cover image LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF MURDER: A Revolutionary War Mystery

LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF MURDER: A Revolutionary War Mystery

Karen Swee, . . Bridge Works, $23.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-882593-81-1

In Swee's engaging first novel, set in British-occupied New Jersey in 1777, the widow Abigail Lawrence is trying to raise a teenage daughter and operate a busy tavern amid the tumult of the American Revolution. When Abigail finds the body of a guest pinned to the floor of his room with a British army sword, she's not too stunned to note that the bloodstains on the weapon are inconsistent with the wound having been the cause of death. The local English officers take a keen interest in the murder after Abigail discovers that the dead man was carrying letters addressed to none other than George Washington and John Hancock. With a minimum of historical detail, the author nicely evokes the period. While readers will probably put the pieces of the puzzle together long before the heroine does, no doubt Abigail will hone her sleuthing skills in later installments of what promises to be a fine series. (Jan. 1)

Forecast: The novel setting (the publisher claims to have found no other mystery set during the Revolution in America), blurbs from Miriam Grace Manfredo and Ann McMillan (both authors of Civil War mysteries), and an author tour focused on mid-Atlantic Revolution sites should draw an army of historical mystery fans.