This had me gripped from the opening line!

Robert Louis Burns shot The Reverend Willie Maxwell in front of 300 people. Why?

Casey Cep will explain why over the rollercoaster ride she takes us on as we discover who “The Reverend” was. It a meandering journey because to learn who he is and why he was murdered, we need to jump into one of the rollercoaster seats that takes us as we follow Willie Maxwell, first growing up in dirt poor Alabama. After the bare minimum of schooling, he was drafted into the army along with millions of other African-Americans. He was discharged at the end of WW2, and it was the time after this that his schemes to make money and become a preacher come to fruition.

“The Reverend” as he was known, took advantage of the burgeoning life insurance industry by taking out life insurance on members of his family who then seemed to mysteriously die in bizarre circumstances. These deaths of his family members could never be linked back to him, no matter how much the police investigated. This was mainly thanks to his outstanding lawyer, Tom Radney.

Our journey on the rollercoaster then takes us onto Tom Radney and how he became such a hugely successful lawyer. Tom Radney had political ambitions, but unfortunately, his radical views were not those of most of the population of Alabama. When he realised that his dream to become a leading political figure was never going to come to fruition, he decided to go back to practising law and set up a practice nicknamed “The Zoo” next to the courthouse in Alexander City.

The next part of our ride is meeting Harper Lee. We learn about her childhood and friendship from a very early age with the strange little lost boy, Truman Capote whom she helped investigate the killings described, "In Cold Blood". Capote played a significant role in her life, not always for good.

However, what we learn most about is Harper Lee and “To Kill a Mockingbird” how this brought fame to this shy “tomboy” who shunned contact with the world, and who struggled with writer's block.

Now we get to the best part of the rollercoaster ride, why was this court case so important to attract Harper Lee’s attention? After years of staying out of the limelight, Lee became fascinated with this case. She left New York to attend the trial, hoping that she too could write a true crime novel. But instead, after she died, an old briefcase containing all the evidence relating to the case was discovered. Thankfully for us, Casey Cep then took up the reins brand we have this brilliant, historical book, not only covering one of the most bizarre murder trials but the life of one of our most famous and reclusive authors, Harper Lee.

This is a truly brilliant book. It gives us so much background and history on Alabama with this astonishing biography of Harper Lee, whose story is like a work of fiction itself.

This book is going to have to be re-visited. I've used a rollercoaster to describe how it moves from one scene to another. Unfortunately, a rollercoaster ride is always over far too quickly. I couldn't help but read it at speed, I'm going to have to jump on a slow boat going nowhere to re-read it and then let my brain become a sponge to soak up all the fascinating bits that Casey Cep has added to make the book that much more exciting.

Bravo! Casey Cep. This is a masterpiece of writing.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

What an interesting book this is. To my mind, a set of small books all intricately linked together so well that, in the end, the sum is so much greater than its parts. Each of those smaller books covers, in detail, an aspect of the original murders, the politics, the insurance industry etc, wrapped around and through with the life of Harper Lee. Full of what seem to be interesting asides which are, in reality, a fundamental part of the total narrative.

If you have an interest in any of the following - Harper Lee, the history and/or problems of the South, Truman Capote, their two famous books (To Kill a Mocking Bird and In Cold Blood), the challenges facing an author attempting to write a "sequel" to To Kill a Mocking Bird that is all truth rather than part fiction - this is definitely a book worth your time.

I must start by saying that Furious Hours is probably the best true crime work I have had the pleasure of reading; it has so much more to it than one would initially imagine and that's what makes it such a gripping book. It's an amalgamation of true crime, American history, legal thriller and biography of Harper Lee, which is a very interesting mix and works well. For many years Lee was obsessed with one particular case - that of church minister Reverend Willie Maxwell, and set in the context of the time and place - 1970s rural Alabama, United States - it provides much thought-provoking information on the racial, political, cultural and societal circumstances at the time.

It's certainly very easy to get swept up in this story, and I indeed was. Part of my fascination, being a law graduate, was the trial of Reverend Maxwell's killer and seeing the differences in American law when compared to the British and the nuances of the system. The case begins with murder and insurance fraud and from that point onwards the body count grows and grows. As it is a little-known case it's one many people, including myself, will not have been aware of; this is quite refreshing as most true crime books focus on infamous crimes and convicts.

