Cookeville resident and author Christopher Greyson infusing his latest mystery novel with a focus on realism and the emotional toll of criminal prosecution.
Greyson said “The Sound of Regret,” was written in collaboration with former prosecutor and Congressman Trey Gowdy to ensure the courtroom scenes and legal procedures are authentic. Grayson said the story follows a prosecutor named Colm Truesdale in North Carolina and serves as a standalone murder mystery that weaves together elements of Southern Gothic drama.
“We really wanted to find a way to tell things to tell the whole story from a prosecutor point- a prosecutor’s point of view, because so many times people don’t get that,” Greyson said. “They’ll get the police point of view, investigative point of view.”
Greyson said the narrative explores the “hand grenade” effect of violent crime, which impacts victims, families, and the officials tasked with seeking justice. Greyson said his own recent experience serving as a jury foreman for a double life-sentence trial in Cookeville helped him translate that specific tension into the novel.
“I cry when I write frequently just because the stuff I write about is very you know sometimes there’s a lot of humor but sometimes there’s a great deal of pain and I try to get that across and to make people think,” Greyson said. “You know like when I write about like a police officer I want them- I want people to realize that when a police officer pulls somebody over he doesn’t know if he’s pulling over a grandmother or a grandmother with a shotgun. I try to get those facts across.”
Greyson said he draws inspiration from his interactions with people, ranging from a Boston police officer neighbor to a 6-foot-6-inch “unreliable witness” he met on a walking trail. Greyson said his participation in the Cookeville Citizens Academy with Sheriff Eddie Farris provided him with technical insights into jail operations, SWAT teams, and K9 units.
“And I wanted the reader to really get that, to understand fully the the you know the cost to him, and it’s one of the reasons that you know divorce rates are so high, alcohol rates are so high um is with what they’re what they’re dealing with and have to put up with,” Greyson said. “It’s kind of like the you know the same with the you know the first responders and sometimes until you walk in those shoes you can’t understand you know that. And that’s and and that’s really the thing to to convey in a book that you try to get it right.”
Greyson said he moved to Cookeville eight years ago after a career that spanned acting, computer science, and writing. Greyson said the local culture has already inspired two series, including a post-apocalyptic series titled *The Dark* and a mystery series about a Boston detective who relocates to Tennessee.
“I really think so and um you know a lot of people have you know reached out to me and and they certainly get a kick out of it, and then the local flavor that goes in there because like a lot of the things that happen to me like when I came down you know and people are like ‘Hey do you like Boston butts?'” Greyson said. “I’m like ‘What? Excuse me?’ And they’re like ‘It’s a cut of meat,’ I’m like ‘Oh thank you for clarifying,’ um when they talk about chicken and waffles and the and the local flavor that they can get.”
Greyson said he is currently considering a future project focused on true crime stories from Cookeville’s history.
