Anything But Civil

August 5, 2013
Loan-Wilsey combines meticulous research with sturdy characters in her second Hattie Davish mystery (after 2012’s A Lack of Tolerance). In 1892, Hattie Davish has come to Galena, Ill., home of many Civil War veterans, as the secretary of British scholar Sir Arthur Windom-Greene. Sir Arthur is interviewing Cornelius Starrett, a retired Union general who was present at Appomattox, when trouble arrives in the form of Henry Starrett, the general’s crude, rude, and lewd son. Henry incites violence against a former “Copperhead” (a Northerner who sought peace with the Confederacy), and his presence destabilizes other relationships. Hattie, caught in the middle of the resulting chaos, reluctantly agrees to investigate a murder when Sir Arthur becomes the prime suspect. Happily, the local police investigator and the doctor to whom Hattie is attracted don’t nag her to mind her own business. On the other hand, some readers may not want to know quite so much about Galena’s history. Agent: John Talbot, John Talbot Agency.