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Average customer rating:

Terrific read
Look forward to many follow-ups
Wonderful mystery!
Pursues what is right regardless of obstacles
Well-Crafted Mystery with Literary Style

The Stones Cry Out: A Novel
Sibella Giorello
Manufacturer: Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0800731603
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Book Description

Moments after FBI agent Raleigh Harmon arrives at a large rally on Richmond, Virginia's Southside neighborhood, two men plummet from a factory rooftop and lie dead on the sidewalk below. Though over 500 people are at the rally, no one saw what happened. Or are they just not talking? Between pressure from her boss to close the case quickly to avoid racial unrest and her own sense of duty to discover the truth, Raleigh finds herself digging deep into clues that are right underneath her feet. With possible witnesses reluctant to talk and the discovery of chummy connections between supposed enemies, Raleigh knows that this isn't just an ordinary case. Will she find the truth in time? Or will her choices ultimately bring down everyone involved--including Raleigh herself? This first novel from an accomplished journalist and forensic geologist is sure to leave readers guessing until the very end.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific read.......2007-06-10

As a writer of mystery/suspense, I'm fussy about fiction, especially FBI thrillers! But I loved Sibella Giorello's The Stones Cry Out. Authentic, interesting, compelling...I've already given copies away as gifts and I'm sure I'll be purchasing more.

Look forward to many follow-ups.......2007-06-06

Sibella Giorello has made the transition from journalism to fiction with an outstanding debut novel. Her years as a features reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch have given THE STONES CRY OUT a flavor and authenticity that could come only from one intimately involved in the life of a city. Add to that her unusual knowledge of geology and extensive research into the FBI's mineralogy lab and its work in studying trace evidence from crime scenes, and you have the foundation for an exciting new mystery series. At least we hope it will turn into a series!

It's a steamy 4th of July in Richmond, Virginia, and FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon has been called in to investigate the circumstances surrounding the recent death of a young black man and a white police officer. Two days before, with a crowd of 600 neighborhood protesters below, Detective Michael Falcon and Hamel Holmes fell to their deaths from the roof of an abandoned factory. Since racial tensions are kept alive and well by Mayor Lulu Mendant, who benefits politically from strife, the FBI is asked to determine if there actually was racism involved in the deaths. Unfortunately, no one is talking since the community's mind is already made up; another white cop has killed a black youth.

In her search for the truth, we get to know more about Raleigh Harmon as well. Raleigh lives in her mother's carriage house and seems content in her career and her singleness. Her mother, Nadine Shaw Harmon, is a colorful character --- a seemingly lightheaded southern belle, given to wearing vibrant colors and whimsical hats. Nadine heads to Pentecostal church camp nearly every day and sprinkles conversation with praises, promises and glories. Perhaps this is the way Nadine copes with the loss of her husband to a drive-by shooting four years earlier. His unsolved death is a strong motivator that drives Raleigh to continue working cases until they can be closed.

There is also an unexpected reunion with the Fieldings, an early Richmond family with an intriguing history of its own, and with Demott Fielding, the prodigal son with whom Raleigh shares her own unpleasant memories. The Fieldings own many of the properties that are being targeted by protesters as well as the building from which the fatal falls occurred. Is there a connection? Was racism behind the deaths? How will they ever discover what happened on that rooftop?

In a style rich with analogies yet concisely written, Sibella Giorello manages to put all the pieces together for us, and Raleigh Harmon is able to put some of her own past issues to rest in the process. It is always exciting to read a debut novel and, in this case, to look forward to many follow-ups.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding

Wonderful mystery!.......2007-05-11

When Victoria Phaup, Supervisory Special Agent and Raleigh Harmon's FBI boss, told her to "close it", she meant it. But when Raleigh and her partner, John Breit, try to do just that, they found it wasn't quite that easy. IT being the case of a black man and a white police officer who were both killed when they fell off the roof of the empty Fielding factory during the "Parade for the People". As Raleigh tries to 'close it' as soon as possible, she finds the case isn't going to wrapped up easily and it takes her places she isn't sure she wants to go. But she and John are determined to solve the case and find out just what happened on that roof. Did someone fall accidentally or did they jump or ?? Only the stones know, and soon THE STONES CRY OUT for justice.

This novel is being tagged as a 'Christian Mystery' but it so much more. I hope readers will give it a shot even if they aren't Christian because while having a faith element, it is a fabulous mystery that any fan of a who-dun-it would enjoy. Ms. Giorella is a gifted and knowledgeable author that I truly enjoyed reading, and would love to read again. Don't hesitate to crack the cover on this one--but be prepared to not want to put it down!

Pursues what is right regardless of obstacles.......2007-03-20

Being low man (or in this case agent) on the totem pole in her FBI office earns Raleigh Harmon the lousy jobs, like the civil rights investigation of the deaths of a white cop and a black business owner in Pulitzer-Prize nominee Sibella Giorello's first novel, The Stones Cry Out.

Both fell to their deaths from the top of an empty building, with 600 people protesting against absentee landlords who don't pay taxes. Six hundred people were nearby but Raleigh cannot find anyone who saw anything.

The police blame the black man. The citizens in the area blame the cop. Was the cop dirty? Was the businessman dirty? Are the white landlord of the building and the black mayor calling for the investigation involved?

While Raleigh pursues the case that her supervisor wants closed yesterday, she also has to deal with the mystery of her father's murder and with her mother's mental illness. The more her supervisor pushes her to close the case, the more evidence Raleigh finds that not all is as it should be. How could a small-time gym owner drive expensive cars? How could a good cop afford the expensive fertility treatments that produced his son? Why is Raleigh's ex-boyfriend's father so afraid to let her talk about his building where the crime occurred and his dump? Why did the mayor let the boyfriend's father put the dump/landfill in his district? What are the two of them hiding? And what was the connection between the cold case that the dead cop had been working on and the dead gym owner?

Fans of classic who-done-its and police procedurals will enjoy The Stones Cry Out. I hated to put it down once I got past the first three chapters. My problems early on were that I didn't realize that Raleigh was a female until the third chapter, so that required an adjustment of my thinking. People named after places throw me--I'm often unsure of the sex. My other problem was that I don't care for present-tense novels. It's a personal taste which Giorello overcomes after the first few chapters. I would eagerly look for a sequel from her in spite of the tense, but I would probably not have bought this book initially because of it. I hope most readers disagree with me on this so that I have a chance to read her sequel.

Giorello does a good job of developing Raleigh's character. She starts out as the cynical FBI agent, not quite as hardened as her older partner, but on her way. Her tender care of her emotionally disturbed mother actually ministers to Raleigh's heart as she pursues what is right regardless of the obstacles put before her. - Debbie W. Wilson, Christian Book Previews.com

Well-Crafted Mystery with Literary Style.......2007-03-02

Fans of James Lee Burke will thoroughly enjoy this well-paced and well-plotted mystery for its evocative southern setting and its poetic use of language. Giorello's writing demonstrates craftsmanship and humor, and the reader ends up caring deeply about the characters. The heroine, Raleigh Harmon, is as complicated in an ordinary way as the intricate people we know in our everyday lives. At the end of the book, you wish you could continue your relationship with the main characters, maybe have them over for coffee - the sign of a great read.

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