After Oz
Poor little Dorothy Gale goes missing for four days after a twister devastates Sunbonnet, Kansas, in June 1896. When she’s found unharmed in a pumpkin patch, she babbles about an enchanted land of wizards and witches and claims she didn’t mean to kill the witch, that she didn’t know water would melt her. Unfortunately, the body of Alvina Clough, a local spinster, is found dead with her face partially melted, leading the townspeople to suspect Dorothy not only of being insane, but also guilty of murder. It’s decided by the authorities to incarcerate her in a mental institution rather than conduct a murder trial.
Frank Baum, a Chicago newspaper reporter covering the case, convinces his cousin, psychologist Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford, to interview Dorothy after the child is sent to the Topeka Insane Asylum. Dr. Wilford hears Dorothy’s fantastical adventure story, and as she delves further into the girl’s supposed delusions, she finds herself attempting to clear Dorothy by investigating the heinous murder she’s accused of committing. As Dr. Wilford becomes more involved in Dorothy’s welfare and peels back the layers revealing the truth, she realizes that in order to save Dorothy she must also expose a vengeful killer.
McAlpine does a fine job of evoking the drab landscape of Dorothy’s Kansas and a small town in shock over a terrible crime, moves the story along at a good pace, and cleverly weaves references to Oz throughout his narrative. The result is an interesting combination of the birth of a beloved fantasy and a dark murder mystery.
