The Kansas Murder Trilogy

Download or read book The Kansas Murder Trilogy written by Melvin Litton and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2023-08-17 with total page 1346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in one volume, the complete Kansas Murder Trilogy. KING HARVEST In the summer of 1975 a group of young men known as “the boys” make their stab for freedom harvesting wild hemp, or marijuana, on the Kansas plains. Several are Vietnam vets, and all are somehow marked, at odds with their time. They see themselves as inheritors of the mythic West, like buffalo hunters in league with their captain, Frankie Sage. As long as they remain unarmed their crime is counted only a misdemeanor. But a rival gang led by Valentine LaReese is prone to gunplay. The two are fated to clash. Privy to the action is CC Holtz, “King of the county,” who like any king demands tribute. Early on a double murder on the border of two counties calls out both sheriffs. Their investigation and the free-spirited harvest run parallel till all trails converge, leading to a wry, dramatic climax. BANKS OF THE RIVER Jack Marshal, known as “the Lion,” is a prideful sinner and reckless womanizer. When his 15-year-old daughter, Bonny, winds up pregnant by an old running buddy, Jack is outraged. And when the man is found dead, Jack is charged with murder. Alongside the coming trial play the many goings-on in a small Kansas town, summer 1960. There’s Ruthie, Jack's sister and local femme fatale, who does what with whom and when she pleases; the old priest, Father Horabet, who harbors sins of his own; Anna, Jack's wife, who quietly sustains herself and her daughter through the storm of scandal; and Johnny, Jack’s son, who faces howls of scorn pitching in little league baseball. Finally the town gathers for Jack’s trial. Beyond the drama of guilt or innocence plays the question of how men and women grapple for meaning in their wary coexistence. For temptation like the sunrise returns each day, even as we imagine ourselves standing on the banks of the river, we are immersed, carried in a greater current. SKIN FOR SKIN Part mystery and part myth born of fact and rumor left buried in the Kansas dirt. The story opens with a murder as desperate as the voice that stirs from the dust in witness. This voice, or knowing, haunts a young man, Faris Clayton, who will play in events to come. Time and place, 1934, Elim, Kansas. The action involves six gamblers initially robbed and a seventh absent that fateful night who is killed through foolish mischance. And whose older brother vows vengeance. Amid the swirl of death two farm families, the Claytons and the Wales, struggle to survive the drought and depression. Faris knows the gamblers, the victim, and the widow. Guesses the why of things and carries the burden of his knowing. Vera Ellen Wales, or Elle, stands at a greater remove and innocence. Enters the story a girl of 14 and matures into a young woman of 16 when she and Faris finally meet and lace hands. Meanwhile in Elim, guilt and madness play to the final scene.

Download or read book King Harvest written by Melvin Litton and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the summer of 1975 a group of young men known as “the boys” make their stab for freedom harvesting wild hemp, or marijuana, on the Kansas plains. Several are Vietnam vets, and all are somehow marked, at odds with their time. They see themselves as inheritors of the mythic West, like buffalo hunters in league with their captain, Frankie Sage. As long as they remain unarmed their crime is counted only a misdemeanor. But a rival gang led by Valentine LaReese is prone to gunplay. The two are fated to clash. Privy to the action is CC Holtz, “King of the county,” who like any king demands tribute. Early on a double murder on the border of two counties calls out both sheriffs. Their investigation and the free-spirited harvest run parallel till all trails converge, leading to a wry, dramatic climax. *** “Beautiful writing about so many sad and disturbing things in a riveting crime story.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Download or read book Banks of the River written by Melvin Litton and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jack Marshal, known as “the Lion,” is a prideful sinner and reckless womanizer. When his 15-year-old daughter, Bonny, winds up pregnant by an old running buddy, Jack is outraged. And when the man is found dead, Jack is charged with murder. Alongside the coming trial play the many goings-on in a small Kansas town, summer 1960. There’s Ruthie, Jack's sister and local femme fatale, who does what with whom and when she pleases; the old priest, Father Horabet, who harbors sins of his own; Anna, Jack's wife, who quietly sustains herself and her daughter through the storm of scandal; and Johnny, Jack’s son, who faces howls of scorn pitching in little league baseball. Finally the town gathers for Jack’s trial. Beyond the drama of guilt or innocence plays the question of how men and women grapple for meaning in their wary coexistence. For temptation like the sunrise returns each day, even as we imagine ourselves standing on the banks of the river, we are immersed, carried in a greater current.

Download or read book Skin for Skin written by Melvin Litton and published by Crossroad Press. This book was released on 2023-04-18 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part mystery and part myth born of fact and rumor left buried in the Kansas dirt. The story opens with a murder as desperate as the voice that stirs from the dust in witness. This voice, or knowing, haunts a young man, Faris Clayton, who will play in events to come. Time and place, 1934, Elim, Kansas. The action involves six gamblers initially robbed and a seventh absent that fateful night who is killed through foolish mischance. And whose older brother vows vengeance. Amid the swirl of death two farm families, the Claytons and the Wales, struggle to survive the drought and depression. Faris knows the gamblers, the victim, and the widow. Guesses the why of things and carries the burden of his knowing. Vera Ellen Wales, or Elle, stands at a greater remove and innocence. Enters the story a girl of 14 and matures into a young woman of 16 when she and Faris finally meet and lace hands. Meanwhile in Elim, guilt and madness play to the final scene

Download or read book The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy, Volume 2 - The Sheriff of Frozen's Murder Cases written by Jack Justin Turner and published by First Edition Design Pub.. This book was released on 2014-12-11 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sheriff of Frozen's Murder Cases is the second volume in The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy. Sheriff Jake Herald's career was characterized by violence, intemperate outbursts against "Outsiders" (non-Mountaineers), high-handed and perhaps illegal campaign tactics, flights of fancy wherein he extols the beauties of the mountains and the virtues of its inhabitants, incarceration and intimidation of coal camp managers, police and owners, and, some say, inveterate womanizing. He did, however, quite remarkably, find the time to solve the occasional murder case. In this volume, Jake considers running for High Sheriff while being assailed by a series of difficulties, some of them quite bizarre. Violence from a near war in West Virginia between union miners and coal company "detectives" threatens to spill over into Chinoe County, Kentucky. Two bodies are found on the same stretch of railroad track. "Italian Bank Robbers" strike a nearby town, a young school teacher is stalked, and automobiles come to Chinoe with the introduction of a yellow Duesenberg and a Bluebird Overland. The series of murder cases that Jake Herald faces, and the methods he employs, build suspense and create the dramatic tension that propels the novel to its climax, and to an unforgettable resolution that promises a love interest readers are sure to look forward to in the final novel of the Cumberland Mountain Trilogy. Keywords: Romance, Action, History, War, Kentucky, Herald, Fiction, Iron Fist, Mystery, Veteran

Download or read book Doppelgänger written by Susan Cory and published by . This book was released on 2019-03-15 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Architect Iris Reid is arrested when the police identify her as one of the bank robbers who shot a guard. Scrambling to defend herself against an airtight case, Iris discovers that her mail's been diverted to an abandoned apartment. She's able to find a clue and pick up her doppelganger's trail. But her adversary is watching her every move.

Download or read book The Last Policeman written by Ben H. Winters and published by Quirk Books. This book was released on 2012-07-10 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[The] weird, beautiful, unapologetically apocalyptic Last Policeman trilogy is one of my favorite mystery series."—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns Winner of the 2013 Edgar® Award Winner for Best Paperback Original! What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway? Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact. The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares. The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered? Ebook contains an excerpt from the anticipated second book in the trilogy, Countdown City.