Decent People

In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon—three enigmatic siblings—are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills— on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line—are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip, and wonder. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case.

Fortunately, one person is determined to do more than talk. Miss Josephine Wright has just moved back to West Mills from New York City to retire and marry a childhood sweetheart, Olympus “Lymp” Seymore. When she discovers that the murder victims are Lymp’s half-siblings, and that Lymp is one of West Mills’s leading suspects, she sets out to prove his innocence. But as Jo investigates those who might know the most about the Harmons’ deaths, she starts to discover more secrets than she’d ever imagined, and a host of cover-ups—ranging from medical misuse to illicit affairs—that could upend the reputations of many.

For readers of American Spy and Bluebird, Bluebird, Decent People is a powerful new novel about shame, race, money, and the reckoning required to heal a fractured community.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Bloomsbury.

Book club questions for Decent People by De'Shawn Charles Winslow

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

Throughout the novel, Jo is fixated on Lymp taking a polygraph test. Where does her mistrust originate? Is it valid? How is she influenced by the community?

Savannah describes her father, Ted as “not quite a Klansmen,” whereas Darby is described as a “good ol’ boy . . . a third-generation Klansmen.” What is the distinction here, if any? How are different levels of racism expressed throughout the novel and through different characters?

“His very existence reminds me of my mother’s heartache” is Marian’s explanation for her resentment toward Lymp. What does she mean by this? What other “mother’s [heartaches]” inform the narrative and the characters’ actions?

“And though [Ted] would not be able to confide in [Hera] his sorrows or his worries, he just wanted to feel safe. With his mother, he always felt safe.” How do mothers in the novel protect and endanger their children?

Marian tells Ted that she “regrets nothing . . . life is too short for it.” How is the theme of regret explored throughout the novel? How is regret destructive? How does regret help characters channel empathy or compassion?

Savannah is disinherited by her father for marrying a black man and having black children. How does she still maintain and exercise her privilege despite these obstacles? How is she perceived by the community, and how does it affect her?

Marian believes that “money is freedom.” How is that idea confirmed and challenged in the novel? How does the theme of social mobility intersect with the themes of racism and greed?

Eunice is obsessed with “curing” LaRoy of “homosexuality,” claiming “something had to be done quickly, before he had a chance to act on it.” Are her concerns motivated by morality or shame? How is her husband’s absence from the conversation to be interpreted? How can do you interpret her husband’s “sins” in relation to LaRoy’s?

“All three of ’em had to go. They didn’t know their place. Their daddy didn’t either. They had to go,” Hera confesses to the authorities. What significance does her decisive role in the story have thematically? What do you think the author was trying to suggest by having her as the book’s major twist?

“You may not remember, but you were a happy child before we moved north. You loved it in West Mills. It was paradise for you, Jojo.” What is the role of West Mills itself in the novel, and what do you make of the different ways Jojo, Herschel, and others view it? Different characters go north throughout the novel, as opposed to staying in their hometown. What are the results, and what are we to make of Jo’s decision to ultimately make a home in West Mills?

Decent People Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Decent People discussion questions

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by USA Today, Electric Literature, The Root, The Millions, Lit Hub, Crime Reads, The Philadelphia Inquirer, AARP, Book Riot, and Lambda Literary

“[A] talented young author . . . Watching Winslow subvert the conventions of an old literary form is half the thrill of this novel. After all, the shelf of mystery detectives is hardly crowded with 60-year-old Black women. And that’s not the only cozy convention Winslow toys with . . . The larger social context that Winslow explores is what moves this story beyond one crime into a reflection on the myriad unacknowledged crimes committed across decades.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Propulsive . . . a murder mystery that doubles as a savvy examination of race and class . . . Decent People practically turns its own pages, creating in the reader an insatiable curiosity.” —Los Angeles Times

“Anyone who adored Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake and Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Take My Hand, take note. De’Shawn Charles Winslow invites readers on a satisfying ride that, through his keen observations of human nature, leads to deeper considerations of the glacial progress of racial equality.” —BookPage, starred review

“Winslow returns to the fictional Southern town of West Mills for a second time in this expertly-plotted and character-driven follow-up to his award-winning debut novel . . . A haunting, page-turning mystery, Decent People makes a must-read on anyone’s literary list.” —The Millions

“Winslow offers several points of view in this character-driven mystery, once again pulling readers in with conversational, highly readable writing while deftly weaving in themes of race, sexuality, and small-town dynamics. Another winner.” —Booklist

“Spirited.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Interconnected family secrets, a whodunit murder mystery and the unshakable remnants of bigotry spin North Carolina author De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s second novel ‘Decent People’ into an introspective and big-hearted examination of small-town Southern life . . . On the surface Decent People is a cozy, homespun mystery that sets out to answer who killed the Harmon siblings. But Winslow has tucked a sophisticated story full of entwined relationships and crackling social commentary inside this small-town tale. In examining the bigotry, racism and classism prevalent in West Mills four decades ago, Winslow puts forth the question without directly asking: How much has truly changed?” —Atlanta Journal

“It’s built around a mystery, but this novel is more a deep literary exploration of the complex dynamics of race, class, and homophobia in the 1970s American South; it proves a worthy successor to Winslow’s acclaimed In West Mills.” —Library Journal

“Winslow chronicles the aftermath of a triple homicide that rocks a segregated Southern community in his dynamic latest . . . There are a trove of surprises along the way to the well-earned resolution, and Winslow entrances readers with strong characters, impeccable prose, and brisk pacing. As a character-driven mystery, it delivers the goods.” —Publishers Weekly

“This tale comes across as considerably more than a regional whodunit because of its author’s humane and sensitive perceptions toward his characters, even those who may not deserve such equanimity.” —Kirkus Reviews

“One of De'Shawn Charles Winslow's greatest gifts is his world-building mastery. West Mills and the people who reside in it feel so real, recognizable, tangible, vibrant, and vivid. His rendering of this southern landscape is extraordinary. And this skill serves Decent People very well. It's been a very long time since I've read a good, old-fashioned whodunnit, and this is a most outstanding one, accomplishing several feats at once: it's a compelling mystery with brilliant misdirections and surprising revelations, all while having depth of purpose and critical, crucial social commentary. Decent People is quite the achievement.” —Robert Jones Jr., author of the National Book Award Finalist and New York Times bestseller, THE PROPHETS

“De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s powerful second novel Decent People is a gripping mystery but also something more. A thoughtful examination of small-town life becomes a story about America itself, looking directly at the legacies of racism and segregation, homophobia and secrecy, poverty and power.” —Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind