Leonard Krishtalka is a prolific Kansas writer. This one is his second historical legal fiction. Both books are standalone stories. The first one “The Body in the Bed” featured the courtroom trial of Isaac Miles Ruthman’s murder in 1871. It was a national sensation involving a love triangle and caught our country’s attention like the O.J. Simpson trial did for my generation.
The main character is Mary Fanning, who was the first woman reporter west of the Mississippi and worked for the Kansas Daily Tribune. She hunts for the truth while Krishtalka keeps the story flowing by flushing out the exciting parts of trial transcripts and other documents. He spent countless hours in various archives and libraries including the Kansas Historical Society and digging for newspapers over 150 years old!
Now he brings back Mary Flanning in “The Body on the Bricks,” set in 1873 where three people are murdered in three separate incidences in Lawrence, Kansas.
Krishtalka has a magical way of transporting readers to the late 19th century. Lawrence is full of fun and intrigue. Never a dull moment in LFK! Even back then!
None of these murders are cut and dry! The helpful seamstress who went to customers and mended their clothes was found murdered in her boarding house. Who did it?
A mom with a dead baby is found screaming in the street with blood all over her clothes. She said there were two of us. Did she do it alone?
A mad father whose daughter claims a guy knocked her up after promising to marry her and then forced her to get an abortion shoots the guy. Is it a justified killing? The guy would be convicted of murder today, but what about the late 19th century? Did Lawrence still believe in saloon justice or evolve into the rule of law? Patriarchy was strong then! Women were considered property of their fathers until marriage, but you can see how things were starting to change.
Lots of plot twists in this book. Truth may be stranger than fiction. Many side stories are woven into the dialogue including John Brown and Quantral’s attack on Lawrence. Tidbits of facts also sneak into the intrigue like how Vineland got its original name but then became Vinland.
If you enjoyed courtroom intrigue like “Snow Falling on Cedars” or “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” you will enjoy this book. It even has a suggestion of the supernatural with seances and spirits from the dead!
I also highly recommend Krishtalka’s Mary Fanning books for those interested in northeast Kansas history. They provide an interesting insight into how legal proceedings were carried out in the late 19th century. If you like mysteries or historical fiction, you’ll also enjoy these. They give you a vivid peek into daily lives of Lawrenceans in the late 1800s.
