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