Christina Jacqueline Johns is a criminologist with a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh , Scotland.

She has over 25 years of experience working in and around the criminal justice system including the Fulton County Juvenile Court, the Atlanta Police Department, the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Criminal Conspiracies Division of the Justice Department.

She has written and published three books: Power, Ideology and the War on Drugs: Nothing Succeeds Like Failure; The Media, State Violence, and the Invasion of Panama, and The Origins of Violence in Mexico.

She has traveled and/or lived in Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Sweden, Scotland, Guam, Saipan and Cuba.

She is currently an Associate Professor of Criminology at Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida and a commentator for WFSU Radio.

Brief Plot Summary of The Heart of Savannah

Criminologist, Lydia Langdale McPherson is always trying to cook the goose of Madison Knight, a notoriously corrupt black power broker in Jackson, Alabama. Nobody wants to touch Madison Knight either because they are afraid of him or so corrupt themselves they can't afford to. So, although Lydia is always gathering new evidence and uncovering new scandals, she can never quite "cook Madison's goose."

The corrupt practices of Madison Knight and his "enterprise" form the unsolved backdrop to the forefront mysteries in the series.

Lydia runs across other mysteries in the process of trying to cook Madison's goose.

In this initial book, The Heart of Savannah, Lydia and her research associate Andrew Hart are gathering evidence against Madison Knight when a black yard man, Eugene Weldon, is found dead in the bedroom of Savannah Duke, the wealthy white daughter of Steven Allen Duke, a prominent Delta physician. Savannah and Eddie Cole, Savannah's current yard man are indicted for the murder.

Lydia uncovers evidence that the real murderer is Steven Allen Duke, Savannah's father. Weldon had been blackmailing him over his participation in the Tuskegee experiments years before and his involvement in a Medicaid fraud at the present.

Savannah Duke is acquitted, the charges are dropped against Steven Allen Duke (obstructing justice by not immediately calling the police) and Eddie Cole winds up in Kilby Correctional Institution.

Cole argued at his trial that he had merely tied Weldon up and left him in a bedroom to wait for the police. Cole's trial is almost over before he realizes that it was Daddy Duke who killed Weldon and not him.

Savannah Duke goes back to drugs and drinking. Daddy Duke dies suddenly of a heart attack. Eddie Cole sits in Kilby Correctional Institution writing letters to Savannah. Frank Johnson, a black policeman and former student of Lydia's can't get anybody interested in the evidence.

Lydia goes back to trying to cook Madison's Goose.

Main Characters

Lydia Langdale McPherson. 40-year-old criminologist, who has worked, traveled and married on three continents.

Lee Ray Macon. 45-year-old retired Jackson Firefighter and Lydia's fifth husband.

Andrew Hart. 25-year-old gay research assistant of Lydia's, in Delta waiting to go to Africa with the Peace Corps.

Danny Ward. 76-year-old grandmother of Lydia, widow of Liam Ward, Alabama union organizer.

Other Characters

Frank Johnson. Black Delta police officer and former student of Lydia's.

Savannah Asford Duke. 45-year-old daughter of Steven Allen Duke.

Steven Allen Duke. Savannah's father and a prominent Delta physician.

Faye Lynn Duke. Steven Allen Duke's wife.

Mary Boykin. Danny's housekeeper.

Carol Tate. Black professor at Delta State University and Lydia's friend.

Lydia receives a phone call from a feminist lesbian colleague telling her that a prominent criminologist and Lydia's former boss has been murdered at a criminology conference in Atlanta. Lydia's reaction is that unless Sheck was tortured, he got less than what he deserved and was such an asshole that probably everybody he knew had a motive (including his wife, with whom he had an "open marriage"). Before long, however, Lydia finds herself a suspect since she filed a sexual harassment complaint against Sheck several years before. Lydia finally has to renew ties with the Atlanta Police Department in order to find out who killed Sheck.

After a series of incapacitating strokes, Lee Ray's mother, Mamma Earl, has been virtually senseless for 12 years. Lee Ray's father, Jesse Earl Macon stays with her 24-hours a day and won't let anyone except Lee Ray near her. After Mamma Earl's death, Lydia and Lee Ray find out that Jesse Earl was involved in church bombings in Birmingham during the 60s and the killing of a black man in Jackson in the 50s. Lee Ray's brother, Tommy Earl provides information that leads them to believe that Jesse Earl is responsible for beating Mamma Earl and probably causing the series of strokes. He then jealously guarded her to keep her from telling what she knew about the racial violence.