Book description
A sinister Episcopal Bishop shows up to confirm Lottie and Josie
Albright's niece at the new frame church built on the corners of four
Western Kansas counties. The twins are already agitated over his
scathing sermon when the Reverend Mary Farnsworth flees to the anteroom
after dropping the chalice during communion. Josie, a psychologist,
lingers after the service to comfort her, but Lottie immediately orders
her sister to leave when they discover Reverend Mary's body. Alone with
Talesbury, Lottie is frightened by the Bishop's cold, strange rituals
for disposing of the spilled wine, but as Deputy Sheriff she's duty
bound to attend to the death. Back at the county-wide picnic, an elderly
lady informs Lottie that a man kneeling next to her scared Reverend Mary
into a heart attack. Worried that this was not a natural death, Lottie
calls in other law enforcement agencies. She soon learns that the
beloved Reverend Mary was a woman without a past, and that the rogue
Bishop has unexpected ties to Western Kansas. A sheriff from an adjacent
county, unaware that Josie is an FBI consultant, assumes that seizing
control of the investigation will be easy and instead arouses the twins'
wrath. Forgetting that the past is always present, Lottie's
investigation into old documents riles up murderous century-old
rivalries.... Hinger brings readers a new series, featuring local
historian and undersheriff Charlotte “Lottie” Albright. Lottie and her
twin sister, Josie, are preparing the new church built on the corners of
four counties in western Kansas for the confirmation of their niece. The
priest, the Reverend Mary Farnsworth, and the congregation are upset
over the hellfire-and-brimstone sermon given by the sinister Bishop
Talesbury. When Mary suddenly drops the chalice during communion and
flees to the anteroom, Lottie follows and discovers her dead body. She
suddenly has a potential murder case on her hands and must deal with
lawenforcement officials from the neighboring counties. As Lottie works
to find Mary's family, she discovers both that the woman seems to have
no past and that the mysterious bishop has surprising links to western
Kansas. Hinger draws readers into the small-town atmosphere of rural
Kansas with an intriguing tale that links current events to old
rivalries. Readers will be waiting for Lottie's next case. Charlotte
Hinger is a Western Kansas historian. Deadly Descent was inspired by a
childhood listening to the natural born liars in her small community of
Lone Elm, Kansas, and the mesmerizing “rest of the stories” whispered
behind closed doors when she edited over 500 family submissions for
county history books. She has published a number of mystery short
stories. Simon and Schuster published her historical novel, Come Spring,
which won the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Award. Convinced
that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand to hand, she
applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved
imagination to wicked little short stories.
