This fictionalized true crime story explores two murders in New England in the mid-1800s. The first murder is perpetrated against a popular schoolteacher in Vermont and later tied to the murder of a seventeen-year-old girl attending Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, New Hampshire. Both murders are exceedingly brutal, with the victims being raped and mutilated in a similar manner. Each is believed to have been accosted from behind in surprise attacks, and details of the murders reveal just how similar the two atrocities were in execution.

The novel begins with historical information about the city of Pembroke and tells of the idyllic life of the young girl, Josie Langmaid, who is preparing for graduation from the academy. She and her best friend, Lilia Fowler, walk to school down a rustic lane called Academy Road, which runs through a swampy forest. On the morning of October 4, 1875, Josie is brutally and savagely murdered while walking to school alone. The murder won’t be discovered until later that night when a search party is established to look for the dependable girl when she doesn’t come home from school, and all possibilities of her whereabouts have been exhausted. When information about her murder is published in the newspapers, it comes to the attention of authorities, and the similarities to the murder of the popular teacher, Marietta Ball, are apparent. Several people come under suspicion for the crime.

This book tells of the horrific murders of Josie and Marietta and the search for justice. The book’s seeds were first planted when the author heard about the case of Josie while attending Pembroke Academy, and the story was planted in her memory. When, in 2019, she saw a picture of Josie with an account of the infamous murder, she remembered hearing of her in school and was compelled to write a book about the crime. The result is this intriguing historical novel that tells the tragic story of Josie and, subsequently, Marietta. Clark produces a chilling narrative of the true crime that shocked the state of New Hampshire in the late nineteenth century. Readers will not only read of Josie’s fate but will be immersed in the customs, dress, and mores of Victorian New England. The book is plot-driven, and readers will find themselves eagerly reading to discover where the storyline is leading.

Clark takes what might be handled as pure sensationalism and turns it into a fascinating novel using real people who lived through the tragedy. Her research is extensive, with information from hundreds of newspaper articles and other sources, as is evident in the depth of the telling of this tale and the inclusion of the many people who were living and involved in the incident by either helping in the search for Josie or in the search for her murderer. Clark’s debut novel is expertly crafted. Josie becomes more than the victim of a horrendous crime; she becomes a real person with real hopes and dreams. Her murder is rendered as tragic to the modern reader as to those who knew her. Fans of history and true-crime stories will find a mesmerizing tale in this novel, and readers will not soon forget this story or the talent of its author.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award Mystery/Crime Winner and First Horizon Award Winner

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