Atkins novel, Jessica Chambers case: Fact vs. fiction

The following is a Q&A with crime writer and Oxford resident Ace Atkins, and includes a look at his latest book's plot that bears similarities with 2014 homicide of Mississippi teen Jessica Chambers.

Your newest book in the Quinn Colson series is “The Innocents,” a story that centers around solving the mystery of the death of 18-year-old former cheerleader Milly Jones. The character was taken to a Memphis medical facility, where she died, after it was determined that a flammable liquid had been poured down her mouth. Mississippians will, of course, recognize the similarities to the shocking real-life death of Jessica Chambers in Courtland in 2014. Tell me about how you chose these details as part of the storyline.  

As a former, and still occasional, journalist, I’m always looking to current events for story ideas. I wrote four novels based heavily on historic crimes. And all six of my Quinn Colson books were inspired partly by things that happened either in Mississippi or the South, from a horrific child trafficking case to a catastrophic tornado.

But what I do as a novelist is ask: what if that event had happened in my own fictional Tibbehah County? How would the crime or event impact my own people and that small community, from a F-5 tornado touching down there — as happened in Smithville — to something like the Chambers case? How would my characters deal with the tragedy? Often, the resolutions in my books are more satisfying than real life — the bad guys are punished — that’s the privilege of fiction. Sometimes, I let keep the fictionalized version just as jagged, imperfect and tragic as real life.

In researching information for “The Innocents,” did you speak with anyone in Courtland about the Chambers case?

I, of course, followed the news stories. But I didn’t want to meet anyone connected with the case. I wanted to write a story about Milly Jones of Tibbehah County and her unique family. I wanted this to be her story alone.

I know there will be many true books written about the Chambers case in the future. Her true story needs full attention. But that story isn’t finished yet. We still don’t really know what happened that night. That’s why I stuck to Milly, her family and my long-running series characters to tell a completely different story.

JESSICA CHAMBERS CASE: Suspect enters not guilty plea

As there is now an indictment of a suspect in the Chambers case, it will no doubt continue to draw attention nationally. Will you be watching it closely?

I’m sure I’ll follow the trial, like everyone else here. As a novelist, I was able to find some closure and right some wrongs for Milly Jones. In my novel, Milly is the absolute hero who was killed for trying to make change. She was not just a victim. But in real life and their own story, I hope the Chambers family can finally get true justice. Unlike movies or books, this can take a long while and never ends neatly, sometimes with more questions than answers.

In “The Innocents,” how does the national media attention affect the case, and the local community?   

Tibbehah County is the kind of county you pass through on your way elsewhere. It’s a mostly quiet place that doesn’t attract attention. But as a former reporter, I’ve seen the ways TV cameras can twist the lives of victims’ families. Wash Jones in the novel, Milly’s father who was modeled on Wash Jones from “Absalom, Absalom!,” is based on several men I knew when covering violent crimes. People are grieving and then instantly become local, and sometimes national, celebrities.

It’s often a sad story because when the story is over, the cameras are gone and people must face the grieving process alone. I’ve seen many small towns and families’ front lawns turned into circuses, their every private action and personal detail held up for public scrutiny. It’s a tragic consequence of the current media environment — particularly in broadcast journalism — which tends to favor conflict and the sensationalized version of the truth instead of the fuller picture. It’s meant to be divisive.

In addition to the storyline about the death of Jones, “The Innocents” ties together the stories of many other “colorful” characters, most notably Quinn Colson, former sheriff of Tibbehah County, who is returning home from a police training mission in Afghanistan. Colson is facing relationship issues with his former girlfriend and his estranged father as he grapples with his career direction — and that’s when he’s drawn into the Jones case. Tell me how the sub-plots contribute to your story.

All six of the Tibbehah County/Quinn Colson books are really about family and community. It’s the continuing story of Quinn trying to establish himself in a broken community and do some good.

Every time he returns from overseas, he realizes Mississippi has many of the same problems we’re trying to fix in Afghanistan and Iraq — corruption, extremism, a busted infrastructure. Quinn and many of the folks in the county want to be a force for change and good. When a young woman is murdered in a horrific fashion, it strikes a similarity to violence Quinn has seen in war zones. And as the book unfolds, we learn the true hero of the story is Milly herself.

Your career background includes working as a crime journalist. How did you become interested in covering this type of news?

I worked for several years covering the Tampa Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida for The Tampa Tribune. It was a wonderful job where I learned much of what I do as a professional writer. It’s also why my novels are filled with many tough and independent women. I knew so many tough female cops that became my basis for acting Sheriff Lillie Virgil in the novel. One of them, Jane Castor, ended by becoming the police chief in Tampa. 

In what role were you formerly associated with Ole Miss?    

I taught advanced news reporting and feature writing from 2001 to 2005. I’m sometimes asked to come and speak on investigative journalism and media ethics. I miss teaching and love that department, but two books a year makes it tough to do anything else!

What are you working on now? 

I’m now working on my 20th novel. It’s my sixth book featuring the iconic Boston private investigator, Spenser. But I’ll be back to Tibbehah County soon to write the seventh Quinn Colson novel.

About the author

As an Oxford resident and one of the busiest American crime writers today, author Ace Atkins has struck a statewide chord with the plot of his newest Quinn Colson mystery, “The Innocents” —  the teenage female victim dies tragically after she is spotted walking along a lonely county road in rural Mississippi, engulfed in flames.  

Atkins is the New York Times-bestselling author of 19 novels, including “The Innocents” and "Robert B. Parker's Slow Burn,” both out from G.P. Putnam's Sons this year. He has been nominated for every major award in crime fiction, including the Edgar — twice — for novels about former U.S. Army Ranger Quinn Colson.

A former newspaper reporter and SEC football player, Atkins also writes essays and investigative pieces for several national publications including the Wall Street Journal, Outside, Garden & Gun and Men's Journal.