Synopses & Reviews
Seattle, 1901. The race to win an electrical competition incites Professor of Electrical Engineering Benjamin Bradshaws obsession for invention in the second entry to this exciting historical series. The contest winners telephonic system will deliver music from the Seattle Grand Theater to homes throughout the city, and Bradshaw is confident he can win. Before he can enter the contest, Bradshaw discovers what is thought to be a gypsy wagon suddenly abandoned behind his house. What happened to the father and child who lived in this cart? Then President McKinley is assassinated, casting Bradshaw and the entire nation into shock. However, Bradshaw is captivated by a crime closer to home: the peddlers child may have witnessed a murder. He follows the girls trail, plunging into a seedy underworld of bars and brothels. Frustrated by the police departments apathy and caught between power struggles, he doesnt know whom to trust. Each step of his investigation entangles him deeper in crime and corruption until he realizes that to save the child, he must transform his contest entry into a trap to catch a killer. Bradshaws electrical forensic and investigative skills, combined with a keen understanding of human nature, bring the Seattle police—and murder—to his doorstep during the social and scientific turmoil of the early twentieth century.
Review
Washington
"Bradshaw will win readers over as he puts his own life and his friendship with Det. James O’Brien in jeopardy in pursuit of the truth." —Publishers Weekly
"The historical tidbits and information on early electrical inventions keep it interesting." —Kirkus Reviews
"A fine choice for historical-mystery buffs." —Booklist
About the Author
Bernadette Pajer is a Seattle native and graduate of the University of Washington, Bothell. She lives in Monroe, WA with her husband and son.