On Monday, February 13, 1905, eight-year-old Kenneth Beasley walked to the back of his school's playground and into the melting snow of the woods beyond.  He never returned.  A massive search was undertaken for the North Carolina state senator's son, and a reward was offered. Despite clues, rumors and even a ransom note, he was never found.

A year and a half later, a political rival hurriedly was charged.  Accused of the most bizarre and twisted of plots, he faced a courtroom overflowing with jurors, star lawyers, spectators and newspaper reporters. The eventual verdict and stunning aftermath would rip apart two families and shock the state ... yet leave a mystery unsolved.

Now Charles Oldham, attorney by trade, has reopened the case. Using modern research methods and his own legal training -- while also investigating the state's political, racial, lynching, and liquor cultures -- Oldham has come close as anyone can to the truth.

The result is an absorbing, must read story.  Meticulously researched and beautifully written,

The Senator's Son is both an important book and a fasinating one.