Synopses & Reviews
The undertaker's wife waits; she weaves; she builds.
The undertaker practices his art, the Dismal Trade, with consummate skill. He has raised it to an art through the high craft of the Connable Method. Through it, he has managed to transform the ugliness of death into a thing of dignity and beauty. Victims brutalized by war, street fights, tavern brawls, ambushes, fires, every hazard in a raw West---these, in his hands, become presentable. Everywhere on the frontier, which erupts with life and death, he offers his skill: to the rich of San Francisco, the bawds and ruffians of the Barbary Coast, to Kansas cowboys, outlaws, soldiers, and sheriffs. He is devoted to dignifying the dead.
She is devoted to making her marriage whole, in spite of the tragedy that surrounds it and, most especially, in spite of the tragedy that in one terrible afternoon strikes at its center.
Today the undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier. It is high drama, for only his art can save America's financial markets. Her task on this day is secret, an act of understanding and dedication.
In the end, it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death.
Review
"The tale of a master executioner written by a master storyteller: What more could you ask for?"---Elmore Leonard on The Master Executioner
"One feels and smells the gallows and hears the snap of the second cervical vertebra. It is a remarkable book and one I would urge you to read."---The Amarillo News & Globe-Times (Texas) on The Master Executioner
"This is definitely a novel worth reading."---The Roanoke Times (Virginia) on The Master Executioner
"A master craftsman at storytelling, Loren Estleman spins a fascinating and macabre account about a forgotten craftsman of the Old West, the professional hangman."---Elmer Kelton on The Master Executioner
"Estleman's prose snaps like fresh linen Treasury bills, using a cold-eye-of-God style for a type of fiction-truer-than-fact stretching back to Defoe's true-fact novel A Journal of the Plague Year."---Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Master Executioner
"Mr. Estleman movingly conveys the brutalizing effects of killing for the law, even when you are terribly good at it."---The Economist on The Master Executioner
"A wonderful storyteller who generally doesn't get the serious critical attention he deserves because he writes in genre, Estleman delivers an unforgettable Western shrouded in tragedy and death."---Publishers Weekly's "The Year in Books" on The Master Executioner
"Estleman has given us a somber, yet compelling, story [with a] crushing conclusion."---The Denver Post on The Master Executioner
Review
"The tale of a master executioner written by a master storyteller: What more could you ask for?"---Elmore Leonard on The Master Executioner
"One feels and smells the gallows and hears the snap of the second cervical vertebra. It is a remarkable book and one I would urge you to read."---The Amarillo News & Globe-Times (Texas) on The Master Executioner
“A rollicking tale with characters Mark Twain would be proud to call his own.”—Denver Post on The Undertaker's Wife“Offers a superlative love story and a fascinating look at a misunderstood vocation.”—Publishers Weekly on The Undertaker's Wife "Estleman's prose snaps like fresh linen Treasury bills, using a cold-eye-of-God style for a type of fiction-truer-than-fact stretching back to Defoe's true-fact novel A Journal of the Plague Year."---Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Master Executioner
Synopsis
The undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier, for only his art can save American's financial markets. In the end it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death.
Synopsis
The undertaker's wife waits; she weaves; she builds.
The undertaker practices his art, the Dismal Trade, with consummate skill. He has raised it to an art through the high craft of the Connable Method. Through it, he has managed to transform the ugliness of death into a thing of dignity and beauty. Victims brutalized by war, street fights, tavern brawls, ambushes, fires, every hazard in a raw West---these, in his hands, become presentable. Everywhere on the frontier, which erupts with life and death, he offers his skill: to the rich of San Francisco, the bawds and ruffians of the Barbary Coast, to Kansas cowboys, outlaws, soldiers, and sheriffs. He is devoted to dignifying the dead.
She is devoted to making her marriage whole, in spite of the tragedy that surrounds it and, most especially, in spite of the tragedy that in one terrible afternoon strikes at its center.
Today the undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier. It is high drama, for only his art can save America's financial markets. Her task on this day is secret, an act of understanding and dedication.
In the end, it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death.
Synopsis
From the author of "The Master Executioner" comes this story of life and death on the frontier, where the undertaker offers his skills to rich and poor, cowboys and outlaws. His wife is devoted to making her marriage whole in spite of the tragedy that strikes on one terrible day.
Synopsis
The undertaker's wife waits; she weaves; she builds.
The undertaker practices his art, the Dismal Trade, with consummate skill. He has raised it to an art through the high craft of the Connable Method. Through it, he has managed to transform the ugliness of death into a thing of dignity and beauty. Victims brutalized by war, street fights, tavern brawls, ambushes, fires, every hazard in a raw West---these, in his hands, become presentable. Everywhere on the frontier, which erupts with life and death, he offers his skill: to the rich of San Francisco, the bawds and ruffians of the Barbary Coast, to Kansas cowboys, outlaws, soldiers, and sheriffs. He is devoted to dignifying the dead.
She is devoted to making her marriage whole, in spite of the tragedy that surrounds it and, most especially, in spite of the tragedy that in one terrible afternoon strikes at its center.
Today the undertaker is called to disguise the suicide of a famous financier. It is high drama, for only his art can save America's financial markets. Her task on this day is secret, an act of understanding and dedication.
In the end, it is the undertaker's wife who, through love, is able to transcend death.
About the Author
Loren D. Estleman, the author of more than fifty books, is admired for both his novels of the West and his crime novels. A nominee for the National Book Award, he has won five Spur Awards. Estleman lives in Michigan with his wife, author Deborah Morgan.