Author: Michael McAuliffe

Michael McAuliffe, author of No Truth Left To Tell, is an avid mountaineer. (2020, inside back cover) He has climbed and summited Denali, Kilimanjaro, Island Peak in the Himalayas, Aconcagua and many more. McAuliffe is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin (BBA) Business Honors Program and William & Mary’s Law School (JD). His legal career began as a federal prosecutor as assistant US attorney in the Southern District of Florida. During his tenure with the Southern District he also was an honors program trial attorney in their Criminal section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of justice in Washington, DC. He ran for and was elected state attorney for Palm Beach County Florida in 2008. There he has the privilege of leading over one hundred twenty prosecutors. He and his wife live between Florida and Massachusetts.

There are several main characters to this story. The primary ones are Frank Daniels, Nettie Wynn and her granddaughter Nicole DuBose, Mercer, McClure, and Adrien Rush. 

The book opens with a Klan meeting in the small town of Lynwood in Louisiana. Frank Daniels is leading this crusade against those he finds to be undesirable in this neck of the woods. He has a plan to scare them out of town that involves planning, planting, and lighting on fire several crosses in key locations across town during the darkness of night. His plan mostly comes off without a hitch and it serves his desired and demented reasoning that white people are superior. However, it does get the attention of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC as a possible hate crime. 

One of the places that had a cross burnt in its yard was the home of Nettie Wynn. Wynn is an elderly black woman who grew up in this town during the real Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. She was sleeping when this burning occurred and was awakened by the flames and smoke. She had a heart attack, but luckily did not die. 

Other places that also get crosses burnt on their lawns were the NAACP, a Temple, City Hall/Courthouse, and a Muslim place of worship. People are terrified across town. Many close up because they now feel unsafe. 

Adrien, McClure, and Mercer are sent to determine what crimes have been committed and to prosecute them. Nicole arrives in Louisiana to see how her grandmother is doing and ensure that she is safe.  

Nobody knows Daniels is the Grand Dragon. He keeps his meetings secret and only his tightly knit team know their agenda. Can he manage to keep his secret under wraps while there is an ongoing federal investigation underway? Will Adrien, McClure, and Mercer crack this case and end with any prosecutions for this hateful crime? How does Nettie Wynn fare?

There are many twists and turns to this mystery. I really enjoyed reading it and could not locate many clues along the way to ascertain which way the story would go so much of this read was a complete surprise. I was truly sorry to see it end. Well done Michael McAuliffe.