Kansans are a touchy lot. They don't like it all when people make fun of the state. There has been intense attention focused on the state since before the Civil War. We were "Bleeding Kansas" because of the unbelievable violence of the Border Wars. National editors wrote breathless and exaggerated columns about the wild new state where the fate of slavery might be determined.
Editors started noticing other things. Our states had four constitutions due to fraudulent elections until we settled down politically. The premier national magazine Harper's Weekly couldn't resist writing about Kansas
The bloody saga of the Butterfield Overland Despatch Express cinched our reputation for violence. Begun as a 1865 freight and passenger route between Atchison and Denver, in November a reporter for Harper's riding on the stage sent a breathless dispatch about an ill-fated journey where they came upon at trail of dead bodies, burned stations, missing wagons, and mutilated corpses.
And then there was our weather! By the time we were Ozed our fate was sealed.
From the Heart of Kansas
http://www.charlottehinger.com/
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Deadly Beginning
Greetings to all history and mystery fans and thank you for reading my new blog. I'm a Western Kansas historian specializing in African American history. I have a mystery series with Poisoned Pen Press featuring Lottie Albright, a historian who added law enforcement to her resume to trap a murderer. She is assisted in her efforts by her twin sister, psychologist Josie Albright.
The first book in the series, Deadly Descent, won the 2010 AZ Book Publishers Award for Best Mystery/Suspense. The second, Lethal Lineage will be published March 2011. Lottie combines historical methods with police procedure and Josie contributes psychological expertise. As editor of the county history books, Lottie is well aware of the tangled web of secrets binding generations. She struggles with her difficult marriage to a older man and his family by a previous marriage. Her obsession with locating a killer is destroying her marriage and her reputation as a historian. The Albright twins are draw into a deadly game of cat and mouse when they join forces and endanger their own lives to connect past, present, and future.
My biggest thrill with Deadly Descent was a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. They wrote that "historical research is anything but dull in Hinger's debut, which holds your attention every exciting step of the way."
Leave comments and questions. I welcome input. I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to publish with Poisoned Pen Press.
The first book in the series, Deadly Descent, won the 2010 AZ Book Publishers Award for Best Mystery/Suspense. The second, Lethal Lineage will be published March 2011. Lottie combines historical methods with police procedure and Josie contributes psychological expertise. As editor of the county history books, Lottie is well aware of the tangled web of secrets binding generations. She struggles with her difficult marriage to a older man and his family by a previous marriage. Her obsession with locating a killer is destroying her marriage and her reputation as a historian. The Albright twins are draw into a deadly game of cat and mouse when they join forces and endanger their own lives to connect past, present, and future.
My biggest thrill with Deadly Descent was a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. They wrote that "historical research is anything but dull in Hinger's debut, which holds your attention every exciting step of the way."
Leave comments and questions. I welcome input. I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to publish with Poisoned Pen Press.
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