Synopses & Reviews
In1964, a grisly murder is committed in the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota. Erik and Lida Knudsen are found murdered in their bed, their throats slit. Two sons—Jaeger and Peter, ages 19 and 20—live in the same house, but claim to have heard nothing while asleep in their rooms.
Sheriff Hilo Jenkins is called to the scene and discovers a strange copper amulet clasped in Erik’s hand. Knowing that his friend Marjorie Trumaine is a skilled researcher and professional indexer, Jenkins asks for her help in investigating the possible meaning of the amulet with its unusual markings.
Her search takes her to a nearby college where she meets Professor Phineas Strand, who once had a similar amulet that was stolen. Later, Professor Strand is found murdered in the same brutal fashion. And Marjorie uncovers a connection between Peter Knudsen and the professor.
As she gets closer to the truth, Marjorie feels increasingly threatened, knowing the killer will stop at nothing to cover his tracks.
Synopsis
1964 Life on the North Dakota farm hasn t always been easy for Marjorie Trumaine. She has begun working as a professional indexer to help with the bills which have only gotten worse since the accident that left her husband, Hank, blind and paralyzed. When her nearest neighbors are murdered in their beds, though, Marjorie suddenly has to deal with new and terrifying problems.
Sheriff Hilo Jenkins brings her a strange amulet, found clutched in the hand of her murdered neighbor, and asks her to quietly find out what it is. Marjorie uses all the skills she has developed as an indexer to research the amulet and look into the murders, but as she closes in on the killer, and people around her continue to die, she realizes that the murderer is also closing in on her."
Synopsis
Larry D. Sweazy is the author of The Gila Wars, The Coyote Tracker, The Devil’s Bones, The Cougar’s Prey, The Badger’s Revenge, The Scorpion Trail, and The Rattlesnake Season. He won the WWA Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005, and the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for the Josiah Wolfe series. He was nominated for a Derringer award in 2007, and was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010 and 2011. He has published over fifty nonfiction articles and short stories, which have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; The Adventure of the Missing Detective: And 25 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories!; Boys’ Life; Hardboiled; Amazon Shorts, and several other publications and anthologies. He is member of MWA (Mystery Writers of America), WWA (Western Writers of America), and WF (Western Fictioneers).