Murder on the Underground Railroad: A Historical Thriller (The Moorheads)
Indiana, Pennsylvania, 1826. When two escaped, formerly enslaved men are found brutally murdered in a barn, the county sheriff shows no interest in investigating. Newspaperman James Moorhead and his friend, Dr. Robert Mitchell, both abolitionists who support the Underground Railroad, are outraged and begin an investigation of their own. In the summer of 1793, a yellow fever epidemic decimates Philadelphia. A nine-year-old boy who is left orphaned during this tragedy is abandoned in the city’s poorhouse. These events begin a chilling link between the 1826 murders and an act of revenge that reaches back thirty years.
Craig Pennington’s saga of the Moorhead family continues, this time focusing on the author’s great-great-great-great grandfather, James Moorhead, and adding a murder mystery. The mystery is fascinating, as the reader is given the killer’s identity early, and then follows James and Robert as they try to figure out who is committing these gruesome and bloody crimes. Pennington expertly weaves fiction and history together to portray events during this terrible time in U.S. history. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 meant that “slave catchers” could enter northern states and retrieve the escaped freedom seekers. For James, this meant that his actions to support the Underground Railroad were constantly resisted by pro-slavery persons and organizations.
In addition to providing a compelling mystery, this book answers the question: was the northern U.S. really free at that time? Not completely. An epilogue includes the real-life case of 12-year-old Anthony Hollingsworth, who was recaptured in 1845 and then freed by a Pennsylvania judge. James Moorhead was involved in this case.
This is so much more than a mystery. It is a look back at a struggle between good and evil in the United States. The author does not back away from horrifying moments in history, and rightly so.
