Overview

"New historical crime thriller explores Baltimore through the eyes of a young female doctor on the autism spectrum. Into the Suffering City, by Bill LeFurgy, centers on a murder investigation set against the backdrop of a historically accurate depiction of city life a century ago. It's 1909 and Baltimore is jumping with danger and excitement. Cars, cocaine, ragtime music, and moving pictures are new. But some things are as old as the city itself: murder, corruption, and the painful divisions of race, class, and gender. Dr. Sarah Kennecott is brilliant and on the autism spectrum--a trait that is unidentified and unappreciated at the time. And after getting fired for probing the death of a showgirl, she refuses to back down. Although dealing with people is hard, she works to get information from arrogant and abusive men while defying an effort to banish her to a horrifying insane asylum. Sarah forms an unlikely bond with Jack Harden, a down-on-his-luck private detective struggling with a condition similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from witnessing a wartime massacre overseas. Jack pushes the case into Baltimore's seedy underworld, a vitally corrupt realm of saloons, brothels, and burlesque theaters. Along the way he's got to deal with a murderous police detective and a moving pictures actress who is as deadly as she is beautiful. Into the Suffering City uses the actual historical circumstances of 1909 Baltimore, including virulent racism (including a law that prevents a people of mixed race from marrying a white person), rampant use of cocaine and other narcotics, and widespread, out in the open, prostitution. Into the Suffering City gives insight into the struggles a century ago of women, people of color, those with mental illness, those on the autism spectrum, and the great mass of people considered ""lower class."" The book also explores the newly emergent field of criminal forensics at a time when fingerprints and rigorous crime scene analysis were not routine police procedure."

Full Product Details

9780578618784

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""A thrillingly suspenseful, superbly written historical murder mystery which dives deep into the seamy underbelly of Baltimore."" --Indie Review ""Seamlessly weaves culture, history, and mystery into this novel's surprising twists and complex characters. Clear prose, intricate plotting, and likable leading characters combine to form an engrossing mystery."" --Blueink Review Starred Review ""Balancing complex character quirks, mysterious emotional baggage, surprising buried secrets, and riveting action sequences, Into the Suffering City is a knockout historical thriller."" --Self-Publishing Review ""A multilayered, entertaining mystery that introduces a promising pair of detectives. The author maintains suspense throughout ... [with] seamless integration of vivid details of daily life in 1909, unflinching portrayal of the sexism and racism of the time, and evocation of the era's sounds, smells, and tastes."" --Kirkus Reviews ""Fans of the murder mystery genre will recognize all the elements of a great whodunit - and still won't be able to predict all of the novel's twists and turns. The story is enhanced by the original and authentic leads."" --The Booklife Prize"

A thrillingly suspenseful, superbly written historical murder mystery which dives deep into the seamy underbelly of Baltimore. --Indie Review Seamlessly weaves culture, history, and mystery into this novel's surprising twists and complex characters. Clear prose, intricate plotting, and likable leading characters combine to form an engrossing mystery. --Blueink Review Starred Review Balancing complex character quirks, mysterious emotional baggage, surprising buried secrets, and riveting action sequences, Into the Suffering City is a knockout historical thriller. --Self-Publishing Review A multilayered, entertaining mystery that introduces a promising pair of detectives. The author maintains suspense throughout ... [with] seamless integration of vivid details of daily life in 1909, unflinching portrayal of the sexism and racism of the time, and evocation of the era's sounds, smells, and tastes. --Kirkus Reviews Fans of the murder mystery genre will recognize all the elements of a great whodunit - and still won't be able to predict all of the novel's twists and turns. The story is enhanced by the original and authentic leads. --The Booklife Prize

Author Information

Bill LeFurgy is a professional historian and archivist who has studied the seamy underbelly of urban life, including drugs, crime, and prostitution, as well as more workaday matters such as streets, buildings, wires, and wharves. He has put his many years of research experience into writing gritty historical fiction about Baltimore, where he lived for over a decade. It remains his favorite city. Bill has graduate degrees from the University of Maryland and has worked at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore City Archives, National Archives and Records Administration, and the Library of Congress. He has learned much from his family, including grace, patience, emotional connection, and the need to appreciate different perspectives from those on the autism spectrum and with other personality traits that are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or unexplained.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available