Spotlight on By Strangers Mourned

I’m happen to welcome multi-published author J. R. Lindermuth. Today, John shares his latest release, By Strangers Mourned.

Sylvester Tilghman, the third of his family to serve as sheriff of rural Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, would love to marry his longtime sweetheart Lydia Longlow. But Lydia has constantly turned down his proposals in the previous three novels in the Sheriff Tilghman historical mystery series set in the waning days of the 19th Century.

Lydia professes to love Syl. But she’s a busy and independent young woman. In addition to running a general store and caring for her elderly parents, she’s also postmistress, head of the Women’s Temperance League, a Sunday School teacher, sings in the choir and is substitute pianist for the Methodist Church.

Now in the spring of 1899, Syl is hopeful preparations for the wedding of his deputy Cyrus Gutshall and Emma, younger daughter of his neighbor and friend Doctor Hiram Mariner, will put his sweetheart in a marital mood.

Alas, crime in his small community has always had a way of interfering with Sylvester’s plans.

A woman is found drowned in a local creek and Doc Mariner’s autopsy reveals her death was the result of foul play. The sheriff’s investigation soon puts him on the trail of a mysterious man named Bauer and a gang preying on young immigrant women.

Sylvester Tilghman will need all his detecting skills and the help of his friends to unravel the many skeins of this case before he can dream again of marriage.

….

As noted above, By Strangers Mourned is the fourth novel in the Sheriff Syl series. The first two, Fallen From Grace and Sooner Than Gold, were originally published by Oak Tree Press. After the death of Billie Johnson, publisher, rights were returned to me. Lawrence Knorr, who had published The Bartered Body, third in the series, agreed to reissue them and publish By Strangers Mourned in the Milford House imprint of Sunbury Press.

Bio and Social Links

J. R. Lindermuth lives and writes in central Pennsylvania. A retired newspaper editor, he currently serves as librarian of his county historical society where he assists patrons with genealogy and research. He’s the author of 18 novels and two regional histories. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a past vice president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.