"I was mostly interested in the sheriff's progression from a presumption of guilt to a reluctant belief in Trusdale's innocence. Whether Jim Trusdale actually did kill Rebecca Cline was less interesting to me than Barclay's change of mind." 
 - Stephen King, in an interview with The New Yorker 
 In my opinion, this perfectly sums up the character development during this story. King didn't create characters you'd particularly care for, but he managed to write a thrilling story in an intriguing atmosphere, embedded in a question of morality about belief and faithlessness. "A Death" was the first story by King I've read so far, although I bought "Under the Dome" a few days ago in the bookstore and couldn't resist to look into it (I should really start buying books only when I've finished the last one, because I always end up reading countless ones simultaneously), so that I wasn't unfamiliar with the writing style. 
 This short story can be read for free here and is not even 5000 words long, so ... read this interesting little story. It is worth it.