Resurrection Garden, mystery and history

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My new novel, Resurrection Garden, has just been released and is receiving 5 star reviews.

Resurrection Garden is a mystery novel set against the backdrop of the settling of the North Dakota prairie at the turn of the 20th century. Life on the North Dakota prairie in 1904 was still raw but modern times were coming with every new homesteader. Railroads and the telegraph were changing transportation and communication. The pace of life was speeding up. The land was filling up with settlers.

Jake Turner, a scarred veteran of the charge up San Juan Hill, has been a lone drifter through much of the settling of the west. Opportunity was growing out of the newly turned sod of the North Dakota prairie in 1904 when he stopped to take a part time job as a Deputy Sheriff, expecting to move on again when the dark parts of his past catch up to him.

An investigation into a murder of a man hated by everyone has threads that lead to his best friend, Isaac. Jake is ambushed and almost killed, but is nursed back to health by Isaac. While Jake follows the clues into a labyrinth of hatred, sordid crimes and missing money he becomes attached to an eight year old orphaned boy named Andy and falls in love with Isaac’s sister, Alice. After being alone for so long with no hope or care for what tomorrow might bring, Jake finds it difficult to accept these new emotional attachments.

Jake believes in Justice, but before he had only his own life on the line. When Andy is kidnapped and almost killed, Jake knows the killers will do anything to stop him. In order to protect Alice and Andy, he must break their hearts and leave them and North Dakota behind.

Jake knows he’ll be back. So do the killers. Trap and counter trap are laid. Jake knows there will be graves. He just doesn’t know who will be in them.

Resurrection Garden is not a western nor is it a Victorian mystery. The North Dakota prairie was almost the last frontier for homesteading. Immigrants were arriving daily looking for their chance at the American Dream. Land of their own to farm, to prosper and raise a family. It was hard, rough work in a harsh environment and many failed, even died, in the effort. Communities were new, yet people relied on one another and on the law.

In writing Resurrection Garden, I wove into the story many snippets I culled from my research. Stories straight out the newspaper of the time became part of the backdrop to the mystery and to life as depicted in the novel. Since my own grandparents were settlers in North Dakota in the 1880’s, I also had personal history to draw on for background.

It is available from the publisher, MuseItUp Publishing at:

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/

or at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Omnilit and many other online booksellers.

Please give it a look. I hope you will enjoy it.

Frank Scully

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Positive reviews have been coming in. Thanks to all who have left good reviews.

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New reviews have come in including this:

"Resurrection Garden by Frank Scully is a fabulous adventure! I loved this book from start to finish!

I thought the time period and setting for this book were really unique. It is set in 1904 in North Dakota. Our main character, Jake Turner, is a scarred veteran of the charge up San Juan Hill who is now serving as a part time Deputy. He has never really stayed in one place for long but for the first time he has actually made some friends here. Then he stumbles onto a murder case that could end up being the death of him.

It's a great western, but it's a little bit later time period than many western historicals, which I really enjoyed. Out in this country it's still wild west, and they are close to the Canadian border. The descriptions are wonderful and the setting is so grand! And, in any book the characters are always extremely important to me. If I don't care about the characters, I'm not going to care about the story, no matter how great it is. Jake is a wonderul character. He's a tough Deputy, he's a hard working farmer, he's a wandering spirit, but he's got a fantastic heart and he has finally found a place he might consider making some roots, if he can survive the people who seem to want him dead.

(For my blog readers who only read Christian books, this is not a Christian fiction title, however, I will say that it only has a very small amount of mild language and it's got a wonderful theme!)

I VERY highly recommend this book. The writing is great, the story will hook you from the start and keeps you hooked until the very end. It's a great western adventure with great suspense, some fast paced action scenes, wonderful small town drama, and great romance. It's an all around entertaining book. I am so glad I had the opportunity to review this one. I truly enjoyed it, and Jake is a character that will stick with me!"

From michellevsblog.blogspot.com

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Another great review in for Resurrections Garden from Broken Teepee blog.

"I found myself enthralled with this tale. The mystery was well developed and had a very satisfying resolution. It was very heartwarming to watch as Jake learned to shed his past and move forward into his future. The book moved along at a good clip and I found myself clicking the button to turn the pages on the Nook so I could read what happened next. Mr. Scully's writing style was spare and perfectly suited the tale and time in which it was set. The characters were well developed and I enjoyed getting to know them."

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Another great review from The OneHundredRomances blogspot.

"We find tales and lives woven together in the small town and it is all written beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel down to the last sentence,"

Please check it out.

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Resurrection garden, the first in my Decade Mystery Series, is about to be joined in June, 2011 by Dead Man's Gambit. If you enjoy mystery and history check them out.