Tombs of Little Egypt
A Novel
by James Varga
Imprint: Resource Publications
Grave robbers turn a Southern Illinois town upside down. Lou and Duke, drifting ex-cons, are arrested and prosecuted for the crimes. Retired Sheriff Sam Carter records a chronicle of events to keep his town, Greens Point, in a good light for the history books.
Media covering the notorious crimes and trial pumps unforeseen money into this once sleepy town. From postarrest statements, Sheriff Carter learns about the defendants' lives. From the witness stand, Lou yells at the jurors and spectators and shouts that they are the gold diggers. The shift to the criminals' perspectives gnaws at Sheriff Carter. Betsy, his wife, asks him a question from the book of John: do you know what Lazarus said after he was raised from the tomb? The question haunts him until the end of the ordeal--Betsy must tell him the answer.
Beneath the retired sheriff's wry narration of the investigation, arrests, and trial lies a fundamental question bound by neither place nor time. The truly good person is not the accuser but the accused, not the historian but the criminal, condemned between the pages of history in a tomb void of the dreams and hope of tomorrow.
James Varga is a judge in Chicago. He began his professional career on the prosecution team against John Gacy, murderer of thirty-three boys and young men. He graduated from Notre Dame Law School, associate editor of the law review, and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a perfect academic grade point average, missing a perfect cumulative average with a “B” in handball. He, writing as Augie Holiday, is the author of Angels Have Wings (2020).
“Varga offers up a moral tale featuring a vivid cast, most notably a pair of down-and-out grave robbers. The story is told through Sheriff Sam Carter, who regards himself as a plain and simple lawman, interested only in the facts. But as he peers ever deeper into the peculiar case at hand, he finds himself asking questions neither plain nor simple concerning the true nature of Justice. A compelling read.”
—John Manderino, author of Bopper’s Progress
“It’s not often that one finds a novel that simultaneously evokes smiles and tears. . . . This book, told from a lawman’s somewhat limited perspective, has great plot twists with insightful investigation and courtroom scenes, as well as snappy and thoughtful dialogue throughout. I highly recommend this book.”
—Rena Marie Van Tine, past president, the Asian American Bar Association—Chicago
“In a style evocative of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, James Varga’s Tombs of Little Egypt tackles a timeless array of personal and professional moral issues. Set in the South and told from the perspective of a small-town sheriff, the novel offers an engaging plot punctuated by common sense and uncommon wisdom. Until the very end, there is uncertainty about whether a small community can do justice to strangers accused of hideous crimes.”
—Vincent R. Johnson, St. Mary’s University School of Law
“Jim Varga has shown that he is a very capable storyteller, combining a rural town of intriguing yet very ordinary characters with local politics and a court system ambivalent to change. It is a very readable story, at times mixing human tragedy with people who come alive to restore your faith. . . . Very enjoyable! If you put it down, the characters will still be running through your head.”
—Terry Sullivan, author of Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders
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