I love historical mysteries that partly educate about a certain period. The cover initially drew me to the book along with the intriguing title. Thoreau is the lead detective who is investigating a mystery with his friend Dr Adam Walker. A conductor who was transporting a female slave is found murdered, and they discover that Adam's cousin is harbouring her, which puts them all in danger and makes their investigation more urgent. It's the first I've read by this author- although this is part of a series. I will look out another one in this series.

Yes, that's Henry David Thoreau who is at the center of this mystery. This is a bit different from your average cozy mystery. It's written in nineteenth-century style. It deals with some heavier than usual issues; at the center of the story are runaway slaves and slave-catchers. Members of the Underground Railroad have been murdered, one in the maybe-haunted Phantom Bog. Thoreau is running around Plumford, Massachusetts (a.k.a. Concord) with the help of his friends, Dr. Adam Walker and the doctor's secret love, Julia Pelletier. Julia is trying to rid herself of her terrible ex-husband. In the midst of this, the three friends are trying to determine who the murderer is and where the secret slave-catcher might be.

Narration in this book alternates between Adam and Julia. I figured out who the murderer was. The more I read of the book, the more I got used to the narrative style. I also enjoyed the book more the further I got into it. The start was a bit slow, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.