The depiction of the deep south, also referred to as the gothic south, is vivid and evocative, and Casey Cep does a wonderful job of writing the book that Lee worked on for years after her most celebrated work, To Kill a Mockingbird, but could not finish. Included is information on the development and growth of the insurance business, paying particular attention to life insurance which it is widely believed was the motive behind the Reverend's killing spree. The irony of the lawyer, Tom Radney, who managed to get Maxwell acquitted, later repeats this in respect of Maxwell's killer, Robert Burns.

The first half focuses on the case and trial whilst the second discusses lawyer Tom Radney and the final section goes into detail about Harper Lee herself. Her struggle to become accustomed to the fame and fortune that comes with achieving bestseller status and her perfectionist tendencies which led to her being unable to complete and release this book in her lifetime as she'd planned. I loved that we found out more than we ever have before about the enigmatic Ms Lee. All in all, this is a brilliantly compelling and well-structured work of non-fiction and the engaging writing and touch of humour keep you turning the pages long after the sun goes down. Many thanks to William Heinemann for an ARC.

This book was absolutely fascinating and so much more than it promised. There was the history of the dam that was eventually built in Alabama; there was a history of the first insurance policies; then there was the promised true story as far as it was known of 'Reverend' Willie Maxwell; the history of Tom Radney, his lawyer. Finally running through all this is the story of Harper Lee herself - the politics and the feelings of Americans who were anti-KKK but wanted to continue segregation from the negro community; what led to the publication of To Kill a Mockingbird; Harper Lee's tortured life - her problems with being famous and in demand, her difficulty in writing to her satisfaction and so much else. I thoroughly recommend this book which was obviously so well researched. I will be telling everyone they should read it.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Casey Cep/Random House UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

A book examining the murder of Reverend Willie Maxwell in 1970s Alabama. Harper Lee, the famous author of To Kill A Mockingbird, investigated the circumstances of this extraordinary case with a view to writing a book about it. That book never materialised but this one is an excellent read.

The first part concentrates on the case of the shooting of Reverend Willie Maxwell, who was suspected of murdering multiple members of his family for the insurance money, whilst the second part looks at Harper Lee in greater detail. I thought it was a compelling read, especially the first half. Was Maxwell really guilty? Did he have an accomplice? What a fascinating book with some truly larger than life characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Random House UK / Cornerstone / William Heinemann, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

So, I stayed up all night reading this one...and I'm glad I did. I'm a recently converted member of the True Crime fanatics (thanks for having me!) so this book hooked me right from the get go. I was so delighted to get approved to review this. I knew instantly it was going to be great.
It doesn't hurt things that the true case this book has featured in it is interesting as hell, too! Five stars and two thumbs up.

Blown away by this book; a truly unique mix of biography, crime thriller and murder mystery.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the blurb, but given Lee Harper’s enigmatic status, anything which added to her story was potentially interesting. This way exceeded my expectations. It starts with the facts about a dodgy church minister who has a penchant for taking out life insurance policies on people who then die, unexpectedly. The detail about Rev Maxwell is a crime thriller in itself and I was totally gripped by the bizarre events. He ends up on trial and there’s a narrative switch which explores the the story behind one of the attorneys. That section too was fascinating, the more so because the same attorney takes on a very different role later in developments.

Enter, eventually, Lee Harper. This is a book broken down into very clear segments. It’s a structure which works because the events, background and individuals involved are each significant. The background is complicated by Civil Rights and deeply ingrained attitudes in the southern states and there’s no easy way to develop a coherent narrative which draws events and key players together. Cep’s structure makes sense.

