The Killing Season: A Pinkerton Detective Mystery

A gripping historical thriller set against the backdrop of the American Civil War."The sharp stench of blood struck even before I crossed the threshold. Instantly my eyes darted to the smallish bed against the wall, and to the bodies lying upon it, a man and a girl conjoined in a single gruesome and bloody heap."Summer 1864. America's bloody Civil War grinds on interminably. As a resurging Confederacy mounts victory after victory, heavy Union losses continue to pile up, and support for the war in the North reaches a dangerous new low.In the Federal capital of Washington, a serial killer runs loose, butchering high-ranking Union officers with abandon. Fearing widespread panic-and with President Abraham Lincoln's reelection already in jeopardy-Secretary of War Edwin Stanton summons renowned detective Allan Pinkerton to investigate the string of grisly murders. Pinkerton forms a select team of detectives, including his top operative, Kate Warne, and Henry Sheldon, a wounded veteran seeking new meaning in his life. When Stanton ends the investigation prematurely, Henry presses on alone, encountering a beguiling Rebel spy and facing resistance at every turn. Henry risks everything to get to the truth, and what began as a hunt for a crazed killer evolves into a much wider-and far more sinister-conspiracy, one reaching deeply into the Union war effort itself.