A New Gideon Stoltz Mystery

Skyhorse Publishing recently accepted the third Gideon Stoltz mystery. Set in 1837, Lay This Body Down focuses on fugitives from slavery residing in my fictional Colerain County. The book will come out in February 2023.

In the novel, Gideon investigates the murder of an abolitionist newspaper editor and the kidnappings of several people. He must confront the issue of racial discrimination and parse out the laws, both state and federal, governing a slave owner’s ability to come to Pennsylvania and recapture someone who has fled north to freedom – and whether a sheriff is legally bound to assist. Several times Gideon finds himself in extreme personal danger. So does his wife, True, who uses her local knowledge and intuition to help.

man driving a team of mules. Wikimedia commons.

Bringing out a novel starts with the publisher evaluating and deciding to buy the manuscript, followed by editing, proofreading, cover and book design, and devising a review and marketing strategy – all before physical books are printed and distributed.

After my editor read the manuscript for Lay This Body Down, she pointed out a scene near the end that she felt many readers would find hard to believe, based on the characters’ previous behaviors. I’m rewriting that part of the novel now.

When my editor said that Skyhorse would be taking the book, I decided to send them a synopsis of the next (and fourth) Gideon Stoltz mystery, for which I’ve done considerable research, character development, and plotting. That novel will involve counterfeit currency and the financial panic that plunged our nation into its first major economic depression in the late 1830s. In what may turn out to be more of a thriller than a classic whodunit, Gideon will leave Adamant and trail a killer to Pittsburgh. (I’m currently planning a research trip there later this spring.)

I’m happy to report that Skyhorse agreed to take that book as well.

Which means I’ll get to spend a lot more time with Gideon and True – and also with a new character in the series, Otis Johnson, who was introduced briefly in the second mystery, Nighthawk’s Wing. Thirteen-year-old Otis ran away from a farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. In Lay This Body Down, his former “owner” doggedly pursues him to Adamant and offers a huge reward for his capture. Gideon is pressured to help the Virginian apprehend Otis – even though the lad helped him out of a dangerous jam earlier.

I’ll keep you updated as Lay This Body Down proceeds toward publication. And I’ll present new and intriguing aspects of American history I’ve learned when researching the novel, as well as the one to come.