I found it a compelling read in every way. The narrative is laid back, so much so that I almost heard it in my head being delivered in a slow southern drawl. But it’s sharp, often laconic and there’s humour. There’s a real warmth in the writing which makes the pages turn. I really enjoyed the detail about Lee’s upbringing and friendship ( and later collaboration) with Capote. Her taxation concerns were a revelation. It’s frustrating that many papers which could add to this fine work will remain locked. Lee remains as secretive in death as in life! Without a doubt a brilliant, incisive and thought provoking work. One of the best insights I’ve read and my thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Thank you to netgalley.co.uk for gifting me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit, as soon as I read what this book was about, I just had to request it. Furious Hours covers the actual crime case of a preacher accused of murdering five members of his family for the insurance money. Until he was shot dead himself by a relative, the thing that got me interested in this book novel was the fact that the author of this book, Casey Cep mentioned that this particular case had caught the interest of the author, Harper Lee.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel; it made me want to take my time to absorb what was going on throughout the case. Cep did a brilliant job with showing the reader how Harper Lee got wrapped up with the situation and how it affected her afterwards. I strongly recommend it to anyone who read To Kill A Mockingbird.

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===[[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep]]===

[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:True Crime|True Crime]]

Sometimes you begin reading a book and before you've got to the bottom of the first page you know that it's going to be brilliant. You sense the author's effortless grasp of her subject matter and you already know that her use of words is almost surgical in its precision. The hands holding you are safe, which considering that this is a book about two subjects where facts are in short supply, is somewhat surprising. Our first subject is the Reverend Willie Maxwell. Over seven years, six people close to the Reverend had died, with Maxwell benefiting substantially from insurance policies which he'd taken out on their lives. [[Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep|Full Review]]

Casey Cep has written a fascinating account about Harper Lee's obsession with writing a true crime novel about the Reverend Willie Maxwell, who murdered five family members for the insurance policies he took out on them and got away with it. After giving a eulogy for his stepdaughter (one of the five he was suspected of killing) at her funeral in 1977 he was infamously shot dead in front of 300 people by Robert Burns, an uncle of the dead girl. Harper Lee not only attended Burns' trial but spent years collecting a meticulous amount of research about Willie Maxwell for a book that she proposed calling "The Reverend". Although, by all accounts, Harper Lee collected more than enough information for writing the book and never stopped working, the book never eventuated.

The book is organised into three sections in order to highlight this extraordinary case. In the first section, we learn of Willie Maxwell's life, the murders he almost certainly committed and the extensive life insurance claims he made after his victims died amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The second section is focused on the lawyer, Tom Radney who successfully defended Maxwell and sued any reluctant insurance companies for payment of policies. In a strange turn of events, Radney was also the lawyer who defended Robert Burns on the charge of killing Willie Maxwell.

Having set the scene, the final section is an account of Harper Lee's life, leading up to her interest in the Maxwell case, including her lifelong relationship with Truman Capote and her unrecognised contribution to the research for his book "In Cold Blood". Although not concluding why Lee was never able to finish her book on the Reverend, Cep gives a sympathetic account of the struggles and barriers that Lee might have faced in the decades after "To Kill a Mockingbird" was published, that may have contributed to her inability to complete a manuscript she was happy to send to an editor.

This book hooked me in, first with the amazing case of William Maxwell and his ability to get away with so much probable fraud and murder and then with the account of Harper Lee's attempts to write what would have been a fascinating book. Highly recommended!

Absolutely gripping .. a man shot dead whose family members died c suspiciously .. he was beneficiary. His lawyer got him off repeatedly, and then went on to represent the man who shot b him dead .. a vigilante who shot this voodoo Reverend dead when the community could be simply not tolerate any longer his collecting money so obviously on deaths around him. And then the author of To Kill a Mockingbird gets involved .. is this a case of miscarriage of justice, racial targeting?? Presaging cases like O j Simpson's years later? But then, where is Harper Lee's mss which she worked on diligently afterwards for some time. You simply cannot put this rapid- fire book down . I sense some times explication .. for example about insurance business .. applied later on .. but certainly necessary. Really brilliant about a time not so long ago .. and mysteries piling on top of mysteries. Terrific!

Divided into three parts, Furious Hours tells the true story of Alabama serial killer the Reverend Willie Maxwell. In the 1970’s he was accused of murdering five family members in order to collect the life insurance money. With the help of a very clever lawyer, ( although rumour had it that Maxwell used voodoo to aid his success) he escaped justice, but at the funeral of his last victim, he was shot dead by one Robert Burns.

The first part of the book illustrates the life of Willie Maxwell, the murders, the fear that he induced in the community because he was thought to use voodoo, and the revelation that he took out insurance policies on almost everyone he had close contact with.

The second part introduces Maxwell’s lawyer Tom Radney who strangely also represented Maxwell’s killer, and despite there being hundreds of witnesses in the church, Robert Burns walked free. Present at Burns trial was none other than Harper Lee ( To Kill a Mockingbird). She kept a low profile and spent a year gathering material for a book she was to write about this strange case, but it was a book that never came to fruition.

The third part of the book tells the story of Harper Lee - her relationship with Truman Capote, the choices she made that shaped her future, and the struggles that she had with her writing.

The author has painted a wonderfully in depth portrait of this great writer, and she also illustrates the cultural and political climate of the times. The research carried out to produce Furious Hours must have been immense - the practice of law and the history of life insurance are just two of the things we learn about in great detail ( perhaps a little bit too much for me) however it was a fascinating read that shone a spotlight on this somewhat mysterious writer, but I personally found the first part of the book featuring Willie Maxwell the most intriguing.

The story of an Alabama serial killer and the true-crime book that Harper Lee worked on obsessively in the years after To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Reverend Willie Maxwell is a preacher who's been accused of killing five of his family members for the insurance money. But Willie always got off scott-free. He was shot in front of 300 people. The man who shot him was defended by the same lawyer that Willie used. He also managed to get the shooter off despite there being several witnesses. This is an addictive read. The book is written in three acts. It's both fascinating and entertaining. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and the author Cassey Cep for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A thoroughly intriguing read. In the early 1970s, a firebrand preacher, used to spending all evening preaching revivalist nonsense and thus avoiding his wife – and seemingly spreading his religious seed with a host of mistresses – ended up the centre of a whole welter of true crime cases, and with it the bogeyman for a whole Alabama county. His wife is found duffed up and dead in a car just days after he puts a load of money onto life insurance for her. Then he marries the next-door neighbour who might once have provided evidence against his crime in that first death, and who he has knocked up before the wedding, and whose own husband might or might not have had his death from a nasty illness hastened even more nastily. Then of course she dies. Oh, and an alcoholic brother, and another relative – in completely unfathomable ways – and then the step-foster-daughter or something he knew through wife number three. All of the people had life insurance policies paying out to said Reverend, but he was as clean as a whistle with nothing sticking to him, especially when nobody could definitely claim some of the above was even homicide. Until at the funeral for "victim" number five, he gets shot dead.

That is one eye-opening story. It opened the eyes of many people, including a certain Harper Lee, stale from her success at writing of Mockingbirds, and of helping "In Cold Blood" come to fictional fruition. But she spent years, it seems, in trying to make a book out of it, although ultimately – we have to assume – failed. One thing was the unsolved aspects when all she wanted to present was the truth, one thing about her failure was that she didn't have the strongest of people to lead us in to her story. Well, Casey Cep certainly could, writing Lee in in a big way to the last couple hundred pages. It's not too cheap to say that Cep has succeeded where Lee failed, of giving us the known facts of the case and all that is implied by those, alongside – and to some extent because of – the story of how Harper couldn't get her sophomore book finished. This then is a very Capotesque, Lee-ish, melange of true crime reporting (without the fake bits as dressing), character study, and literary biography. It's perfectly in keeping with all that those stars of American writing did, and does go a heck of a long way towards demanding the same respect and consideration as anything they put out. I did quibble about the background to our turncoat lawyer for going on too long, but by the end you've forgotten any such minor flaws about this piece. Really worth a look.

I didn't really know a lot about Harper Lee before reading this book. I found her quite a fascinating lady.
The author Casey Cep, has taken the facts that Harper Lee documented on, and revealed the account of Reverend William Maxwell who murdered his family members for insurance money.
The writing and the history pulls you in straight away and keeps you captivated.

A well written debut, not my usually reading material, but thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thank you netgalley, Casey Cep and Cornerstone Digital for allowing me to read and review this book.

I am a bit torn by this book as it ended up not being entirely what I expected it to be, but the writing is skilled and it is packed with knowledge.
It is split in to three parts: 1 - the mystery of an American minister in the Deep South who was alleged (but never convicted) to have murdered several members of his own family for monetary gains. He was then shot and killed at point blank range in front of dozens of witnesses. 2) the trial of his killer, represented by the same lawyer that allowed the minister to escape justice and 3) a compact autobiography of Harper Lee, how she came from the same area, found immeasurable success and infamy from To Kill A Mockingbird but remained obsessed throughout her life with the details of this crime.
The history of the murders and the detailed crime scene analysis and insurance aspects were gripping, I hadn't heard of this part of history before and found it fascinating, horrifying and it will certainly appeal to all true-crime fanatics.
The trial was interesting, but frustrating as not so much detail was shared about how the law was bent, and the lawyer seemed to get off particularly lightly in the story considering he had made a living from getting people clearly guilty of murder to walk free, and then making more money from that persons murder!
The autobiography of Harper Lee was very well written but unless you are a fan of hers and want to immerse yourself in the history of her writing and quite secretive life then it felt like it was a large aside to the true crime elements of the start of the book, I can understand that Cep was detailing how gripped and inspired Harper Lee was by such tragic and crazy circumstances from her hometown, but it all just didn't quite connect seamlessly for me and felt like there was a lot of facts interjected along the book that took the steam out of the suspense of the story,

Brilliant - a biography of Harper Lee, wrapped up in a real-life murder and trial. All the characters - real people - are fascinating, rounded. We know who did it, we can guess why; but he gets away with it, until .........

Then Harper Lee, who had accompanied Truman Capote when he wrote 'In Cold Blood', observed this case with a similar intention to Capote - to write a 'non-fiction novel'. But, the book wasn't written.

This is an enthralling account about Lee, her work, her life; but it is also about Alabama, the protagonists in the trials - lawyer, witnesses, defendants.

Highly recommended to anyone.

This is a first class true crime and biography book written about a largely unknown killer and his world renowned would be biographer.

The Reverend Willie Maxwell was quite happy to let his reputation precede him. You didn't cross the man and if he took out insurance on your life it was pretty sure to be short! When he was himself murdered the case caught the eye of Harper Lee and she determined to write a book about it as successful as that of her friend Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'.

The description of that determination is only part of the story however and Casey Cep takes her reader through a brief history of Alabama, the lives of Maxwell, his lawyer, and that of Harper Lee herself, providing an insight into all three that shows not only how a man can be defined by heresay or reputation but also that one epic novel is no guarantee of another.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it was clear the author had none of the constraints writing in the 21st century that Harper Lee felt she had in the 20th. I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and wants to learn more about its enigmatic writer and how reputation in the end counts for naught.

I wavered on a star rating for this book because it is so comprehensive that at times it becomes unwieldy. I found myself unsure why the extended information on dam building and the rise of a river was included and referred to over several chapters after realising it had no later bearing on the case. Similarly, though the Reverend himself became an insurance fraud criminal mastermind I saw no reason for an entire explanation on the creation of life insurance in the United States. I wish that a more sure editor had compressed this book into a more concise sum of parts because the bits that didn't collapse into tangent were truly interesting. Harper Lee by her very nature has always captivated the public and I was certainly drawn in to both the central murder case and unsolved mystery of Maxwell's alleged crimes.

Read "To Kill a Mockingbird" some years ago and did not know a lot about Harper Lee.
The book Furious Hours is essentially a type of Biography of Harper Lee from the small Alabama town to the most successful American modern writer . Harper Lee only published the one novel in her life time . The novel Furious Hours covers the turbulent times a of a certain Reverand Maxwell who supposedly murdered his wife and others of his family to gain their life insurances. Harper Lee began to be fascinated by the story the Reverends murder and subsequent trial of the murderer. The story is veiled in local legend, rumours, lies and myth. She set about writing her second novel based on this story but never completed or indeed ever start the book.She just collated as much of the facts she could but found the task of writing the book too much for her.
A great read that I enjoyed learning more of Harper Lee and the people who influenced her. I shall look forward in reading To Kill a Mockingbird again.