Characters

The novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin focuses on two main characters: Larry Ott and Silas Jones. Larry Ott is a lonely middle-aged mechanic who lives in rural Mississippi. Larry has been shunned by members of his community because everyone believes he was involved in the disappearance of a young woman.

Silas Jones is the constable of a neighboring community and used to be Larry Ott’s childhood friend. When Larry is found with a shotgun wound to his chest in his house, and the local authorities believe he might be involved in another woman’s disappearance, Silas attempts to find out what happened to him. 

Wallace Stringfellow, who is Larry’s only friend, is also an important character. Wallace Stringfellow appears to bond with Larry and identify with him, but they eventually have a falling out when Wallace keeps asking Larry about Cindy Walker. In the end, it turns out that Wallace is the one who kills Tina Rutherford.

Carl Ott is Larry’s father. His relationship with his son is worth mentioning, as well as his complex personality.

Other notable characters include Roy French, the Chief Investigator of the county, Alice, Silas’s mother, and Cindy Walker, the woman who disappeared after being on a date with Larry.