The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy, Volume 2

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.


long_summary: 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.


Author_Bio: Called by one reviewer, "The Tony Hillerman of the Kentucky Mountains," Southeastern Kentucky native and novelist Dr. Jack Justin Turner commands perhaps the most authentic voice in generations to emerge from this literary-rich area. Dr. Turner passed away in December 2011, but not before finishing two trilogies and a non-fiction classic.


In the first two volumes of The Cumberland Mountain Trilogy, Dr. Turner brings to life the rich heritage of mountain life, the deleterious effects of industrialization, and the heroic actions of very real, engaging and complex personalities. Volume I, The Sheriffs' Murder Cases and Volume II, The Sheriff of Frozen's Murder Cases, shed a much different light on a region often ineptly and perfidiously portrayed. When published, Volume III, The Sheriff of Hell's Murder Cases will complete this exciting series.


His epic trilogy, The Foxes and the Hounds, is a riveting ride through the tumultuous days of early coal, cut-throat steamboat races, immense wealth, love triangles, feuds and treason in the Kentucky hill country and the Bluegrass. Thus far, two novels in this trilogy have been published: Big Medicine River Days and the "hot off the presses" Bluegrass Days; with Colorado Days soon to come. Although The Foxes and the Hounds trilogy is a work of fiction, much of it reveals historical events as they actually happened. The author, through decades of fastidious research and fortuitous family connections, was allowed access to certain sealed records thought unattainable for decades. Dr. Turner also is the primary author of the best-selling nonfiction book, Maytown Magic and Mayhem: Fifty Years of Mountain Basketball.


Dr. Turner received his B.A. Degree from Berea College (where he once simultaneously appeared on the college disciplinary list and academic excellence list,) his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and was honored as Professor Emeritus at Middle Tennessee State University.


Keywords: Romance, Action, History, War, Kentucky, Herald, Fiction, Iron Fist, Mystery, Veteran