Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Big Eddy Club: The Stocking Stranglings and Southern Justice

The Big Eddy Club: The Stocking Stranglings and Southern Justice
reviewed on + 33 more book reviews


Brutal look at the investigation into and trial of the alleged Stocking Strangler, Carlton Gary. In the midseventies, someone in Columbus, Georgia, raped and murdered seven elderly women. The investigation went nowhere for years, until detectives focused on Carlton Gary. They quickly decided that he was their man. But questions remain as to whether Gary really was the Stocking Strangler, especially as author Rose uncovers evidence that were withheld from Gary's defense team and a series of statements by the prosecution and judges that mislead the jury. This book is brutal. I doubt that anyone with a conscience could read this and not feel sick to his or her stomach. Even so, it's an important read, if only to be reminded that there's a difference between the rhetoric of justice and actual justice.