FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Trees Talk to Solve a Murder

Fort Lauderdale, MAY 2006:  Dorothy and the Scare Crow teased Oz's living Apple Trees into giving up their fruit, Pippin and Merry hitched a ride on Treebeard in Lord of the Rings, and convinced the forest-dwellers to help flood Isengard.

 No palace awaited Cyrl Henson’s birth. The Great Depression was easy on nobody, but small towns like his had it worst. The struggle between good folks and not-so-good proved a constant distraction for resilient people just trying to make ends meet. The lure of easy money in the illegal whisky business cut communities, and even some families apart.

Yet somehow Cyrl was blessed. Cyrus and Pearl were extremely proud of their second-born, who showed remarkable talents almost from birth. Maybe too remarkable, for what can Cyrl’s parents think when he starts talking to the big old pecan tree out back of their house? The family's emotions run the gamut as it becomes obvious that young Cyrl can indeed communicate with the trees.

Strange though Cyrl’s gift is, it is soon needed. Long a nuisance to the neighbors, a band of whisky runners and petty thieves commits its first murders. In this atmosphere of danger, the long-time sheriff believes he’s gotten too old and soft for the job. Can what the trees reveal bring an end to the treacherous Dry Creek Crowd?

About the Author:

Bill McCutchen spent much of his career in Health Care Financing in Dallas, Texas. He opted for early retirement and moved to the country seventy miles east of "Big D" where he and his wife, Nancy, live near Lake Fork. His pre-retirement plans included fishing, gardening, and raising llamas, and he continues to enjoy all three things. The Tree Talker is his first published novel.