The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy, Volume 3

The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Case is the final novel in Dr. Jack Justin Turner's highly-acclaimed Cumberland Mountain Trilogy. With a mangled arm, and with his long-barreled Luger close at hand, Sheriff Jacob Newton Herald must muster all the cunning and courage that saw him through The Great War to survive the sometimes savage place he calls home. Jake, as he is known by both friend and foe, has been described as a combination of Hamlet and Dirty Harry – but in this last volume Jake exhibits a quite different and endearing personality, when he makes two of the most important decisions of his life.

Part murder mystery and part magnificent love story, The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Case again demonstrates Dr. Turner's powerful and insightful explanation of character and locale, in a page-turner that is perhaps unparalleled in modern Appalachian fiction. Turner obviously knows and loves the setting and its inhabitants and puts the lie to the work of a litany of literary carpetbaggers.

As one reviewer put it, "Jack Justin Turner's voice rings so true that one might think the author is actually channeling the spirits of his early twentieth century characters. Seldom does a book transport a reader so surely to another place and time."


Author_Bio: Called by one reviewer, "The Tony Hillerman of the Kentucky Mountains," Southeastern Kentucky native and novelist Dr. Jack Justin Turner commands perhaps the most authentic voice in generations to emerge from this literary-rich area. Dr. Turner passed away in December 2011, but not before finishing two trilogies and a non-fiction classic.


In the first two volumes of The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy, Dr. Turner brings to life the rich heritage of mountain life, the deleterious effects of industrialization, and the heroic actions of very real, engaging and complex personalities. Volume I, The Sheriffs' Murder Cases and Volume II, The Sheriff of Frozen's Murder Cases, shed a much different light on a region often ineptly and perfidiously portrayed. When published, Volume III, The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Cases will complete this exciting series.


His epic trilogy, The Foxes and the Hounds, is a riveting ride through the tumultuous days of early coal, cut-throat steamboat races, immense wealth, love triangles, feuds and treason in the Kentucky hill country and the Bluegrass. Thus far, two novels in this trilogy have been published: Big Medicine River Days and the "hot off the presses" Bluegrass Days; with Colorado Days soon to come. Although The Foxes and the Hounds trilogy is a work of fiction, much of it reveals historical events as they actually happened. The author, through decades of fastidious research and fortuitous family connections, was allowed access to certain sealed records thought unattainable for decades. Dr. Turner also is the primary author of the best-selling nonfiction book, Maytown Magic and Mayhem: Fifty Years of Mountain Basketball.


Dr. Turner received his B.A. Degree from Berea College (where he once simultaneously appeared on the college disciplinary list and academic excellence list,) his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and was honored as Professor Emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University.


Keywords: Romance, Revenge, Action, History, War, Kentucky, Herald, Fiction, Iron Fist, Mystery, Veteran