Pitchfork Murders

Pitchfork Murder is a sequel to Wild Onion which told the story of two young immigrants: Axel Konrad and Seamus O'Shea. They were forced to leave Germany and Ireland to escape arrest for crimes they did not commit. The two meet on the docks of New York in 1831, make their way to Chicago, and settle down. In Pitchfork Murders the two establish themselves: Axel founding the Greater Bank of Chicago while Seamus works on the construction of the I & M Canal and the expulsion of the Indians from Illinois. Both become family men. But soon the intrigues of the Old World surface. A series of mysterious murders begin to occur with no apparent motive. The victims are marked with stabs of a pitchfork. The mystery is finally solved in a surprise ending of the story.