Blurbs & Reviews

  • “Some books make you reflect and think about the past. Some make you contemplate the future. A Devil Went Down to Georgia does both and keeps you totally spellbound in the process. In it, the story of Lita McClinton finally receives the light of transparency that it so rightfully deserves. Miller Landau unmasks the complicated role race plays in a heartbreaking case that involves love, family, and deception.”

    — The Honorable Winfield Ward Murray, Professor of Race & Law at Morehouse College and federal immigration judge

  • “This is an important story of race and justice and of a crime still very much unresolved. As a Southerner, I know just how vital-and how delicate-this work can be. Through impeccable research and vibrant writing, Miller Landau has told a story that is both riveting and respectful.”

    — Brooke Baldwin, former CNN anchor and bestselling author of Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power

  • “Deb Miller Landau writes with compassionate eloquence about the murder of Lita Sullivan, one of the most haunting and horrific murders in the history of Atlanta. You’re there with her on the harrowing morning when she meets the hitman in a deserted parking lot, and then as she takes you deep into the winding investigative odyssey that eventually resulted in the conviction of Lita’s husband. This is a deeply researched, smartly written book.”

    — Scott Freeman, Editor-in-chief, Atlanta magazine

  • “Deb Miller Landau’s heartbreaking true crime tale of murder and greed is a meticulously researched portrayal of an accomplished young Black woman’s extraordinary life and cruel death. Obscured behind the lies and manipulations of her charming, obsessive, white millionaire husband, the breathtaking narrative unravels the facts behind the investigations and multiple trials to reveal the shocking truth. Landau exposes the legacy of racial inequity in a criminal justice system that took 20 years to take down the victim’s brazen, psychopathic killer. In the end, Lita McClinton’s life mattered.”

    — Deborah Holt Larkin, author of A Lovely Girl: The Tragedy of Olga Duncan and the Trial of One of California’s Most Notorious Killers

  • Starred Review “Landau is an award-winning journalist, editorial consultant, and the writer of the only story by a woman selected for The Best American Crime Writing 2005 anthology. In this book, she’s turned what could be relegated to the true-crime space and crafted instead an astute, theoretically sophisticated analysis of race, power, and privilege surrounding the murder of Georgia socialite Lita McClinton. Landau doesn’t ever lose sight of McClinton’s humanity even as the book plays out like a novel. She builds her “characters,” key players of the narrative, with visceral and psychological nuance and she draws on her training as a reporter to ensure each chapter is also grounded in facts and information collected through interviews and archival research. The book is written in the present tense, which may at times feel syntactically awkward to some readers, but all will agree that it effectively creates an urgent narrative that’s also removed enough for analysis. VERDICT A highly readable account of murder and systemic racism. This title is a compelling example of how to take stories that made headlines and find the deeper, more nuanced narrative strains that rarely come across in the media.

    Library Journal - July 1, 2024

  • “Journalist Landau probes the killing of Atlanta socialite Lita McClinton in her riveting debut. On the morning of January 16, 1987, Lita, a Black woman, was shot in the head after answering her doorbell. Suspicion quickly settled on Jim Sullivan, the white millionaire Lita was in the process of divorcing; the pair were scheduled to appear in court and divide their assets on the day she was killed. Though Sullivan was the obvious suspect, police lacked evidence linking him to the crime, leading to a protracted judicial process—prosecutors didn’t bring charges against Sullivan until 1992, and a judge swiftly dismissed the case before it could reach a jury—that allowed Sullivan to remarry and start a new family. In 1998, authorities identified long-haul trucker Tony Harwood as the hired gun Sullivan paid to kill Lita; in 2006, Harwood’s testimony finally led to a conviction and life sentence for Sullivan. Landau vividly conjures the casually racist world Lita inhabited with Sullivan, describing how she was ignored at parties in Palm Beach, Fla., and rankled Sullivan’s peers in Macon. Displaying a veteran’s knack for pacing, Landau peppers the narrative with cliff-hangers and vertigo-inducing twists. It adds up to a chilling and infuriating work of true crime.”

    Publisher’s Weekly - June 10, 2024