Washington and Leigh

Summary

With a mystery that keeps readers guessing until the last page, Washington and Leigh is a powerful and riveting ghost story spanning sixty years and the lives of two families, one white, one Black, who are inextricably bound to each other in more ways than one.

In 1950s Mississippi, soon after the horrific, race-motivated murder of Emmett Till, the prominent Leigh family is at the center of a tragedy that threatens to destroy their future and their community. Bo Washington—an up-and-coming Black rock and roller who allegedly made a deal with the devil—is implicated in the murder of two men, one of whom is the powerful Leigh patriarch known as The Governor. Bo is found and captured with unexpected ease and is brought back to the Leigh home to await arrest. But when the morning comes, he takes matters into his own hands and throws himself from the landing of the stairs.

Several decades later, romance author Mady Leigh, presumably the last surviving family member, is suddenly contacted by the family lawyer. He informs her that she has been left the now-dilapidated estate called Leighcrest by an aunt she barely knew. The house itself is strange, with doors that seem to slide open on their own, odd noises in the night, and a feeling of creeping unease Mady can’t shake. This isn’t helped by the fact that it seems almost impossible to find anyone willing to work at Leighcrest to help her prepare it for sale.

As Mady uncovers her family’s secrets the hauntings get worse, and the questions she needs to answer soon become much more fraught than whether she’ll ever be able to sell Leighcrest. What really happened all those years ago with Bo Washington and The Governor? Did Bo truly try to sell his soul to the devil for fame and talent? And what does any of this have to do with her?