Murder By Plague: The Battle Hymn of the Republic by Jack Martin

Murder By Plague: The Battle Hymn of the Republic
(An Alphonso Clay Mystery Of The Civil War, Book 4)
By Jack Martin
TouchPoint Press

History revisited with intrigue and espionage

Murder By Plague: The Battle Hymn of the Republic is part of the Alphonso Clay Mystery Of The Civil War but new readers will be immediately pulled into 1865, and any background needed on the fictional characters is included in the narrative. History provides characters for the story, which adds an air of authenticity that is offset by a compelling twist. This is a fictional story filled with the gritty, the gruesome, the vengeful, and the compassionate, but always with a breath of realism. It is conversation driven in the style of the vernacular of the day, so at times inappropriate language is spoken by unpleasant people.

Popular culture is filled with conspiracy theories and what if notions; Martin injects all this into a story of the Civil War.  Readers obviously know how things ended, but what if history has left out the details of a significant incident? Martin suggests events that history might not have recorded, a backstory filled with missteps, lawlessness, revenge, and retaliation. Readers visualize the events of 1865 as they unfold day by day in both ordinary situations and ones that turn out to be extraordinary. The story offers the motivation, the incentives, and the consequences of both what might have happened and what actually did happen.

Murder By Plague is not a textbook; although much of it is accurate in time and place, it is fiction enhanced by historic people and events. It is compelling to read; after all, documented history is filled with conspiracy, betrayal, espionage, and revolution. Who is to say that every nasty or duplicitous deed in history has actually been recorded?

Do you like historic fiction? Here is Civil War history with a twist.

Barbara Howe