As the murky waters of the Mississippi River at Port Gibson ominously part at the end of a taut tow line, a personalized license plate with the letters “Wil K MC” comes into view on the rear of a sunken car. Instantly, Connor realizes authorities have discovered the remains of his girlfriend, Willow Kingston McKenzie.
Before the car can be recovered and examined, he drives away from the scene, his thoughts drifting back to his adolescent years when he and Willow were inseparable. Their romance had ended when she left Vicksburg and the lucrative McKenzie Towing business, even though she was destined to inherit a large fortune from her father.
With time she had outgrown Connor and made a new life for herself in New York City, even though they shared secrets hidden in a cave in the National Military Park, near one of the spiral observation towers. Willow became a millionaire and world traveler in her own right, but she was haunted by the secrets of the spiral tower. Although rich and successful, she felt unfilled as a person and returned to her childhood home to right the wrongs she and Connor had committed over three decades earlier.
Connor was still single and available, and they quickly rekindled the love that existed between them during their high school and college years. The future looked bright.
Sadly, Willow was brutally murdered before they could be married.
After five years of dead-ends, the authorities lost interest in solving the murder.
Once Willow’s body was recovered, her cousin, Woody, vowed to spend the rest of his life in the pursuit of Willow’s murderer. Not until her submerged car was discovered was it possible to solve the murder, thus exposing the hidden secrets of the spiral tower.

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Joe Woods, a native of the Mississippi Delta town of Richey, worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Northern California at the Tahoe National Forest for two years. He returned to his home state of Mississippi and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for thirty-eight years, retiring in 2003. His lifelong passion for writing was rekindled after a heart attack in 1992. Since that time he has written and published four novels: Where the Ferry Crosses, The Trial, Old Main Burning, and An Unexpected Flight. Secrets of the Spiral Tower is the fifth and final installment in the series he calls “The McKenzie Chronicles.” A former resident of Vicksburg, he currently lives in Raymond, Mississippi.

For information on purchasing this book go to joewoodsauthor.com