Mr. White's Confession

Robert Clark's first novel, In the Deep Midwinter, brought him wide critical acclaim as a gifted writer of important fiction. Now he gives us Mr White's Confession, a flawlessly crafted and suspenseful novel of mystery, murder, and two men's search for truth.

St Paul, Minnesota, 1939: Police Lieutenant Wesley Horner is struggling and alone after the recent death of his wife when he receives an assignment that threatens his precarious stability. The body of a beautiful showgirl has been found on a hillside, and Wesley must head an investigation into her murder. His chief suspect is Herbert White, an eccentric recluse and hobby photographer who spends his days writing gushing fan letters to Hollywood starlets and recording his life in detailed journal entries and scrapbooks. But when the trail to White runs cold and other leads dry up, Wesley faces the horrible possibility that the true murderer may remain at large.

Then another dancer is killed, and the clues once again point to Herbert White. Wesley's cross-country pursuit of Mr White takes both men on a journey that will link them in complex ways for the rest of their lives.

In all his work, Robert Clark illuminates the complex relationships between truth and fiction, past and present, faith and memory. Richly atmospheric, haunting and many-layered, Mr White's Confession fully confirms the promise of In the Deep Midwinter.

About the Author

Robert Clark is the author of the novel In the Deep Midwinter, River of the West, a cultural history of the Columbia River (both from Picador USA), and The Solace of Food, a biography of James Beard. A native of St Paul, Minnesota, he now lives in Seattle with his wife and two children.