A Stranger Here Below: A Gideon Stoltz Mystery
First in a projected series, A Stranger Here Below introduces Sheriff Gideon Stoltz. Stoltz is no hardened old-timer but a twenty-one-year-old Pennsylvania Dutchman, an outsider in the town of Adamant, Pennsylvania in 1835. His friend Judge Hiram Biddle has killed himself, and Stoltz wants to know why. What follows is not a story that reveals the suicide was actually a murder but instead something much darker. Using the judge’s old diaries, interviews with people with long memories, and leg work, Stoltz discovers the lengths to which someone would go to ruin a man’s life.
Fergus has created a strong character in Stoltz. He’s stoic in the face of those who make fun of his Pennsylvania Dutch accent because he’s confident in his abilities and fortunate in his home life. He’s made a love match with his wife, True, and they’ve been blessed with a beautiful baby boy, David. His pursuit of the truth puts all that at risk, however. Adamant is a familiar and yet unfamiliar place. There are no modern creature comforts, and Stoltz must travel days by horseback to track down a witness. But some themes are universal, and the jealousy, cruelty, and greed that Stoltz uncovers are as prevalent in 2019 as they were in 1835. The book ends on a somber note, leaving me anxious about Stoltz and his family in the next installment.
