Former Cass County Judge publishes crime novel
Blurred Justice, the first mystery crime novel by former Cass County Judge Dennis Jones was recently been digitally published. The novel which partially sits on the backdrop of Linden features an intense and sometimes gruesome narrative that evokes the kind emotions that interesting crime novels seek to produce.
The storyline is about “Roy Mitchell, an Assistant District Attorney in Dallas, Texas, assigned to the trial division. By a consensus of the local criminal defense attorneys, Mitchell is one of the best prosecutors in the office. Mitchell decides to handle a case in prosecuting Ulysses Carillo for attempting to murder Tony Medina. Medina has been left paralyzed as a result of this attempted murder. And it is this paralysis that becomes the motivating factor in Mitchell taking the case. This ulterior reason can be traced directly to Linden, Texas, a small town in the piney woods of East Texas where Roy Mitchell was raised…” (Google Books)
For Jones, developing the location descriptions for some of the scenes in his book was probably fairly easy considering he grew up in Linden and had first-hand knowledge of the area. “My Mom and Dad grew up in Linden. They raised my sister and me in Linden and we both graduated from L-K.” Not only was the location uniquely personal, but he also has had firsthand knowledge of crime scenes and the justice system… “After law school, I started working in the Bowie County DA’s office as a prosecutor. After about a year, I got hired on as a prosecutor in the Dallas County District Atty’s Office as a trial prosecutor. We tried criminal jury trials day after day (about two jury trials a week).”
“After a few years in that office, I was elected as the DA in Cass County. My wife and I moved to Laws Chapel (Between Linden and Atlanta) in the early 1980s. As the DA in Cass County, I was the only lawyer in my office, and as a result, I did everything connected to the office (criminal trials, meeting with the commissioners, appeals, tax problems, etc.) Becky Wilbanks (yes, the current County Judge) and an investigator, and I comprised the office. After about three years, my former boss, the DA in Dallas County, offered me a more substantial job offer ($), and so I left that office 1985) and returned to the Dallas DA’s office,” continued Jones.
“I resumed my job description: trial attorney as a prosecutor. By that time, I had graduated up to trying only felony cases--mostly capital murders, murders, robberies, and rapes. I stayed in that capacity until 1999,” said Jones
Jones also noted that “Since my family was always living in Kaufman during this time, I opened a law practice in Kaufman. For about 14 years, I was a general practitioner, specializing in criminal defense. About six or seven years ago, I was appointed to be the judge in the County Court at Law #1 in Kaufman County. This is the same type of job that Judge Don Dowd does in Cass County. By the way, he’s been a friend of mine all of my life. After about one and a half years, I was elected again to that position. I retired from the practice of law eight months ago.”
With his extensive knowledge of the crime and law, Jones says that his “job contributed 100% to my knowledge in writing the book. For over twenty years, I tried criminal cases as a prosecutor. After I left the DA’s office, I defended persons charged with crimes--mostly felonies involving murder, robbery, and rape. As a judge, it was just more of the same, except from a different perspective. As a result, I know the procedures of a criminal case, the law involved, and the mental aspect and nuances of a trial attorney and a judge. I saw and participated in the investigations of those cases and saw them through until the verdict. I have seen thousands of fact scenarios.”
For Jones including Linden in the story was an easy choice, “I grew up in Linden. I know the town, the people, the layout. I was familiar with it. As Mark Twain said, write about something you know. The descriptions in the book about Linden--the stores and people-- were drawn from my memories as a child roaming the streets (in a good way) on my bicycle or riding my horse.”
However says Jones, “the people and scenarios in the book were all made up. That said, the grocery store, courthouse, bank, hospital, leather shop, mechanic shop, and other places actually existed. Some of the instances in those places actually occurred (such as going into the leather shop to look at the saddles or going to the grocery store to redeem pop bottles for 3 cents) I just made up the people.”
Since the book is newly published, “Only a small number of people have actually read the book. Dr. Becky Narramore read the book and gave me encouragement. She was the first person who actually said that I might have something. Becky got her Ph.D., in English (I think) and taught at Austin College and Sherman, Texas schools.“
When asked about the inspiration of writing a novel Jones explained that “in the late 1980s, my former wife was reading a crime novel. I asked her one day if the book was any good. She, nonchalantly, said: ‘Well, you could write something just as good.’”
Soon after explains Jones, “I started writing this book in 1989 and finished it around 1994. At the time, my kids were babies and I would write after they went to bed. When I finally completed it, my kids were just beginning scouts, kid sports, etc. So I shelved it. I have four children. So by the time one child got out of school, another one was coming along. Life happened. It has basically been completed and on my shelf since about 2005. Now that I am retired, I dusted off the cobwebs tweaked it some, and here it is.”
When asked why he never published it until now, Jones explained that he “had hoped and intended to get it published after completion in the mid-nineties. I sent out multiple letters to agents in New York hoping to secure a literary agent. Mostly, I received rejection letters. The ones that expressed an interest wanted me to do minor/major rewrites. Some wanted me to change around portions of the book. But like I mentioned earlier, my family came first. School and extracurricular activities pushed the book to the back burner. Time and inclination were waning. But now, recently retired I have had the time.”
The book is available on those sites in printed and e-book format. “I want to donate some copies to the library in Linden, but have not made contact with the library people,” said Jones.