Murder in Burnt Orange
A Hilda Johansson Mystery
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- USD 15.99
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- USD 15.99
Descripción editorial
Hilda Johansson, expecting her first child and miserable in the summer heat, turns to crime investigation to occupy her mind. It’s a heat wave in more ways than one in the summer of 1905, as strikes, arson, and train wrecks threaten the fabric of civilized society in South Bend, Indiana. In the tumultuous first years of the twentieth century, anarchy seems to rule, with the assassination of an American president and labor unrest like the Anthracite Coal Strike bringing misery to millions. From St. Petersburg, Russia, to Chicago, U.S.A., the army, police, and strike-breakers battle workers in the streets, resulting in many deaths. How can a Swedish immigrant like Hilda Johansson, formerly a housemaid, possibly affect these conditions? Making deductions worthy of Sherlock Holmes—and using her own “Baker Street Irregulars”—Hilda recognizes a pattern to the disturbing events. Even though confined to her home by pregnancy, she draws from the town’s varied social strata and enlists allies to try to put an end to disruption and find justice for all. “Absorbing. . . . Well-portrayed characters and a final surprise sure to please series fans make this a winner.” —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the sweltering summer of 1905 in South Bend, Ind., Dams's absorbing seventh Hilda Johansson mystery (after 2008's Indigo Christmas) finds Hilda, a Swedish immigrant who's moved up the social ladder from housemaid to lady, pregnant with her first child and restless. "Downright fratchety" is how her worried Irish husband, Patrick, describes her to his Uncle Dan, proprietor of Malloy's Dry Goods. For diversion, Hilda starts to look into local crimes, including a suspicious fire at Malloy's store in which a man burns to death. The deliberate derailment of a train in Ohio that kills 21, one of a number of recent train wreckings, points to a greater mystery. In the end, Hilda must try to avert a major Labor Day riot. Well-portrayed characters and a final surprise sure to please series fans make this a winner.