York's Moon

York’s Moon is an unconventional murder mystery, a love story and the story of the little guy fighting city hall and winning. Sort of.

When a dead guy falls off the train just yards from Yorktown, a hobo camp near West Wheaton, California, all manner of forces begin to collide.

Three men live in Yorktown: York, the old blind hobo and self-proclaimed mayor of his little enclave, Denny, the young rail rider, and Sly, the damaged Vietnam vet. When they are blamed for the murder, the town fathers are ready to bulldoze the camp that has existed there for forty years or more.

Clover, the girl who works at the donut shop and keeps the bums in day-old and toothpaste as her personal ministry, determines to save the camp and the harmless guys who live out in the open. She has the compassionate ear of the sheriff, but his deputy is a hothead, and in the pocket of the mayor who has shady business dealings he needs to have accomplished under dark of night.
When Clover and her boys discover who really killed the guy on the train, tensions ratchet up and a van full of thugs are hired to go clean up the hobo camp by the light of the full moon, but blind old York and his two inept sidekicks are ready for them in as unconventional a defensive posture as possible.

Eventually, everyone knows it’s the end of the era where rail riders can live out their freedoms, and the inevitable is going to happen, but before it does, those who wield unreasonable power must have their comeuppance, and those who have been doing good works all their lives must be rewarded.

Elizabeth Engstrom is the author of fourteen books and well over two hundred fifty short stories, articles and essays. She is a sought-after teacher, panelist and keynote speaker at writing conferences and conventions around the world. Engstrom holds a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing and a Master’s in Applied Theology, both from Marylhurst University. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her fisherman-husband and dog, where she puts her pen to use for social justice and is always working on the next book.